6 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Back with a vengeance and an insatiable appetite for human flesh...Their Time Has Come Again. Based on the acclaimed novel and adapted for the screen by best-selling author Jack Ketchum, Offspring follows the survivors of a brutal flesh-eating clan that has resurfaced in the once sleepy town of Dead River, Maine. The locals are in for a rude awakening when they realize it's the same pack that the sheriff thought he'd killed off a decade ago. Just when they thought the nightmare was over, they're about to discover that the fight for their lives has only just begun.
Starring: Jessica Butler (I), Kelly Carey, Holter Graham, T.J. Graye, Stephen Grey (IV)Horror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 1.0 | |
Video | 1.5 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Ghost House Underground is a production company established by Sam Raimi (director of Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell, Spiderman Trilogy and many more) and Rob Tapert (producing partner on most Sam Raimi films) to help promote independent horror films from up-and-coming directors in the genre. Established in 2007, the label has released a total of eight films up through September of 2009, averaging four horror releases per year. For 2009, the prolific filmmaking duo hand-selected four new entries that mark the production company’s initial foray into the Blu-ray format. Not that I’m going in any specific order, but the first film I’ve chosen from the series, is a blood-soaked feature that proudly earned a lengthy assessment from the MPAA (Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, disturbing situations, language, nudity and some sexuality). Now that I’ve sat through the entire 79 minute runtime, I can safely say each and every cautionary statement in that warning is well-deserved.
Is it just me, or is that a big baby?
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 15Mbps), Offspring is a disappointing high-definition experience. From the first scene of the film through the blood-drenched climax, the transfer exhibits a startling lack of detail, allowing haziness to creep in during at least 60% of the runtime. The low bitrate could be a contributing factor in the overly soft nature of the picture, but I'm guessing another primary factor is a lack of focused camerawork during a number of scenes. Although fine-object detail is below average, the color spectrum of the film seems to accurately replicate the intentions of the cinematographer (William Miller). In the opening twenty minutes, we're introduced to a coastal setting that at first glance seems bright and welcoming, but as the story unfolds becomes a dark, dingy hell on earth. Unfortunately, the last sixty minutes of the runtime take place during the course of one night, so moonlight or firelight becomes the primary form of lighting during the majority of the film. This wouldn't be a problem if black levels and contrast exhibited even an average level of proficiency, but the differentiation between multiple shades exhibits a level of weakness that results in a drastic loss of shadow detail. Lastly, anyone with an aversion to film grain should be aware there are several scenes with noisy backgrounds due to the incorporation of heavy grain-fields.
Even if you consider the low-budget nature of this release, there's simply not much positive to be said about the transfer.
Matters don't improve much with the lossless audio track, presented in DTS HD-MA 5.1. One of the first things you'll notice about the audio presentation is the anemic sound design, which ultimately fails to generate much in the way of chills. As we all know, a good horror movie is ten times better when the effects and music generate a creepy sense of dread, but Offspring seems content to only throw out moments of clarity when it involves sounds of ripping flesh or the crunch of an ax penetrating a skull (as I stated before, this film is not for the squeamish). Other than that, I rarely noticed much creativity in the use of surrounds. On the positive side, the opening title sequence contains some effectively chilling synthesizer music that harkens back to days of John Carpenter. As you can imagine, the opening sequence simply sets the viewer up for disappointment, since the rest of the film never manages to live up to the expectations set during the first three minutes. Moving along, the dialogue from the noticeably amateur cast feels overly flat, as if the voice-work was completed in a post-production sound booth that doesn't match the environment of the scene we're currently watching. I'm not saying the speaking parts are always that bad, but most of the dialogue-heavy scenes in the first twenty minutes of the film seem to have that off-putting nature to them.
I'm trying to keep in mind this is a low-budget entry in the horror genre, but even when you take that into account, this is still only a serviceable audio experience (in a genre that demands much more).
Progeny: The Birth of Offspring (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 20:48 min): This behind-the-scenes featurette includes interviews with most of the cast in the film, as well as director Andrew van den Houten and others on the crew. Along with the interview dialogue, we're shown several sets from the film and snippets of rehearsal footage.
First Stolen's Bailout (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:04 min): One of the primary cannibal actors ends up in jail after being pulled over with a suspended license. The director and members of the crew have to take a trip to the local lock-up to bail him out prior to their midnight shooting schedule.
Webisodes (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0): You can choose individual behind-the-scenes clips that were apparently used to market the film. Running just under two minutes in length, the eight segments each focus on a scene, theme, or character.
Rounding out the extras, there's a photo gallery of stills from the film, a standard definition trailer for Offspring, a video collection promoting the Ghost House film series (standard definition), theatrical trailers of other Lionsgate releases, and an audio commentary with Jack Ketchum (writer), Andrew van den Houten (director/producer), and William M. Miller (producer/cinematographer). The commentary track focuses heavily on themes from the film/story and offers a great deal of praise for the performances from the cast.
If you can safely call yourself a gore hound, there could be enough entertainment value in this release to make it worth adding to your collection. For the rest of you, I'd recommend you steer clear of this title and set your sights on a horror film that actually generates chills (such as The Orphanage). I know Sam Raimi has always been a fan of the gory yuck factor, but I can't believe there weren't some better options in the genre that would have been more deserving of a high-definition release. If you've exhausted all other horror options this Halloween, I can't likely convince you to avoid this release, but just remember not to eat anything immediately prior to (or during) Offspring.
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