Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Urge Blu-ray Movie Review

The strongest urge will probably be to turn it off.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 25, 2016

Urge begins with a flashy credits sequence that looks like it may have been discarded footage from the costume fitting for that infamous latex outfit that was so iconic in American Horror Story: The Complete First Season, albeit here in red rather than black. Later, the film indulges in a Bacchanalia on an island which is weirdly reminiscent of a Faustian vignette found in John Frankenheimer’s weirdly underappreciated Seconds. Those two references might lead some to believe Urge has something unusual to offer, but unfortunately this tale of drug use gone horribly, horribly awry is a kind of tawdry affair that tries to mix Fellini-esque theatrics with a kind of B-movie take on The Matrix, where it doesn’t matter whether you take the red pill or the blue pill, you’re basically screwed one way or the other. Urge has moments of stylistic acuity, but from a narrative standpoint it’s largely laughable. The film begins with a silly vignette which introduces Neil (Danny Masterson), a kind of nefarious Martin Shrkeli type who is all about money, consequences be damned. Neil is trying to close a “fire sale” of a deal on a company whose about to be former owners are struggling mightily to retain some shred of dignity in the process, an effort Neil is all to happy to dispel. It seems Neil is really interested in joining a coterie of old friends he has assembled on the roof of the offices of this company, where his helicopter will soon land to take them to an island paradise for a weekend of partying. Already one of the seven deadly sins, greed, has reared its ugly head, but others are soon to follow.

Why exactly it’s suddenly so important for Neil to hobnob with a group of friends he evidently hasn’t seen in a while is never adequately detailed, and that may be for the best, for this is a largely unlikable aggregation of folks, something that tends to undercut (no pun intended) Urge’s own urge to go for the Grand Guignol jugular later in its running time. In other words, due to the inherent unlikability of virtually every character in the film, this is one purported horror outing where the audience may in fact be rooting that the next victim meet his or her fate, rather than hoping they are able to escape. None of the characters is given much more “character” than a supposed sin they are experiencing, whether it be gluttony (either current or former, as evidenced by a bunch of “you used to be a fatty” jokes), vanity or lust (to name only three).

The group shows up at Neil’s improbably luxe house (it looks like it’s the mansion from Ex Machina extracted from its rock formation and plopped down on a tony beach), where they’re greeted by the sight of an old nemesis named Jason (Justin Chatwin), who has taken up residence in the domicile, painted a mural on the side and (just for good measure) scarfed down some incredibly rare Scotch that cost Neil tends of thousands of dollars. But, hey, all is forgiven because—well, if anyone is seriously looking for motives in this film, they have a long search in front of them, since there aren’t any.

With introductions cursorily made, the group heads off to what is supposedly a top secret party place, which must not be that top secret since it’s filled to the brim with folks who look like they’re high on something. There’s a “floor show” of sorts featuring a bizarre character whom my colleague Brian Orndorf compared to a Fruit of the Loom mascot in his pretty withering review of the film, but who reminded me of a grown up Teletubby crossed with a mime. Jason is ushered into a private meeting with the club’s owner and operator, a mysterious sort who goes by the name The Man (Pierce Brosnan), in order to try to get whatever controlled substance the rest of the crowd is enjoying. The Man piques Jason’s interest with talk about a new designer drug called Urge, which The Man claims is unlike anything Jason has ever experienced before. The weird mascot/mime/Teletubby sort actually provides the drug to Jason, who snorts down the glowing blue stuff and experiences—exactly nothing.

Because the film is devoid of much (if any) logic, Jason turns around and provides Urge to the rest of the group, and here the reactions are substantially different. Everyone suddenly realizes the wonders of having an unleashed Id, and the partying becomes extremely hearty. But, wait—in one of the film’s ridiculous plot conceits, it turns out there’s a Fight Club-esque “rule” about Urge, which unfortunately does not involve not talking about Urge. Urge is a drug you can only take once, but since we’re dealing with a bunch of self-involved, elitist and entitled sorts, you can probably guess what happens next, which is when the real mayhem sets in.

There are some agreeably weird elements to Urge, and a couple of goofy and frankly kind of funny moments of gore once the film tips over into the horror realm, but this is a rather unfocused and unconvincing outing, one that’s so chaotic at times one wonders if the crew was indulging in a little recreational drug use themselves during the shoot. Pierce Brosnan, looking slightly puffy and wearing lots of mascara, manages to inject a little gonzo content into the film, but most of the rest of the cast are in essence “red shirts” (a la Star Trek: The Original Series), strutting about in their self-involved, elitist, entitled ways until whatever sin they’re personifying does them in.

Urge Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Urge is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Once again the IMDb has no information on the shoot, but this looks digitally captured, with a generally very sharp and well detailed image, at least when director Aaron Kaufman and cinematographer Lyle Vincent aren't intentionally tweaking things to make them appear "drug fueled". Fine detail is quite excellent throughout the presentation, even in some less than stellar lighting conditions (see screenshot 1), and the palette is generally very natural looking and nicely suffused, though there are occasional scenes that have been color graded, including some kind of interesting skewing toward a sienna or brown tone (see screenshots 15 and 16). Shadow definition is very good to excellent even in the many dark scenes at the party or, later, back at the mansion. Contrast is consistent, offering nice delineations between the sunnier first half of the film and the darker (literally and figuratively) second half.

Urge Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Urge's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has a few opportunities to really pump significant audio information into the side and rear channels during the big party set scene, one where both the cacophony of the crowd as well as the score by The Newton Brothers provide ample immersion. A couple of well done sound effects later in the film also exploit at least decent (if not overwhelming) amounts of LFE. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly with good prioritization on this problem free track.

Urge Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes of Urge (1080p; 5:27) is a brief and unremarkable EPK.


• Urge Trailer (1080p; 2:17)

Urge Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard to divine whether Urge is simply a "just say no" primer tarted up with bizarre imagery and a bunch of despicable characters, or if screenwriter Jerry Stahl meant for the film to be an allegory of some sort (one assumes all the hellish coloring at the club as well as The Man's devilish demeanor are meant to convey something). It ultimately doesn't matter, though, since so much of the film is so almost willfully random. Technical merits are very strong for those considering a purchase.