6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A doctor treats a sick aborigine, who had defied a tribal taboo and visited a sacred cave. The doctor soon finds herself having disturbing dreams and finds herself involved in a 200-year-old mystery.
Starring: Arthur Dignam, Penny Cook, Gary Sweet, Laurence Clifford, Kristina NehmHorror | 100% |
Drama | 38% |
Mystery | 13% |
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 Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.
All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind of
what?". But the release also comes with a front cover sobriquet
proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that
regard, this set
begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days
Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding
light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice named
Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define
the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I
know it when I see it. . ."
The Dreaming is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Severin's insert booklet states this was "restored in 2K from the best surviving positive print". The results are surprisingly decent, all things considered, though there is a pretty wide variance in quality that is on display. In its best moments, as perhaps seen in screenshots like the first one I've uploaded to accompany this review, densities are secure, and the palette is beautifully suffused, with typically very good to excellent detail levels. In less fulsome moments, color can definitely falter, and detail levels can also be diminished. There's recurrent damage which becomes impossible to ignore toward the end of the film when long green scratches inhabit the frame (see screenshot 14). As such, there are moments here that probably approach a 4.0 score on the high end, and revert to a 3.0 score on the low end, so consider my final score a kind of average.
The Dreaming features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which probably doesn't evidence quite the same amounts of variability as the video side of things, but which still has noticeable age related wear and tear, including background hiss and occasional crackling. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, and some of the kind of spooky effects (including what I assume is a didgeridoo) reverberate with sufficient force. Optional English subtitles are available.
Quite a bit of The Dreaming is viscerally compelling, but the film's decision to tip over into what amounts to a "possession" of sorts gives the film a probably unwanted cheap feeling as it builds to its finale. Technical merits are somewhat variable, but basically solid, and the commentary is also interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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