Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Terror: Infamy Blu-ray Movie Review

"The weak are meat..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 13, 2024

It's a sad testament to the plight of new television productions that I have an easier time delving into an anthology show than an ongoing series. The reason is simple: if cancellation comes a' callin', an axed ongoing series has cost me a great deal of time and emotional investment. But an anthology show? No such bad luck. Such is the case with The Terror, an eerie little AMC horror outing that, after two seasons, was unceremoniously given the boot. But no worries, Blu-ray fans. You can pick up the first or second season without losing a minute or a dime. Infamy has nothing to do with the series' first season, nor does it end with a promise of any carryover to a potential third season (which isn't coming anyway). The two share nothing in common, well, save the titular terror. The first season told the tale of the doomed crews of two British ships stranded in the arctic ice, hunted -- perhaps haunted -- by a strange Inuit creature known to the locals as The Tuunbaq. Infamy, though, ditches the Brits and focuses on an American-run Japanese WWII internment camp, where a community of Japanese Americans are terrorized by real world and supernatural forces.

Synopsis: In The Terror: Infamy, the second installment of producer and Primetime Emmy winner Ridley's Scott's horror-tinged anthology, a group of World War II-era Japanese-Americans on Southern California's Terminal Island are menaced by a "bakemono," a folkloric specter that may or may not be more dangerous than the retired American Major Hallowell Bowen (C. Thomas Howell), an official with the War Relocation Authority. Suffering forced evictions and imprisonment after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Terminal Islanders are hounded by prejudice and injustice, as well as bad omens and bizarre deaths. One of them, Chester Nakayama (Derek Mio), decides to take on the malevolent entity, journeying to realms of evil in both the present... and the distant past.

Executive produced by Alexander Woo (True Blood), Ridley Scott (The Martian, Gladiator), Guymon Casady (Game of Thrones), Alexandra Milchan (The Wolf of Wall Street), David W. Zucker (Killing Kennedy), Jordan Sheehan (The Man in the High Castle), and written by Max Borenstein (Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla), The Terror: Infamy also stars Derek Mio, Kiki Sukezane, Naoko Mori, Miki Ishikawa, George Takei, Cristina Rodlo, Shingo Usami, Hira Ambrosino, Eiji Inoue, James Saito, Reilly Dolman, Lee Shorten, Alex Shimizu, Yuta Takenaka, Camille Martinez and Reed Diamond.

What begins with a good deal of grace and a palpable sense of creeping dread soon unspools a bit, getting lost in the balance between human and ghostly horrors. Two competing plot threads, each with its own dire straits and stakes to offer, compete in all the wrong ways, vying for attention and dividing the series' efforts. It all recovers before it falls too far, thankfully, but the damage lasts the entirety of the ten-episode season. There are fantastic characters in both the Japanese-American and American relocation camps, a tantalizing blend of terrors foreign and domestic, and some truly spooky visuals, scares and starts. The endgame is even stronger than its preceding opening and middle stretch, gaining momentum as everything begins to converge and answers become clear. Moreover, unlike the first season, the supernatural entities here can't be misunderstood as hallucinations or the product of the harsh elements, nor does a central creature like The Tuunbaq turn out to be a strangely CG'd polar bear. No, the ghosts in Infamy bite, and help, and hurt, and embrace, and hinder. J-horror fans will be pleased with the variety, as the twisting, turning Japanese folklore bits bear plenty of fruit.

Beyond the J-horror B-plot is also a strong A-plot that runs parallel to horrific history. Internment camps are easily as frightening as the arctic expanse of Season One, and I'd argue more so. Weather, climate, blizzards, even predators; each are servants of the natural; evils that only seem evil to the likes of those fighting to surive. Here the threat is so much more physical, prevalent and inevitable. Escape again becomes the goal, and a salient sense of being trapped presses in from all sides, but Infamy does something more interesting than its predecessor: ambition. Racial tension, bigotry, hate and other timely topics are tackled, one by one, until the series' takes on an almost poignant relevance that reaches past its surface genre tale. Yes, the series' ambitions are a touch too far-reaching, and yes, the show never quite sticks the landing as well as it desperately hopes to. But there's genuine terror in the idea that human beings might never achieve the peace and enlightment dreamed of since we first stepped foot out of the caves. Maybe we're damned to kill one another, to hate, to fight, to kill, over and over again until we blink out and disappear. That's the true horror of Infamy: the thought that we might be too far gone to save.

