THE GUEST (2014) (Second Sight Films 4K Ultra HD Review)

THE GUEST (2014) 

Label: Second Sight Films

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: 15 Cert. 

Duration: 100 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD HA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: Dolby Vision HDR 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.40:1) 

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe, Joel David Moore, Leland Orser, Lance Reddick, Brendan Meyer

Darkly comic action-thriller The Guest (2014) features Dan Stevens (TV's Legion) plays a war veteran who unexpectedly shows up at the home of the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their late son, who died in combat. The parents Laura (Sheila Kelley, TV's The Good Doctor) and Spencer (Leland Orser, Alien: Resurrection) welcome the stranger into their home, not their inviting a lethal killing-machine into their families lives. The family's teen siblings Luke (Brendan Meyer, TV's The O/A) and Anna (Maika Monroe, It Follows) are less welcoming intially, but the younger Luke comes around when David helps him deal with highschool bullies, obliterating them in a bar room brawl, and encouraging the kid to stand up for himself. Daughter Anna is also eventually semi-seduced by David charms but remains suspicious all the same, believing he is not who he seems to be, and her suspicions lead to a black ops military operation, lead by Major Carver (Lance Reddick, John Wick), arriving in town to hunt down their secret military asset. 

The Guest is a sublime throwback to 80's action-thrillers, with Dan Stevens playing a lethal wolf in sheep's clothing who unleashes a wave of destruction that will destroy the family he initially seems to be helping. It's an absolutely brutal, darkly funny, and action-packed flick, drizzled in a candy-coated synth score and atmospheric visuals that will have you screaming with retro-80's joy. 

Audio/Video: The Guest (214) arrives on 4K UHD from Second Sight Films in 2160p Ultra HD widescreen (2.40:1) with Dolby Vision HDR color-grading that was supervised by by director Adam Wingard. Shot on digital it looks superb on UHD, we get the expected finer points of clarity and depth, textures and  detail, plus the benefit of the wide-color-gamut spectrum that deepens colors and imbues the film with a vibrancy that elevates it over the previous Blu-ray.  The new color-grading is particularly impressive during the highschool Halloween haunted house finale with the color-lighting is improved with deeper blacks and more layered contrast. 

No Atmos upgrade genre, but that's okay, we do get a solid uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 presentation with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is crisp and clean, punctuated by the bombast of gunshots and acts of violence have a nice depth and low-end to them. Also sounding great is the retro-80's score from Steve Moore, plus soundtrack selections from The Sisters of Mercy, Front 242 and others.  

Onto the extras, we get all the on-disc extras from the Limited Edition release from Second Sight Films, these include the archival Archival Audio Commentary by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, 15-min of Deleted/Alternate Scenes, Outtake Gag with optional Director commentary, both of which were available on the OOP Universal Blu-ray release. The only extra not carried over from the U.S. release is the Q&A with Dan Stevens, but we get plenty of new Second Sight Films extras that more than make-up up for that omission. 

Onto the new stuff we get a brand new Audio Commentary by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett that offers an updated look back at the making of the film with the benefit of nearly ten years of hindsight and experience behind them. We also get new over two-hours of new interviews with actors Dan Stevens (20 min) and  Maika Monroe (7 min),  director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett (49 min), producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder (23 min), Director of Photography Robby Baumgartner (22 min), Production Designer Tom Hammock (14 min) and Composer Steve Moore (12 min). It's a deep-dive into this beast of a film, leaving no stone unturned, and it's sure to be a treat for fans and/or newcomers.  

The single-disc release arrives in an oversized black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, mirroring the key art from the limited edition version. The standard release version has no booklet, CD soundtrack or art cards like the limited edition though, so if you can, I say get that version, if only for that awesome soundtrack. 

