Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Lost Blu-ray Movie Review

No, not that 'Lost,' but rather a frightening glimpse into a deranged mind.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 4, 2010

Once upon a time, a boy named Ray Pye put crushed beer cans in his boots to make himself taller.

What a difference two hours can make. The Lost seems headed nowhere fast in spite of a rowdy and unnerving opening segment, and while that meandering feeling lingers through much of the production, its purpose is realized by picture's end when the film's derangement, wayward tone, and plethora of characters converge for a grotesque and unforgettable evening of terror that's outwardly nauseating in its excessive violence but, and more crucial to the film, inwardly troublesome thanks to its effective and chilling depiction of a mind lost to some unfathomable depth where fantasy, reality, and everything in between becomes jumbled in a selfish and psychotic breakdown where right and wrong have no meaning. Based on a novel of the same name by Jack Ketchum, The Lost isn't artful cinema, but it elicits a response and manages to transform itself from an insipid film in a near comatose state to something that offers a glimpse into the depths of the human psyche, but without much to show for it at the end. A noble effort to showcase the dangers of a polluted mind, The Lost offers a barrage of gratuitous nudity and violence and uses them to demonstrate just how low humanity can sink, but as for a purpose or lesson to be learned -- aside from "don't kill a bunch of people" -- well, there really isn't any.

The face of a lunatic.

Ray Pye (Marc Senter), his girlfriend Jennifer (Shay Astar), and friend Tim (Alex Frost) stumble across two girls on a camping trip. Ray decides to murder them in cold blood and for no good reason. One dies instantly and the other manages to escape but perishes in a comatose state four years later. Police suspect Ray in the killings, but could never collect any substantial evidence in their favor. Ray's still with Jennifer, but he's also unfaithful to her; she remains with him for his popularity and iron-fisted control over her, even if she secretly wishes otherwise. Ray makes an unsuccessful pass at a young girl named Sally (Megan Henning), an employee at his mother's motel, but he does manage to connect with the beautiful Katherine (Robin Sydney), a young daddy's girl with a taste for adventure and an odd attraction to Ray's bad boy attitude that he effectively intermixes with a false sweetness. Ray confides his darkest secrets to Katherine and finds himself helplessly attracted to her, all the while continuing on with his relationship with Jennifer. When Ray's world starts to crumble around him and he loses his control over the women in his life, his already fragile mental state leads him down a path of no return that promises to forever alter the landscape of his quiet hometown.

One of the film's key moments comes in its opening title card that relays the short tale of a young boy who once placed crushed beer cans in his shoes to appear taller. It's that sort of detail that truly defines the film's lead character, who throughout is both protagonist and antagonist, a fairly unique character that's impossible to like but nevertheless, at times, easy to empathize with as he demonstrates flashes of innocence, confusion, and even desperation in a life that's always been about him -- and only him -- but still hasn't made him complete. Indeed, it's the Ray character and all that's rattling around inside his head that makes The Lost an intriguing little slice of rather obscure cinema; he lives in a world that attempts to embrace him, satisfy him, and understand him, but for Ray, that's not enough. Whether wanting to look taller, accentuating his features (or adding new ones) with make-up, seeking out new female conquests, or murdering two innocent girls simply for the thrill of the moment, Ray's life remains incomplete, a fact he struggles with throughout the picture, even when everything seems to be under his control. The Lost does an exceptional job of demonstrating Ray's way of life, framing his loss of control in contexts that reinforce his true loneliness and confusion, and while it's not enough to completely comprehend his selfish and aggressive actions throughout the picture, the film does a fine job of showing the audience the hows and the whys. Then again, considering a mind that's this lost and confused, that's about all one could ask.

