Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

The Woman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 2, 2020

Note: The Collective released The Woman way back in 2012 (the link points to that release) , and I reviewed that release then. This review repeats portions of that review.

What does it say about us as a species that there’s such a thing as torture porn? What does it say that this unabashedly violent, usually completely disgusting genre (at least to some of us) manages to rake in sizable box office returns and seems to do especially well on home video releases? (Could it be people are actually a little ashamed to be watching this stuff, and so prefer to see it in the privacy of their own homes?) The sociological implications are troubling, to say the least, but they’re beyond the ken of this reviewer. It frankly just baffles me that people would ever want to see people degraded, disemboweled, sliced, diced and manhandled to the point of being little more than bloody pulps. But there is obviously is a sizable fanbase for this content, and many of them will probably love The Woman. There have been a number of films which have attempted to couch their torture porn roots in highfalutin’ concepts, like the recent A Serbian Film. But The Woman doesn’t even have that film’s (questionable) level of pretentiousness. This is a film all about misogyny which attempts to counteract its first 9/10ths by delivering a supposed comeuppance in its climactic showdown that does little to balance the scales, other than spraying both sides with about equal amounts of guts and gore. With a frankly ridiculous narrative style which dances just this side of self-parody (which would have been a better choice, all things considered) and one completely disturbing and disgusting sequence after another, there’s little here other than shock value, and even that shock value doesn’t offer any real shock other than that engendered by disgust.

The Woman could almost—almost—be seen as flirting with satire, a la Married With Children, as it introduces a Cleaver- esque family headed by attorney Chris (Sean Bridgers), properly submissive wife Belle (Angela Bettis), randy son Brian (Zach Rand), troubled teen daughter Peggy (Lauren Ashley Carter), and sweet kid Darlin’ (Shyla Molhusen). All is not picture perfect, however, and Chris fears he’s losing his all-important control over his supposed charges. That all changes when he stumbles across a feral woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) while hunting one day, captures her, and drags her home, chaining her up in his barn as a “prize” he wants to share with his brood. (In the somewhat comical department, writer-director Lucky McKee pronounced ‘feral’ as “fear all” in the making of documentary accompanying the feature on this Blu-ray, perhaps indicative of the intellectual acumen of the “creative” team behind this travesty.)

As distasteful as The Woman undeniably is, there are actually a few sparks of saving grace scattered here and there, if one is prone to look hard enough for them. Director McKee actually has some visual flair and directorial craft at his beck and call, with a number of really well staged scenes on display throughout the film. But it’s craft ill suited for this smarmy and unseemly content, pretty window dressing surrounding a rotting corpse, as I mentioned in another recent review for similarly gussied up trash. What really could have ultimately saved this film would have been more of its occasional sense of humor about itself. After Chris’ finger is bitten off by the feral woman, he exacts revenge in a typically gruesome manner, after which he calmly asserts, “There, I feel better about my finger now.” If only The Woman had had the courage to pursue those black comedic elements to their furthest potential there might have been more to recommend about this piece.

It must also be admitted that at least a couple of times in this fairly gory enterprise McKee actually errs on the side of caution, deciding not to actually show some violence which is only alluded to. Therefore a really disturbing scene with Brian, some needle nosed pliers and the feral woman actually manages to deliver some real chills, simply by dint of the fact that it isn’t incredibly graphic. As any seasoned horror director will tell you (at least any old school seasoned horror director), it’s often best not to show everything you have the ability to, for the audience’s imagination will certainly make things scarier and more horrific than outright depiction ever could. Unfortunately McKee falls into the trap of so many young horror directors by wanting all that blood and guts up on the screen, virtually dripping into the audience’s lap.

By the time the film cartwheels into its hyperbolic denouement, when one of Peggy’s teachers shows up at the farm about a possible pregnancy scare involving the teen (could Chris be involved?), the movie just descends into pure silliness, albeit (of course) completely gruesome silliness. It’s rare these days for labels or PR firms to send “swag” with their releases, but The Collective sent along a little “bonus” item with The Woman, a little rubber heart covered with fake blood inscribed with “She’ll rip your heart out,” a major clue to one of the film’s bloodier moments. The fact is, for a lot of people not especially fond of this kind of film, they may want to rip their own hearts out (or at least their eyes) so they don’t have to watch something as downright trashy and disgusting as The Woman.

