1974: LA POSESION DE ALTAIR (2016)
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 and English DTS-HA MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Victor Dryer
Cast: Diana Bovio, Rolando Breme, Guillermo Callahan, Blanca Alarcón and Rubén González
Set in Mexico in 1974 the supernatural found-footage flick 1974: La posesión de Altair (2016) opens with black and white news footage of reporters and authorities descending upon a rural home reporting on and investigating the disappearance of a young couple who lived there. What we then see is washed-out color super 8mm home movies shot by newlyweds, school teacher Altair (Diana Bovio) and filmmaker Manuel (Rolando Breme), who have recently purchased a quaint home in the countryside to start their new life together. Through Manuel's near constant filming of their lives on his super 8mm movie camera we see early on that they are a loving couple with good chemistry, they just seem like a real cool couple. However, their tight knit bond begins to deteriorate when Altair starts to experience dreams of heavenly angels, and claims she can speak with God, to which end she begins to build a pair of doors in their bedroom and down in the basement with bricks that she has meticulously painted black.
Her increasingly erratic behavior and growing disconnectedness from her husband is well documented on the footage shot by her husband, perhaps a bit too well documented, which works to the movies favor, if not the authenticity of the found-footage delivery. The footage documents other strange happenings around the home as well - not just Altair weirdly sleepwalking clutching a long-nosed wooden figurine into the forest at night, but also a flock of birds spontaneously dying in mass around the home, and then their new pet dog disappears and then reappears a few days later with an unexplained growth spurt, and Altair continues to space-out into the void of the black brick doorways she has constructed and carves weird phrases into the kitchen table with a large knife.
Not knowing what else to do Manuel recruits his good friend Callahan (Guillermo Callahan) and his sister-in-law, Tere (Blanca Alarcón), to help him deal with and document the strange happenings in his homw, with the somewhat reticent sister-in-law revealing a previously a tragic history about a sibling who disappeared years earlier, and Altair's strange behavior at the time.
Director Victor Dryere's flick comes pretty late in the found-footage cycle but it's well-crafted with a solid premise, an interesting setting and era, and a strong cast who are likable and really sell the situation that is unfolding. It just goes to show that no matter how overstuffed and overdone a certain genre might be there are always gems out there waiting to be discovered, and this is certainly a found-footage gem worth looking into if you're a fan of found-footage flicks, and it's a surprisingly well-crafted film from a a first-time director.
Audio/Video: 1974: La posesión de Altair (2016) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut from the fledgling Cauldron Films in 1080p HD framed in a screen-filling 1.78:1 widescreen, and its region-free. Shot on Super 8mm the film is very grainy and doesn't have much depth or eye-popping fine detail, which suits the 8mm found-footage aesthetic the filmmaker is going for quite perfectly. The 70's vibes are well done with garish colored vintage decor, hairstyles and clothing. Most of the daytime shots are steeped in a fuzzy golden hue with healthy looking primaries while the darker scenes are appropriately gritty looking, lending an 'anything could happen' tension to the proceeding. Audio comes by way of Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. The surround is well done and makes creepy use of the surround stage.
This release is pretty light in extras compared to other Cauldron releases, on the Blu-ray we only get a 1-minute trailer for the film and a brief 3-minute featurette with the sound designer Uriel Villalobos about the use of sound if the film. There's also a CD contains the 21-track original score by composer Enrico Chapela and sound designer Uriel Villalobos who did the underscore. The 2-disc Blu-ray + CD set arrives in a clear Elite keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork, and inside there's a postcard sized insert with the CD track list on one side and an advert for Cauldron Films present and future release on the reverse.
Special Features:
- Sound Design Featurette (3 min)
- Trailer (1 min)
- CD Soundtrack (21 Tracks, 39 min)
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork
Cauldron Films initial offerings have been well-curated forays into the depths of genre film and they've got great taste; weather its an obscure Italian black-gloved whodunit, a supernatural 80's actioner or Mexican found footage their exceptional taste and solid presentations have been quite impressive. As for this film in particular, I love the retro-70s super 8mm aesthetic and the unpredictability of where it goes, it's quite a fascinating found-footage entry.
Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