The Lost's grisly tone and confused structure that reinforces the thought patterns of a warped mind are nicely captured in Director Chris Sivertson's (I Know Who Killed Me) film. He makes use of a jumbled physical structure that entwines rough footage with more modern and slick techniques, but much of the picture has something of a vintage 1970s feel, appropriate considering the novel was set in the Vietnam era, though the film takes place in an unspecified but identifiably modern setting. Stylistically, the film makes more sense in hindsight or in repeat viewings than it does upon initial inspection; The Lost is a film that contains elements, pacing, characters, and settings that aren't immediately recognizable as important to the thematic structure of the picture or coherent in placing throughout the movie; indeed, The Lost isn't a film of misdirection, but it is a film of deliberate obscurity that manages to take several base elements and allow them to all contribute to Ray's continued decline into excessive self-indulgence and self-centeredness and the subsequent fall from grace as he allows the pressures of his world and of his own making to get the best of him and ruin the lives of those that dared become part of his life, wittingly or otherwise. The film's performances are startlingly good as well, though again, all of the idiosyncrasies don't necessarily make sense in the broader context until the film's flashpoint and uncertain conclusion.

The Lost Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Lost arrives on Blu-ray with a messy 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. The film's opening sequence -- particularly nighttime shots -- inspires little confidence in the image. Featuring banding, overwhelming blacks, and plenty of white splotches over the image, not to mention a lack of fine detail, heavy noise, and the absence of depth, The Lost sets a visual tone that's underwhelming at best and remains so throughout the picture. The image fluctuates between offering an acceptably sharp image to a particularly fuzzy one, though as the film progresses, there begins an intermixture of lower-grade film stock to give the movie a deliberately rough-and-tumble feel. Such scenes are forgivable for excess noise and other assorted problems, and as such, it's sometimes difficult to discern what's filmmaker intent and what's a flaw of the transfer. Either way, The Lost is anything but a pretty film. Excess dirt and debris, random vertical lines, washed out textures, and other maladies seem to accentuate the film's mood but lessen its overall visual appearance. Fine detail can be moderately good at times, though the film generally takes on a flat, dull appearance that's devoid of much more than a basic visual structure. With no commentary track or other supplement to better define the film's intended visual appearance, it's difficult to adequately judge this transfer. Suffice it to say, The Lost will never be a good looking film, but it stands to reason that some of the flaws found here could be corrected in the future. As such, The Lost earns a fledgling grade smack-dab in the middle of the scale.

The Lost Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Lost features a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack with no lossless or uncompressed options available. Although there's plenty of ambient and surround sound effects throughout the film, there's never a sense of realistic space about this track; much of it sounds compressed and stuffed in the fronts, with ambient effects sometimes too loud or otherwise not naturally implemented into the mix. Additionally, the film's musical presentations lack that distinct clarity associated with the better Blu-ray soundtracks. Dialogue is often mushy, and there's no sense of power or ambition about the track. Low end percussion beats come across as wimpy and lacking even a hint of power, while more aggressive effects, such as gunshots, do little more than convey a basic sonic signature that's identifiable as a gunshot but far from realistic in pitch and power. In short, The Lost features a passable but extremely underwhelming soundtrack that's due in part to the film's limited budget but also simply a result of a routine mix that does nothing to immerse the listener into the action.

The Lost Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Lost contains no extra materials.

The Lost Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Lost is an examination of a wayward soul and a deranged mind. The picture offers no cause but only effect and no resolution other than to say that, in extreme cases of self-aggrandizement, there's perhaps no means of escape for those unfortunate enough to fall victim to a dangerously demented individual. The Lost is a rough, confused film that doesn't make much sense until Ray's mind unravels beyond the point of no return, when the world he's built begins to crumble, when he realizes that neither everyone nor everything is under his absolute, unwavering, unquestioning control. Low budget but highly effective, The Lost is a brutally graphic, unforgiving, and unflinching glimpse into the life of a disturbed individual, the film offering no real redeeming value as pure entertainment but is certainly bound to elicit a broad range of unsettling emotions after the fact. This Starz/Anchor Bay release proves something of a disappointment, featuring a rough 1080p video transfer, a wimpy lossless soundtrack, and no extras. Nevertheless, and considering the price, fans should not hesitate to pick this one up, and The Lost comes recommended to audiences that can stomach one of the more graphic and unsettling low-budget pictures of the past several years.