The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 23, 2024

Unearthed Films is not my friend. Oh, I appreciate that the distributor regularly supplies screeners, I do. But some of the films so challenge good taste and the constitution of my stomach that I'm left timidly pressing play after removing a disc from a case whose coverart tells me exactly what kind of film I'm about to endure. In that way, I suppose The Profane Exhibit doesn't disappoint. It delivers exactly what it promises: the profane, the foul, the disgusting, the disturbing... content that pushes boundaries and defies morality in favor of sicker, splashier, bloodier stuff. Unfortunately, not all the shorts including in the long-gestating horror anthology are up to snuff. Hit or miss (with emphasis on the misses) is the name of the deadly game, and it renders all but a handful of the short films groan-inducing, eye-rolling, nauseating and downright frustrating.

At an undisclosed location in the underground circles of Paris exists a club that's home to a secret society. But not just any secret society: a gathering of the world's richest and most evil patrons of the homicidal arts. Their host, Madame Sabatier, listens as each member shares stories of depravity, and allows the wealthy elites to indulge in their sickest pleasures. The stories this night include an eager-to-please wife who learns her husband abducts and kills women; a botched suicide attempt; a girl possessed by a demon who comes face to face with a corrupt priest; a respected surgeon who turns out to be something more sinister; a prostitute who gets more than she bargained for; an abducted nun whose year-long torture leaves her a feral shell of the woman she once was; a girl who encounters more than she bargained for during a bus ride; a man who finds himself at the (lack of) mercy of a cult of women who get off on consuming human flesh; and a trip to Africa, where human life is sold to the highest bidder.

The anthology's short films include:

• "Mother May I," directed by Anthony DiBlasi
• "The Hell-Chef," directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura
• "Basement," directed by Uwe Boll
• "The Bridge," directed by Ruggero Deodato
• "Mors in Tabula," directed by Marian Dora
• "Tophet Quorum," directed by Sergio Stivaletti
• "Goodwife," directed by Ryan Nicholson
• "Sins of the Father," directed by Nacho Vigalondo
• "Amuse Bouche," directed by Jeremy Kasten
• "Manna," directed by Michael Todd Schneider

The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I didn't come to a horror anthology expecting any sort of consistency in terms of video quality, but I was still disappointed with the 1080p/AVC-encoded results. Even the shorts that shine have issues with compression artifacts and banding; shorts filmed on a tighter budget or with lesser cameras grow even wonkier, with various levels of clarity or crispness. Some chapters are softer than the next, some slathered with noise reduction, some are striking, others muddy or poorly detailed. It's a complete toss up as to what will come next, although you may be pleased that detail takes a dive when you see what some of the directors have in store for their audience. That said, colors are typically vivid, blood certainly makes its presence known, black levels are deep and inky (occasionally to the point of severe crushing), and definition and texture resolution are, at their best, satisfying.

The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Profane Exhibit features a multi-language LPCM 2.0 stereo track, as shorts are presented in English, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. (There's thankfully an option to automatically display subtitles during non-English language shorts only.) Sound design is a mixed bag, with so many competing shorts and budgets, but for the most part, voices are clear, screams and cries are clearer, prioritization is solid, and the shorts' soundscapes are decent. It's in no way a consistent experience, nor is the quality of every segment reliable, but it's functional, without any major flaws of note.

The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Director Michael Todd Schneider, producer Amanda Manuel and Ultra Violent's Art Ettinger discuss the project as a whole and offer up their thoughts on the individual segments.

• World Premiere (HD, 14 minutes) - Schneider and Manuel at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival.

• World Premiere Q & A (HD, 35 minutes) - Poor sound but a solid Q&A with Manuel and Schneider nonetheless.

• "Ten Years Later" by Marian Dora (HD, 15 minutes) - The elusive German director, explained by his actors.

• Sergio Stivaletti's Tophet Quorum (HD, 14 minutes) - A basement interview with the director.

• Awakened Manna (HD, 24 minutes) - Schneider presents a (lesser) alternate cut of his short film.

• Tiffany Blem Interviews Michael Todd Schneider (HD, 13 minutes)

• Tiffany Blem Interviews Uwe Boll (HD, 12 minutes)

• Tiffany Blem Interviews Amanda Manuel (HD 11 minutes)

• Tiffany Blem Interviews Jeremy Kasten (HD, 21 minutes)

• Production Gallery (HD, 12 minutes) - Posters, photos and behind the scenes stills from the shorts.

• Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

The Profane Exhibit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chances are you know if The Profane Exhibit is for you. Pulpy in every sense of the word, the shorts are extremely hit or miss, but that's the dice you roll when watching a low-budget, long-awaited indie horror anthology. If you love the sick and the, yes, profane, or have the balls to Google what vorarephillia is, then you're the film's target audience. Enjoy. Or don't. I just need to move on to the next film! *Stomach gurgles* Unearthed Films' Blu-ray release suffers accordingly. While its supplemental package is packed with content, its AV quality dips, dives and dodges from one short to the next, lending the project a truly underground look and feel, but leaving presentation standards by the wayside.