6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A family wins a free vacation to a mountain resort, where the town is strange and its residents downright odd. The kids soon find themselves in deep trouble, and have to do a bit of literal growing up in order to survive.
Starring: Pons Maar, Jennifer Darling, Matt Borlenghi, Riley Weston, George 'Buck' FlowerHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
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
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
1988’s “The American Scream” is frequently compared to “Troll 2” by horror fans, with the pictures sharing a love for…well, production completion. Logic isn’t a guest at this table, and while “Troll 2” conjures its own sense of insanity, “The American Scream” barely comes together as a complete idea. Writer/director Mitchell Linden wanted to make a genre film, and he has one with the endeavor, but he forgets to add important things like coherency and pacing to the effort, which often plays like collection of R-rated ideas thrown together without much in the way of planning. Linden has gore, nudity, and characters in dangerous situations, but it’s difficult to find the rhythm of the film, which is loaded with filler and whiplash-inducing tonal changes.
Previously available on VHS, "The American Scream" makes the big jump to Blu-ray, courtesy of Culture Shock Releasing. The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a "4K scan of the 35mm original negative." Detail captures skin surfaces and fibrous resort clothing, and gore zone visits are appropriately textured. Exteriors highlight deep distances with the remote setting, and interiors offers appreciable decoration with various party sequences and diner visits. Colors are bright and inviting, with terrific greenery and crisp whites. Interiors are warmer, favoring woodsy browns and festive lighting. Costumes are loaded with primaries, and red blood is vivid. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is heavy but film-like, with some chroma noise detected at times. Source is in good condition.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix is sourced from "the original magnetic audio." Some age and points of damage are detected during the listening experience. Dialogue exchanges are acceptable, dealing with louder acting choices, which reach the technical limitations of the production. Scoring cues and musical performances aren't crisply defined, but clarity and instrumentation are reasonable, as are sound effects.
"The American Scream" doesn't build to a grand finale. Instead, it breaks down into vague chases, hunting sequences, and sexual events involving ill- defined characters. Those with more patience and imagination should be able to find some vague shape of a plot, but it's doubtful, as Linden is more a one-step-at-a-time helmer than a "big picture" craftsman. There's weirdness all over the movie, which might provide some entertainment value to viewers, who are treated to a freshly removed head winking at a young woman, and there are more traditional slasher experiences to be found in the general confusion of it all. The locations are appealing, securing a feel for resort life during the snowy season, and wild stabs at style (including a lengthy slo-mo sequence) show what Linden was at least going for something at times. "The American Scream" doesn't come together with authority, and will likely leave viewers baffled, but perhaps there's charm in such randomness and production scrambling, giving bottom-shelf admirers plenty to study as Linden sets out to craft a chiller, ending up with something far more confusing in the end.
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1982
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