The Stylist Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Stylist Blu-ray Movie Review

Leatherscalp?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 23, 2021

Two titles which recently showed up in my review queue, Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema and Clapboard Jungle, addressed in their own way how difficult it can be for females to endure in the film industry. If the first title was more focused on that particular subject, as its very title may suggest, the more generalist Clapboard Jungle, which deals with the trials and tribulations of independent filmmaking by folks of either gender, may be the more salient referent to The Stylist for another reason, aside and apart from the fact that Clapboard Jungle features sequences devoted to females that are at least horror adjacent, a genre that Women Make Film doesn't spend a whale of a lot of time on. That's because both Clapboard Jungle and The Stylist are releases from Arrow Video, and they both show in their own way how wonderfully this "niche" label curates new and/or emerging talent. The Stylist began life (and/or death, considering the accruing body count the film documents) as a celebrated short (included on this disc as a supplement), one which co-writer and director Jill Gevargizian, herself a hair stylist for many years, then used to help launch a Kickstarter campaign to fund a full feature. If this "new, improved" version is nicely fleshed out (so to speak) in some ways, it also kind of curiously leaves unexplored one interesting element that is briefly seen in the short, namely a bad scar on the neck of focal beautician Claire (Najarra Townsend, repeating her role from the short). The opening vignette of the feature basically recreates the bulk of the short and documents Claire's disturbing modus operandi, whereby a client coming in to Claire's shop to get her hair done is summarily drugged and then scalped, with the hairy "trophy" Claire ends up with being taken home and added to an unsettlingly large collection, which then allows Claire to try on various "wigs" which in turn give her an opportunity to adopt various personae.

In that "alternate identity" regard, The Stylist pays unabashed homage to a film and character that Gevargizian is overtly on record as stating provided an inspiration for the film, namely The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Leatherface. But there's a more "human" element here, for want of a better word, since Claire is shown as a supposedly "normal" woman out in the real world who is obviously suffering from some deep psychological issues, and who is isolated and fragile, and, as a result, decidedly dangerous. (It's interesting to note in this regard that both Leatherface and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning sought to perhaps "humanize" the horrifying monster at the core of the franchise.)

Too often horror films are simply out to shock and possibly even disgust, offering a nonstop barrage of blood and guts that may in fact cause nightmares but which have little real "meaning". As Alexandra Heller-Nicholas gets into in a very interesting video essay also included on this disc as a supplement (just another example of how well Arrow curates "cult" releases by little known filmmakers), The Stylist actually has something to say about both women working in the horror genre, as well as women working, albeit often in "invisible" roles where their identities are not recognized or acknowledged. That gives The Stylist a rather stark emotional undercurrent that actually ends up delivering a remarkable power to the proceedings, however lunatic they may be.

While it's never really developed in the short, that aforementioned scar seems to at least hint at physical as well as psychological damage that Claire experienced at some point, but arguably the biggest failing of The Stylist is that despite being extended to feature length, there's still not very much information given about what has driven Claire to be so desperately unhinged, albeit still able to "maintain" within certain parameters. This lack of information perhaps hinders any attempt to really understand Claire, who seems all too aware of her murderous tendencies, to the point that she initially doesn't want to do the "wedding hair" for regular client Olivia (Brea Grant), seemingly fearful that things might go awry. But at virtually the drop of a hat and/or a stylist's scissors Claire has little to no problem with viciously attacking and scalping seemingly "random" people who nonetheless she's been seen with, throwing caution at least a little to the wind.

If the narrative side of things might have been beefed up a little, from both an aesthetic and technical side The Stylist is quite impressive. Townsend, who also co-produced, is rarely if ever off screen, and manages to make Claire both crumblingly insecure and absolutely horrifying, and Gevargizian and her crew have fashioned a really splendidly designed and shot feature.

The Stylist Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Stylist is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains only some brief and fairly generic information about the transfer:

The Stylist is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 sound. The High Definition master was provided by XYZ Films.

While I haven't actually been able to track down any verifiable online technical data on the shoot (the IMDb offers little), Gevargizian's Kickstarter page to help fund this project mentions cinematographer Robert Patrick Stern and his work on the short which started it all, and mentions Red cameras, and this feature certainly has the sharp, almost crystalline at times, image quality and gorgeous palette that Red technology frequently provides (longtime readers of my reviews know for whatever reason I tend to prefer Red capture over Arri Alexa). No matter what camera was utilized, this transfer offers generally superior fine detail levels and some appealing definition in even quite dimly lit moments. The most noticeable thing from a design aesthetic standpoint is the really distinctive combination of greens, yellows and what I might almost term auburn oranges. There are also some really evocative uses of red and purple, notably in a devastating sequence taking place during Olivia's bachelorette party. Some of the split screen material can occasionally look just slightly less well detailed.

The Stylist Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Stylist features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which has occasional explosions of surround activity, as in one particularly violent attack partway through the film, or in a nightclub where a bachelorette party takes place, but which is rather subtle otherwise, tending to offer almost subliminal engagement of the side and rear channels courtesy of Nicholas Elert's score or ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Stylist Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Co-Writer / Producer / Director Jill Gevargizian and Actress / Producer Najarra Townsend is a nice, chatty discussion. The two disclose early on that the pandemic prevented them from attending planned screenings together, and doing this commentary was their first chance to view the completed film together.


• Exclusive Blu-ray Introduction by Jill Gevargizian (HD; approximately 00:45) can be accessed under the Play Menu and is authored to segue directly into the film. The Play Menu also offers an option to play the film without the introduction.


• The Invisible Woman (HD; 20:14) is a really interesting visual essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas which explores themes of women's labor, often unrecognized, and the perhaps linked phenomenon of female killers.


• Behind the Scenes Featurettes (HD; 1:06:04) offer a really appealing aggregation of featurettes that cover a broad range of subjects including focal characters Claire and Olivia, production design, and filming in Kansas City. These all offer great interviews with various cast and crew members.


• Location Scouting (HD; 4:12) provides snippets of the script and then looks at various locations utilized in the shoot.


• Outtakes (HD; 6:31)


• Original Kickstarter Video (HD; 2:30) features Jill Gevargizian drumming up support for her project.


• Short Films

  The Stylist (HD; 14:58)

  
  

  Pity (HD; 9:01, with optional introduction by director) is a 2016 short directed by The Stylist's editor John Pata.

• Trailers

  Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:03)

  
  

  Trailer (HD; 1:46)

• Image Galleries

  Production Stills (HD; 5:40)

  
  

  Location Scouting (HD; 7:40)

Additionally, Arrow provides both a Soundtrack CD and a Folded Mini-Poster in this Limited Edition, along with their typically nicely appointed insert booklet.

The Stylist Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arrow Video has really done Jill Gevargizian and her team proud with this release, and if the film might have been a bit better developed from a narrative standpoint, appropriately in the style department it's aces. Technical merits are first rate as is the supplementary package. Recommended.