6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A socially awkward driver and a weary passenger try to make it to their destination while being haunted by a supernatural threat.
Starring: Jordan Hayes, Max Topplin, James McGowan, Rosemary Dunsmore, Sharon McFarlaneThriller | Insignificant |
Foreign | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
There may be something a little disconcerting for those wanting a career in acting when one of the talking heads in the making of featurette included on this disc as a (sole) supplement mentions that the stars of The Toll, Jordan Hayes and Max Topplin, who also co-produced the film, were far enough along in their performance careers to have the “connections” to “attract investors” (with the clear implication being that Hayes and Topplin had to personally reach out to folks to ask for money, not that their mere presence attracted it). A rather long crawl of names in the closing credits given “special thanks” might indicate there was a small scale crowdfunding effort boosting the film, but writer and director Michael Nader makes it clear in his comments in the featurette that a miniscule budget became the mother of invention for The Toll, a horror film that plays out almost entirely as a so-called “two hander”, with much of the “action” taking place in a car. The Toll would seem to be introducing yet another soon to be iconic horror film villain, in this case The Toll Man, except that Nader never quite clarifies who or what The Toll Man is, what his (its?) backstory might be, and what exactly might be the motivations behind his nefarious behaviors. Instead, the film works up a considerable amount of angst by simply detailing the unfolding relationship between traveler Cami (Jordan Hayes), who has endured a long delayed and storm ridden flight to Canada in order to visit her estranged father, and rideshare driver Spencer (Max Topplin), who is seen in the film’s opening images “swiping left” to dismiss two prospective male ride clients, before accepting Cami as his paycheck for the evening. He does so without yet having an address to drive Cami to, and when she finally gets in his car and sends the rideshare app the destination, it turns out to be a long drive into the veritable boondocks, which means that Cami and Spencer are going to be spending some considerable time together, whether or not they want to.
The Toll is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. The closing credits offer a Red Helium logo, and this is another Red captured piece that I personally found quite remarkable, considering how intentionally dark things are virtually the entire running time of the film. While detail levels are obviously at least somewhat dependent upon the amount of light offered in the frame, take a look at screenshots like 18, where there's an almost palpable rendering of the burlap, to get an idea of how generally excellent detail levels are here, within an admittedly often shadowy context. Michael Nader gets into the kind of interesting if spatially clustered use of red and gold lighting in terms of the car's back lights and headlights, but several scenes which play out in those lighting regimens are often very evocative looking. There are a few passing issues with crush, and I'm assuming the pixellated, lo-res look of some of the video feeds (as in screenshots 14 and 19) are intentional.
The Toll features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that does rely on some pretty hoary startle effects, as in the momentary vision (accompanied of course by a burst of LFE) of a "pedestrian" that Spencer and Cami think they've run over. Surround activity is subtle, but there are good uses of spooky ambient effects when the two are stumbling through the woods. Quite a bit of the film takes place in the confines of the car, where dialogue is rendered cleanly and even directionally, but where real engagement of the surround channels can be intermittent. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
It frankly won't be very surprising if Michael Nader decides to return to The Toll Man to further flesh out what is more or less an outline in this film. Nader excels at crafting a nicely moody and at least occasionally angst filled ambience, but the writing might have benefited from more clarity. Jordan Hayes and Max Topplin may have needed to call a few of their closest show business friends to help with funding for this project, but at least they got an effective demo reel out of the deal. Nader is a talent to keep an eye on, even if The Toll may not always register fully. Technical merits are solid for those who are considering a purchase.
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