6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A newlywed couple move into the mansion of the bride's recently dead aunt. Soon strange things begin to happen when the various tenants and servants of the mansion don't want to leave and the bride and groom are in a deadly predicament.
Starring: Scott Thompson Baker, Dorothy Malone, Jack Taylor (II), Patty Shepard, David Rose (II)Horror | 100% |
Foreign | 39% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Director Jose Ramon Larraz (“Vampyres,” “Deadly Manor”) tries to put together a haunted house experience with 1987’s “Rest in Pieces.” It’s an admirable quest, but quite a difficult one to pull off without a decent budget or a professional cast. It’s an uphill climb to frights for the production, which tries to generate some murderous events, but only between scenes of people unpacking luggage. It’s difficult to understand what was going through Larraz’s mind with “Rest in Pieces,” which plays like a movie that had a screenplay, but still scrambles to find things to do to fill the run time, while the helmer’s choice of a lead actress is downright bizarre, putting a lot of faith in Lorin Jean Vail and her complete inability to act.
Billed as "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original negative," "Rest in Pieces" looks alive during the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation. Detail is precise, with excellent facial surfaces picking up on elements of age and makeup. House tours bring out distinct decoration, and costuming is fibrous. Gore zone visits are vivid, highlighting fake heads and blood wounds. Colors are alert, showcasing period hues and bloody reds, and skintones are natural. Interior design offerings provide a warmer sense of menace. Greenery is terrific. Delineation is excellent throughout, preserving shadowy encounters. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in good condition. I encountered two brief playback hiccups around the 30:00 mark, but these could be player-related issues.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix delivers a satisfactory listening event that emphasizes performances, giving dialogue exchanges clarity with a wide range of acting abilities. Scoring provides clear synth support with a few surges to identify moments of suspense. Orchestral additions supply a fuller sound. Attack sequences carry basic sound effects.
"Rest in Pieces" seems to be heading in a campy direction at times, but there's also concentration on character relationships and the power of Catherine's curse, keeping it away from laughs – at least the intention kind. The writing is primed to deliver a passable mystery involving unusual antagonists, throwing in a treasure hunt as well, but "Rest in Pieces" never develops into anything distinct. Larraz's trust in Vail to carry the movie is also irksome, forcing the audience to watch her stumble through stiff line-readings and react half-heartedly to nightmare imagery. It's rough work from Vail, but she's not exactly torching a great film, as the production wrestles with budgetary limitations (Catherine's estate looks like an average suburban house) and underwhelming scares, never becoming the shocker Larraz is searching for.
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