Special Features:

- Brand new color grading for both formats supervised by director Adam Wingard

- UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR

- New Audio Commentary by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett

- Archival Audio Commentary by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett

- The Uninvited Guest: a new interview with actor Dan Stevens (20 min) 

- A Perfect Stranger: a new interview with actor Maika Monroe (7 min) 

- By Invitation Only: a new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett (49 min) 

- Producing The Guest: a new interview with producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder (23 min) 

- Light and Fog: a new interview with Director of Photography Robby Baumgartner (22 min) 

- Lightning Strikes: a new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock (14 min) 

- The Sounds of The Guest: a new interview with Composer Steve Moore (12 min) 

- Deleted / Alternate Scenes, Outtake Gag with optional Director commentary (15 min) 

The Guest is a thrilling retro-80's homage that channels unstoppable killing-machine flicks like The Hitcher and The Terminator with a thumping Carpenter-esque synth-score that is pitch-perfect. With the U.S. Blu-ray being OOP this UK release 4K UHD (region-free) is absolutely the way to watch the film, it blows the Blu-ray away in terms of picture quality and the extras are infinitely superior.  

 

Happy National Coffee Day! Grab Your Cup Of #CentralPerkCoffee Today & Enjoy With Your Friends www.centralperk.com

I had the chance to try a free sample of the Central Perk Coffee Company's “How You Doin’?” (medium roast) this morning, I am pleased to report it was a tasty, full-bodied medium roast with a smooth earthy flavor. I made mine in my trusty French press - the best way IMO. I was quite impressed with it, so much so that I think I'll be buying their “We Were on a Coffee Break” (dark roast) at the next opportunity. Happy National Coffee Day, go get yourself a cup of joe! 

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DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) (MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray Review)

DISTURBING BEHAVIOR (1998) 

Label: MVD Rewind Collection 

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround, English PCM 2.0 Stereo, French 2.0 Stereo with Optional English and French Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: David Nutter

Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Ethan Embry, Katharine Isabelle, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Steve Railsback, James Marsden, William Sadler

Synopsis: In the halls of Cradle Bay High School, something sinister is happening… something dark… something disturbing. Sure, the "Blue Ribbons" – the clique that's at the top of the food chain at Cradle Bay – appear perfect in every way. But underneath their clean-cut, well-mannered facades lurks a shocking secret – one that a group of Cradle Bay High's outsiders and rebels must uncover in order to save their school, their town... and their own lives.

Disturbing Behavior (1998) is a teen sci-fi thriller not too dissimilar from something along the lines of The Faculty, wherein teens at a local high school begin to change in dramatic ways, with normally rebellious teen burnouts and rockers oddly assimilated into overnight preppies, much to the confusion of their friends. The nature of the change is not alien in nature, but is instead a '90s teen riff on something along the lines of The Stepford Wives, as angsty burnouts are transformed into straight-A students through brainwashing and science. Our main character is teenager Steve Clark (James Marsden, X-Men), who after the death of his brother moves with his family to the island community of Cradle Bay. It's a nice place with a good school, the sort of place where the usual teen clicks apply. Case in point we have the "Blue Ribbons", a group of A-students who are preppies, the top of the highschool food chain, among them we have the usual array of jocks and pom-pom shakers who look down and frown upon the alternative culture kids. If you're a stoner, a weirdo, or rocker you're cannon-fodder for the true blue bullies, who love to give the freaks grief, These burnouts and waste-oids are the ones that new-kid Steve finds himself hanging with, finding his niche with Strick (Nick Stahl, Sin City), U.V. (Chad E. Donella, The Final Destination), and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes, The Ice Storm). Stahl is pretty great as the would-be leader of the misfits teens, his character gives a memorable who's-who monologue to Steve as he points out the hierarchy in the school lunchroom. His sidekick U.V. is slightly less memorable, but young Katie Holmes gives off some serious sexual heat as the bad girl of the group. I've never given much thought to Holmes but damn if she didn't scratch my 90's alt-chick itch. The flick is also notable for featuring a pre-Ginger Snaps (2000) Katharine Isabelle as Steve's younger sister, but she's not given much to do, but it was cool to see her here before her breakout role in Ginger Snaps. 