The Woman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Woman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following verbiage on the transfer:

The Woman was restored in 4K by Moderncine. The film is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio with its original 5.1 surround sound mix.

The original digital intermediate was remastered in 4K resolution by the film's editor and post-production supervisor Zach Passero. The film was restored and graded in SDR and HDR at Cheeky Moneky Post. All restoration work was supervised and approved by director Lucky McKee.

I really didn' t find much to quibble with vis a vis the first Blu-ray put out by The Collective years ago, but this new Arrow version has arguably better clarity and more consistent levels of what were already substantial amounts of fine detail. It looks to me like this Arrow is just ever so slightly brighter than the older Blu-ray, something that perhaps helps with some shadow detail, which (as mentioned in my original review of the version by The Collective) was already surprisingly strong in the first release. The film's sometimes cooler grading choices, as in some of the greenish forest scenes, look a bit more deeply suffused to me in this version. As tends to be the case with Arrow releases, i noticed no glaring compression anomalies.

The Woman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I heard no discernable differences between this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and the one on the old disc put out by The Collective, though it's worth noting that this release comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 option, whereas the previous release had only a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track as its stereo option. As I mentioned in the review of the first release, the film's score may not appeal to everyone, but it, along with a wide array of ambient environmental effects, make good use of the surround channels. Both outdoor activity and even some of the more harrowing "chained" interior moments regularly utilize the side and rear channels to establish spatial relationships. Dialogue (anot to mention the more than occasional feral grunt) is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation.

The Woman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As fans of cult cinema may be expecting, it's Arrow's excellent set of supplements that may provide even more interest than the film itself for some:

• Commentaries

  Commentary by Lucky McKee

  
  

  Commentary by Lucky McKee, Zach Pasero, Andrew Smelek and Sean Spillane

  
  

  Commentary by Pollyanna McIntosh

  
  

  Commentary by Scott Weinberg

• Dad on the Wall: Filming The Woman (1080i; 1:15:13) is advertised as being a "newly assembled fly on the wall" aggregation of candid shots caught by Mike McKee, the father of director Lucky McKee.


• Meet Peggy Cleek (1080p; 19:59) is a new interview with Lauren Ashley Carter.


• Malam Domesticam: The Making of The Woman (1080p; 25:29) is an archival featurette from 2011.


• Meet the Makers (1080i; 6:49) offers six short biographical featurettes originally produced for cable channel Chiller.


• American Horror: A Panel Discussion (1080p; 44:46) took place in 2011 at Film4 Frightfest in London, and includes Lucky McKee.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 5:55) also includes outtakes.


• Mi Burro (1080p; 6:41) is a short animated film directed by The Woman's editor Zach Passero, and produced by Lucky McKee.


• "Distracted" by Sean Spillane Music Promo (1080p; 5:01)


• Theatrical Teaser (1080p; 1:17)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:40)


• Image Gallery (1080p)

This is another nicely packaged release from Arrow, with a slipcover and a nicely appointed insert booklet.

The Woman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As should no doubt be obvious by now, The Woman is most definitely not my cup of tea, but in that regard, some may note that I've substantially upped my original score for the overall film from my original review, after having gotten through the really copious supplements on this release, supplements which, for me, anyway, helped to provide a little more context and perhaps therefore allowed me to cut the film a little more slack than I had initially. The supplements are so good, in fact, that this is the rare release where the overall score is upped pretty considerably from my reaction to the film itself. With regard to the film itself, I actually might have liked it better if it had simply gone totally over the top and delivered some laughs along the way, as it at least tries to once or twice. All of this said, it can't be denied that McKee has a fair amount of craft, and a lot of the scenes here are staged with some visceral flash and flair. The film was subject to a supposed mass walkout at Sundance which some have alleged was staged simply to further the PR for the film, but there's little doubt that a lot of people aren't going to have the stomach for something this patently distasteful. If you are one of those folks who likes this kind of material, this Arrow version is undoubtedly the one to get, as it offers superior technical merits and by far the better slate of supplements.