5.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Morgan and his friends are on a hunting trip on a remote Canadian island when they are attacked by a swarm of giant wasps. Looking for help, Morgan stumbles across a barn inhabited by an enormous killer chicken. After doing some exploring, they discover the entire island is crawling with animals that have somehow grown to giant size. The most dangerous of all of these, however, are the rats, who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders...
Starring: Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ralph Meeker, Belinda Balaski, Ida LupinoHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is currently available in the double feature The Food of the Gods / Frogs.
Rachel Carson’s 1962 tome Silent Spring was one of the first mainstream efforts to document changes to the environment, changes
wrought by Man’s use of chemicals like pesticides. Environmental and ecological awareness only grew as the sixties continued, despite a
number of other pressing issues like assassinations, Vietnam, and racial unrest. Perhaps surprisingly (at least given today’s polarized political
climate—no pun intended), it was a Republican president, the otherwise infamous Richard M. Nixon, who created the Environmental Protection
Agency whole cloth by (are you ready?) executive order in 1970, ushering in a new era of both general awareness as well as (to the
consternation of some) government involvement. The late sixties into the seventies saw all sorts of ecologically themed “entertainments”
appear in a variety of media, from kiddie fare like Saturday morning cartoons to more putatively adult outings like any number of feature films
which broadly fit into a genre dubbed “eco-horror.” In many of these films, Man’s idiocy at sullying up his home planet leads to disastrous
results of one kind or another. Scream Factory, the horror imprint of Shout! Factory, has now combined two of these seventies efforts into a
surprisingly enjoyable (if often pretty campy) double feature.
The Food of the Gods is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The film, as should be expected, is awash in optical effects, and those bring with them an added layer of grain and dirt, two things that tend to give some sequences in the film a bit of a gritty and soft ambience. That said, the non-optical sequences look rather good here, with healthy, generally accurate color (perhaps just a bit too ruddy pink, but only slightly) and good if not overwhelming detail. Grain is more than evident and resolves naturally, though there are some passing resolution issues in some darker scenes and some of the aforementioned optical effects sequences. Close-ups offer decent fine detail in everything from the fabrics of the costumes to the bristly hair of those giant mutant rats. Elements are in decent shape, though with typical age related issues like minus density, scratches and dust and dirt.
The Food of the Gods features an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mono track which capably supports the film's dialogue, sometimes slightly goofy sound effects and rather effectively creepy score by Elliot Kaplan. Things occasionally get a bit noisy in the film, especially once efforts are made to quell the rat invasion, but prioritization is generally excellent. Fidelity is fine and dynamic range fairly wide on this problem free track.
Fans of Bert I. Gordon will know pretty much what to expect in The Food of the Gods, namely giant mutants terrorizing hapless humans (a recurring trope in the Gordon oeuvre). Good, goofy fun, with a rather eclectic cast, the film is pure nonsense from start to finish, but it's fun. Technical merits are very good, Scream has assembled a nice supplemental package, and The Food of the Gods comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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