Lionsgate presents The Terror: Infamy's ten episodes across three BD-50 discs:

1. A Sparrow In a Swallow's Nest - In 1941 Chester Nakayama is caught between his insular Japanese American neighborhood on Terminal Island and his current all-American life; extreme circumstances push his community and personal life to the brink, all while someone watches closely.

2. All the Demons are Still In Hell - After Pearl Harbor, the Terminal Islanders are evicted from their homes and must find shelter elsewhere; while Henry, separated from his family, faces injustice at the hands of the government, Chester engages in a paranoid search for answers.

3. Gaman - As the Terminal Islanders adjust to their new surroundings, Chester tries to provide for his family, while fending off the evil that follows him; Henry reels from the trauma of his imprisonment; Asako sees bad omens; Amy takes up a new job.

4. The Weak are Meat - Chester, in search of a better life, is treated with hostility by his fellow Americans; Luz hopes to be accepted by Henry and Asako in their new home as the Japanese American community celebrates Obon, a festival to commemorate the dead.

5. Shatter Like a Pearl - The Japanese Americans are forced to undertake a humiliating exercise that divides the community; Chester comes face to face with a man who forces him to question his very nature; Luz, stricken by grief, is forced to make an important choice.

6. Taizo - A story of the past provides insight into the present evil that stalks the Terminal Islanders; Chester returns home to his family; Henry and Asako are faced with a difficult decision.

7. My Perfect World - The Nakayamas have been torn apart; Chester searches for the person he believes can help, by any means necessary; an outbreak in the community forces Amy to act, though she's caught between doing what she's told and doing what's right.

8. My Sweet Boy - Chester and Luz have reached a turning point in their relationship; Amy must take matters into her own hands as she's tormented by a powerful nemesis; Chester meets a boy who gives him answers.

9. Come and Get Me - The Terminal Islanders return home to find that things have changed since they left; the Nakayamas, still tense from the pain they've inflicted on one another, must come together to battle the spirit that threatens their future.

10. Into the Afterlife - Henry and Asako look to the past to provide answers to their current turmoil; Chester and Luz grapple with their identities in hopes of saving those who are dearest to them; Amy and Yamato-san struggle to once again assimilate into American life.

The Terror: Infamy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lionsgate brings The Terror: Infamy to Blu-ray with a strong AVC-encoded 1080p presentation. Colors are dusty and subdued but ultimately quite striking throughout, bolstered by the patented palette of so many WWII stories and lending a desaturated despair and longing to the proceedings. Flesh tones are handsome and lifelike, primaries occasionally startle with vibrant power, and black levels, though a tad wanting at times, are solid. Detail is also remarkable, with natural edge definition free of haloing and fine textures that are both beautifully resolved and more filmic than a few irritatingly razor-sharp digital productions of the last few years. Moreover, anomalies like banding are largely absent -- if not entirely MIA -- although I did detect fleeting glimpses of slight, almost imperceptible blocking in the night skies on a small handful of instances. (Nothing remotely as bad as the compression issues consumers encountered while watching the UK Blu-ray release of Season One. Here it amounts to quick blips on the radar rather than any sort of prevailing problem.) All told, Infamy looks fantastic and will easily please fans of the series.

The Terror: Infamy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Infamy's lossless audio is similarly impressive. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, confidently centered and convincingly grounded in the soundscape. The bustle of the camp is brought to (depressing) life courtesy of assertive rear speaker engagement as well, creating a soundfield that makes interiors inviting, exteriors involving and ghostly scenes more frightening. Directionality is spot on and channel pans are eerily smooth, infusing hauntings with a greater sense of presence from the entity stalking the Japanese Americans. Several scenes featuring the chaos and violence of racism and hate are backed by chest-thumping LFE output; a strange compliment but one that, here, is warranted. Bottom line? Infamy sounds every bit as good as it looks and eliminates any and every distraction, allowing fans to sink in, hunch down and try to survive the horrors the series has in store.

The Terror: Infamy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release doesn't include any substantial special features.

The Terror: Infamy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Terror: Infamy is, in some ways, better than its first season predecessor. But it doesn't quite live up to its ambitions in its middle act, losing the careful balance between human and supernatural horror stories nailed in its opening and especially its final episodes. Does it ruin the season? Hardly. Infamy boasts a great story and engaging characters, not to mention the fact that it stands as the first TV show to ever dedicate a season in its entirety to the interment of Japanese-American citizens during WWII. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release is even better, with an excellent AV presentation that's well worth the bargain-priced cost of entry. More special features would have been most welcome, particularly considering the all too real stories of the men and women who were arrested and thrown into internment camps, but the series is steady enough to stand on its own in that regard. Recommended.