I have always heard this movie described as an extended version of an X-Files episode, and that's descriptor is not inaccurate, it was shot up North in the Land of Maple Syrup (Canada) and shares an production aesthetic that was popular in TV and in teen movies at the time, plus the fact that David Nutter directed several episodes of the X-Files. The science fiction element comes by way of school psychologist, Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood, Steve from Cincinnati) who runs the Blue Ribbon program at the school, a club that somehow turns teen burnouts into ice-cold A+ over achievers overnight. Needless to say something is  rotten in the village of Cradle Bay. It turns out that Dr. Caldicott is surgically molding/brainwashing the Cradle Bay teens into model students, but at what cost? The modified student start to succumb to homicidal tendencies. - well, here's the kicker -  when the teens become aroused thier impure urges turns them murderous. Now tell me, what teen is not a horn-dog, seems like that might be a problem, and it is. Sadly, the violence is pretty sanitized, despite the R-rating, and on that level it's a disappointment, while there's blood and some violence but it's pretty neutered. 

Disturbing Behavior holds up pretty swell for a late-nineties teen thriller, helped along by a strong cast of young Hollywood hopefuls who went onto varying degrees of success. James Marsden is someone I like but who I don't think ever landed the right role, at least not the one that would propel him into super-stardom. I don't exactly love his turn as Scott/Cyclops in Bryan Singer's X-Men movies, but I did like him in The Box and HBO's Westworld. Holmes as the dark teen grunge-cutey makes for a solid love interest, she doesn't get a lot to chew on but her talent shines through just the same. The movie also benefits from an appearance from William Sadler (Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight) as a school janitor, the village idiot, who is aware of the dark side of Cradle Bay and seems to be the only one doing something about it. Also keep an eye out for Steve Railsback (Lifeforce) as the local sheriff who turns a blind eye to the carnage the Blue Bloods inflict on the burnout teens, his role doesn't add up to much, but it is always a blast to see Railsback onscreen, even in a nothing role.

Audio/Video: Previously issued on Blu-ray in 2016 by Scream Factory 90's teen thriller Disturbing Behavior (1998) arrives on Blu-ray from MVD Rewind Collection in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a 1080p HD transfer, looking to my eyes to be the same HD master used by Scream Factory. Scanning through I was hard pressed to see an appreciable difference between the two, framing and color-grading look identical, but I think the MVD release has slightly tighter grain and visuals. It's not the most eye-popping high definition but grain looks solid, there's some good depth and clarity, and colors and the skin tones look accurate. It comes with choice of English language PCM Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with optional English and French subtitles. The 2.o is a solid 2-trackk presentation and the 5.1 offers some good atmospheric use of the surrounds, and the nostalgic '90s alternative-rock soundtrack sounds pretty great, too.

On-disc extras mirror the 2016 Scream Factory Blu-ray, we get the Audio Commentary from director David Nutter, 25-min of Deleted Scenes and Alternative Ending with optional commentary by Director David Nutter, plus the 3-min Original Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Sleeve of Reversible Artwork, Collectible Mini-Poster, and a Limited Edition Slipcover that's available with the first pressing only). 

Special Features

- Audio commentary by director David Nutter

- Deleted Scenes and Alternative Ending with optional commentary by Director David Nutter (25 min) 

- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min) 

- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork

- Collectible Mini-Poster

- Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)

Screenshots from the MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray: 

BLOOD OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2003) + REVENGE OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2005) DOUBLE-FEATURE (2003-2005) (Visual Vengeance Blu-ray Review)

BLOOD OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2003) + REVENGE OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2005) DOUBLE-FEATURE 

Double Feature Blu-ray includes the shot on video horrors Blood of the Chupacabras (2003) and its sequel Revenge of the Chupacabras (2005). BLOOD: A group of local townsfolk are led by a treasure hunter into a nearby mine in search of gold but encounter a vampiric Chupacabras monster. REVENGE: A detective in search of a missing college student is lured by a madman into the lair of the fabled Chupacabras monster.

