6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A couple looking for the perfect home, find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, Jonathan Aris, Danielle Ryan, Molly McCannHorror | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 39% |
Mystery | 12% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: Certain aspects of Vivarium's plot which most likely constitute spoilers are discussed in the following summary.
Vivarium (the word, not the movie) stems from Latin, and refers to a typically enclosed environment housing living things which are
being studied for research or similar activities. For relatively younger viewers, that may bring to mind an episode from The Simpsons’ annual “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween bashes where Lisa
(inadvertently) creates life in a little tub and watches it evolve. Relatively older viewers, on the other hand, may instantly recall one of
the
better remembered episodes from The Twilight
Zone:
Season 5, a creepy outing entitled “Stopover in a Quiet Town”, wherein a married couple who had been reveling at a party the night
before wake up in a strange house in a strange deserted village where everything seems to be fake, with the revelation being that (spoiler alert, in
case that wasn’t clear) they’d been abducted by an alien to serve as “pets” for his child, and who had therefore been placed in a model village that
might
indeed qualify as being a vivarium. Vivarium (the movie, not the term) attempts to traffic in something quite similar to this basic
concept, and while it develops a rather potently angsty ambience a lot of the time, it may strike those who have seen either of the foregoing
properties, or any number of similar outings (like the bizarre 3D effort The Bubble 3D, which I also compared to “Stopover in a Quiet Town” in my now long ago The Bubble 3D Blu-ray review), as being at least a bit derivative and perhaps at
times underdeveloped.
Vivarium is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Technical data on this shoot is rather sparse by my reckoning, but I'm assuming this was digitally captured and finished at a 2K DI (as always with my reviews, if someone can point me to authoritative information, private message me and I'll happily update the review). This is an intentionally highly stylized presentation, as can perhaps be made out by some of the screenshots, at least when the film gets outside. The interiors of Number 9 are actually a bit on the dowdy side, and are frequently rather dimly lit. That, combined with some downright dark moments (see screenshot 18), can lead to deficits in fine detail and shadow definition. The emphasis on kind of pale, sickly greens "outside" (as is mentioned in the supplement, almost all of the filming, including supposed exterior shots, were done on a soundstage) can mean the palette is oddly skewed at times, but detail levels make it through this particular gauntlet rather well, all things considered. In more normal lighting conditions the palette looks natural, but stylistic restraints mean it never really pops in any meaningful way. My score is 4.25.
Vivarium features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that only intermittently gets a chance to really spread its sonic wings due to the very fact that the underlying premise of the film is one of claustrophobia. There are some fun effects that can dot the surrounds at times, though, including a recurring motif of Tom trying to dig his way out of his predicament in Number 9's yard, which leads to him hearing (or thinking he's hearing) odd voices and/or noises emanating from far beneath the ground. The score by Kristian Eidnes Andersen also helps to establish some width and depth, but a lot of the film remains anchored relatively narrowly. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.
This review is being written during the Coronavirus epidemic, when many people are stuck pretty much 24/7 in their homes even without the "encouragement" of any alien overlords. In that regard, and perhaps ironically, my wife and I have discovered that we can only handle so much news before we overdose, and we've therefore been watching quite a bit of HGTV, a network that often features young couples trying to find their "forever home". One of my realtor friends here in Portland in fact just was on a just slightly pre-Covid (in terms of its impact in the United States, anyway) episode of House Hunters, one of HGTV's more enduring franchises, and I joked with him in an email that I was going to be indulging in a drinking game when I watched his episode, taking a slug every time someone said "bright and airy", "price point", and/or "I can see myself here [insert proper activity]". My friend, who has about as un-PC a sense of humor as I do (birds of a feather and all, cuckoos notwithstanding) emailed me back that the "[proper activity]" would be "I can see myself here quarantined." There's a different kind of quarantine at the heart of Vivarium, and the film might have had more resonance had the reasons behind that sequestration been made clearer. The film definitely has an anxiety inducing claustrophobic ambience, and performances are quite engrossing as well, but this may be one housing development that could have used a more penetrating "inspection". Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.
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Space Mission to the Lost Planet / Vampire Men of the Lost Planet
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Mutant / Roger Corman's Cult Classics
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