Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Wind Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 17, 2021

The late 1800s were a particularly rough and tough period for European immigrants settling in the Great Pains, which is the stark milieu in director Emma Tammi's fictional debut, The Wind (2018; full title: The Wind: Demons of the Prairie). As the movie opens, the camera slowly pulls back from the front of a farm cabin where a woman opens the door up to two men waiting. The gown worn by Elizabeth "Lizzy" Macklin (Caitlin Gerard) is covered in blood as she holds a stillborn wrapped in cloth. There's a jump cut to a burial site and an overhead shot of a disfigured woman with her infant in a coffin. The first two scenes are a prelude to the grim material and abrupt editing that The Wind has in store for its audience.

Lizzy is a German immigrant whose been married eight years to Isaac (Ashley Zukerman). They've settled on a New Mexico prairie where they hope to start a family. It's hinted that Lizzy was pregnant but likely suffered a miscarriage. (In those days, there were few doctors in remote rural places.) The Macklins welcome their new neighbors, Emma Haper (Julia Goldani Telles) and her husband Gideon (Dylan McTee), who live about a mile away. Emma develops an affection for Isaac because Gideon is nowhere near the efficient farmer that he is. Lizzy and Emma develop an almost sisterly bond, spending as much if not more time than with their beaus. While resting by a tree, Emma tells Lizzy: "This land is funny, ya know. It plays tricks on your mind." One evening, Gideon calls the Macklins over to get Emma out from underneath the bed. Emma's petrified because she claims a demon tried to attack her. Lizzy tries to assuage but Emma snaps back at her harshly. This forces Lizzy to pour chloroform on a cloth and put it to Emma's face, which puts her in a deep sleep. Lizzy is also haunted by an ephemeral presence in the fields and sickening noises by the wolves and goat. She hides inside with her double-barrelled shotgun. But the husbands don't believe their wives' tales that something sinister occupies the land.

The premise for The Wind is told chronologically but the story events are presented out of order. Editor Alexandra Amick and the entire sound department do a highly effective job of creating jarring transitions from the howling wind and Ben Lovett's discordant music. But the nonlinear edits also drags the movie out too much and yield some narrative inconsistencies. For instance, while Isaac thinks that Lizzy is either imagining or hallucinating about supernatural forces, he seems to agree with her that something's stalking them. He says in effect that if she feels a demon is lurking, then she should shoot it. Also, if he feels that she's neurotic, then we doesn't he spend more time at the homestead with her? Isaac also seems to be gone retrieving food and other supplies.

The Wind seems to change up who encounters a fantasy, dream, or lived experience. For example, one supposed dream appears if it emanates from Emma (whose recently awakened), but it also could come have from Lizzy, who's also in the room. If Tammi and screenwriter Teresa Sutherland want to impart a strong feminist message, it's undercut because the fissured narrative obfuscates too much between reality and fantasy. Lizzy and (to a lesser degree) Emma are each strong-willed protagonists but the movie gives the audience so much misdirection that it becomes more difficult to accept and believe their version of events.

The Wind Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory has brought The Wind to Blu-ray as part of its IFC Midnight line. (The movie also has been released on Blu-ray in Germany and Norway.) This MPEG-4 AVC-encoded disc is a BD-25 and comes with a slipcover. The movie appears in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of 2.39:1. The transfer is clean with a clear and detailed picture. Tammi told The Movable Fest's Stephen Saito that she wanted to use anamorphic lenses to give her film a classical look that would capture the wide-open vistas of the Old West. Cinematographer Lyn Moncrief does a magnificent job with the framing and light. He shot The Wind using the ARRI ALEXA. The image is quite crisp with no signs of black crush. Daytime scenes are very bright while the night scenes are quite dark and illuminated by a candle, fire, or lantern. Scream has encoded the movie at a mean video bitrate of 24368 kbps.

Digital intermediate: Soapbox Films
Digital image technician: Alexandra Amick
Colorist: Harris Charalambous
Color correction services: Foxxy Looks (creative color grading owned by Charalambous)

The 88-minute feature comes with a dozen chapter breaks.

The Wind Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2460 kbps, 24-bit) and a downsampled mix of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1622 kbps, 24-bit). I listened to both tracks and the stereo keeps dialogue, music, and effects along the front channels. The uncompressed 5.1 mix opens f/x and music up to the rears. It's worth noting here how Tammi constructed The Wind's ethereal sound design, as she explained to Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue: "We recorded sound on the actual locations we were using even before we started shooting, and then we built the sound design for months and months after we wrapped. We tried to find every range of 'emotion' for the wind, so there are moments when it is tormenting, when it's soothing, when it's teasing. It interacts with Lizzy constantly, and we also wanted it to reflect some of what she was feeling internally." The sound track also picks up the creaky floor boards and the "Wolf SFX," which is credited to Russell SFX. I would have liked a higher encode on the 5.1 since the downmix doesn't do much.

American composer Ben Lovett (not to be confused with the British rocker of the same name) wrote original music for the film. This unconventional score consists of a bass flute, three violins, two cellos, one viola, and a nyckelharpa. According to a musician who goes by "The Lore of the Strings," a nyckelharpa is a vintage Swedish fiddle made out of 16 strings (4 playing strings, 12 sympathetic strings). That instrument and the musical style are apropos to the late nineteenth century and the influx of Swedish immigrants working the land. It isn't a sweeping score by any stretch, though. There are mostly atonal chords.

Scream provides optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

The Wind Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Women of the West (3:28, 1080p) - an EPK featurette by Performance Pictures containing clips from The Wind and interview snippets with actors Caitlin Gerard and Julia Goldani Telles, as well as director/executive producer Emma Tammi and screenwriter/associate producer Teresa Sutherland. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:34, 1080p) - IFC Midnight's official trailer for The Wind presented in 2.39:1 with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo. This is a post-festival trailer intercut with quotes by various critics.

• Bonus Trailers - previews for I Trapped the Devil (1:44, 1080p), Rust Creek (2:19, 1080p), and The Clovehitch Killer (2:10, 1080p). These play after the disc loads. They're not listed or accessible through the Bonus popup menu.

The Wind Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Wind strives to be a supernatural horror/Western hybrid and through its beautiful visuals and atmosphere, it succeeds. But the unreliable narration, cinematic ellipses, and zigzag structure confounds its intended pro-feminist message. The cinematography by Lyn Moncrief is outstanding as is the ominous score by Ben Lovett. Those who enjoyed The Witch (2015) will want to check it out. I also think it will appeal to those who like M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002) and The Village (2004). Scream Factory delivers a most excellent transfer and very good lossless 5.1 audio. Extras are on the skimpy side. I would have appreciated hearing Tammi and Sutherland on a commentary. But because of the wonderful photography and powerful score, I'm giving The Wind a MODERATE RECOMMENDATION.