7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
You wake day after day to the comfort and security of your home. But how safe is it really?
Starring: Marta Etura, Luis Tosar, Alberto San Juan, Petra Martínez, Iris AlmeidaHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 65% |
Psychological thriller | 44% |
Mystery | 40% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It's one thing to be depressed, but it's quite another to wish depression on others to compensate for your own unhappiness. You've probably met someone like this; a downer who lives to make others miserable. An emotional troll. The kind of person who sucks the life right out of the room. This unfortunate personality disorder is the premise behind Sleep Tight, a malicious little thriller from Spanish director Jaume Balagueró. You may know Balagueró from the found-footage, supernatural-infection chillers [REC] and [REC] 2—which he co-directed with Paco Plaza—and if so, you know he has an amped-up-Polanski-esque thing for unleashing terror inside apartment complexes. That predilection is still in full effect here, but Sleep Tight is a much more classical suspense film, trading POV shaky-cam for elegant lens movements, and demonic zombie possession for the misanthropic quirks of a deranged building supervisor. The horror is relatively mundane, but that's what makes it terrifying, especially for urban apartment dwellers—what if the guy with keys to your flat is sneaking into your bedroom at night, to watch you sleep or worse?
Sleep Tight cuddles up to Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that seems true to source and directorial intent. The movie was shot on 35mm and retains all of its natural filmic texture here, with a thin layer of grain—that spikes a bit in darker scenes—and no signs of digital noise reduction or edge enhancement. And as you'd hope from a contemporary film, the print is spotless too. Although there are a few soft spots, clarity is generally very strong, with good facial definition and visible fine texture in clothing. Black levels can get a bit oppressive in the nighttime bedroom sequences, but I imagine this is on purpose. Otherwise, contrast is spot-on and the color palette is rich and well-graded, varying between chilly basement interiors and sunny rooftop afternoons with creamy highlights. I didn't spot any egregious compression or encode issues—everything here looks as it ought to look.
You can tell that particular attention was paid to Sleep Tight's sound design, which makes full use of the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track included here. There's quiet but substantial ambience from all channels just about wherever it's called for—the rattling and strain of an 80-year-old elevator, bedsprings creaking under the weight of...ahem...sexual congress, hospital clamor, creepy-crawly insect noises, and more. The score by Lucas Vidal darts and surges ominously, and the occasional rock songs Clara dances around to in her apartment blast with considerable dynamic force. Even better, the film knows when to use silence to its advantage—there are tense moments when nearly all sound cuts out to amplify the suspense. Dialogue is clean and understandable from start to finish, and the disc includes English, English SDH, Spanish, and Spanish SDH subtitles, which appear in easy-to-read yellow lettering. No issues here whatsoever.
Sleep Tight puts us inside the mind of a total misanthrope who gets off on making others miserable. It's a hard premise to enjoy, but director Jaume Balagueró balances out the Spanish-language film with a good deal of coal-black comedy and a terrific—literally terrifying—performance from Luis Tosar. For a point of reference, the film reminded me quite a bit of the recent Hammer Horror movie The Resident, which is also about a well-to-do woman being stalked by a suspiciously accommodating property manager. Technical specs on the Blu-ray are solid, and the disc comes with a nearly two-hour making-of documentary. Worth a rental, at least.
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