BLOOD OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2003) 

Label: Visual Vengeance 

Rating:  Unrated                         

Duration: 85 Minutes

Region: Region-Free

Audio: English 2.0 Dolby Digital with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1), 

Director: Jonathan Mumm

Cast: Dan Leis, Rachel Sense, Loren Taylor, Lenore Sebastian, Roberta Mumm, Elaine Benoit, Mark Halverson, Kim Pomales, Hugh McChord 

Directed by local news anchor turned microbudget filmmaker Jonathan Mumm's Blood of the Chupacabras (2003) a/k/a Bloodthirst: Legend of the Chupacabras is a very low-budget (reportedly made for $3000) shot-on-on video cryptid tale set in a small-town somewhere in Arizona. The legendary goatsucker of the title is sadly only seen very briefly, which is a bummer, but I love this sort of shabby DIY productions that are made with love and not much money. In it a group of local town folk and a treasure seeker are in search of a lost mine, complete with a treasure map, that is said to be loaded with an untold fortune in gold, but instead of the desired riches they end up encountering a vampiric Chupacabras monster and his transformed human minions. 

Shot-on-Video for peanuts and without much of any style this anemic production barely features the titular cryptid, which is a certainly a knock against it. Apparently the initial idea was to have a full-on man-in-a-monster-suit but due to the super-limited budget the intended full-suit monster was relegated to just a sculpted head, not even a mask, just a  bust. For a low-rent flick the head is decent looking enough but it's just barely glimpsed in the finished movie. Now that sort of shortcoming might have shut down production on any other film set, but first-time director Mumm and his crew pushed onward despite this set back, leaving viewers to rely on their imagination and some shitty CGI to get them through it.

You can feel more than actually see first-time director Mumm's love of vintage creature features when watching this, and I say feel it because he is not able to muster that love into a coherent or exciting film. I will say that the amateur cast is pretty fun, and and I liked that there's a gypsy character that's integral to the plot, which gives it a Wolf Man flavor to a tiniest of degrees. The special effects which come into play mostly in the final leg of the film are pretty laughable nearly twenty years later, and they were pretty terrible even for the era it was made, but at least you can tell that Munn put a lot of heart into it, it just doesn't translate all that well up on the screen. 

REVENGE OF THE CHUPACABRAS (2005)
Label: Visual Vengeance
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 87 Minutes
Region: Region-Free
Audio: English 2.0 Dolby Digital (No Subtitles) 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Jonathan Mumm
Cast: Gary Agid, Christa Bella, Jason Michael Fong, Mark Halverson, Hugh McChord, Cheryl McIntire, Bruce Shaw, Megan Welch

The sequel Bloodthirst 2: Revenge of the

Chupacabras is again directed by newsman-turned-director Mumm. In it we have all sorts of crazy local-yokel sub-plots and not a lot of cryptid action, though the finale packs in quite a bit of the creature, for better or worse. This time we have a detective investigating the kidnapping of a college student/cryptozoologist, which is connected to an embezzlement scheme, plus we have crooked happenings at an asylum. We do get more Chupacabras action than the first film, but again it's only at the ass-end of the show. The movie looks quite a bit better than the first as well, the low-budget camerawork is slightly improved and is presented in widescreen no less, with more stable imagery and a slightly more coherent story, and the cast are looking like they're having quite a bit of fun chewing up the scenery. 

The Chupacabras creature this time around is seen a lot more as it terrorizes the asylum during the finale, but the bad news is that the cryptid-creature is rendered completely with low-rent, sub-PlayStation 1 digital effects and looks pretty dang terrible. Again, I can feel Mumm's passion for the creature-features of his youth here but it just does not manifest into a "good" film, which is unfortunate. Sure, it's easy for me to armchair this and laugh at it, but it's probably better than I could have mustered at the time (and even now), and the passion behind it bleeds through if you know where to look, but for the average film fan would be considered a shockingly bad. I remember seeing these films at Big Lots a lot a few years back, under the original Bloodthirst titles, I never picked them up, but I bet a lot of folks did, and I'm curious to know how these went down with the general audiences.  With that said, I'm a huge fan of these SOV oddities, and if you're a bottom-of-the-barrel cult-film fans these flicks are a hoot, especially if you also have a fascination with regional filmmaking. 

Audio/Video: Blood of the Chupacabras (2005) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance in 1080p HD fullscreen (1.33:1), sourced from archival SD master it looks like a raggedy VHS with video tape source issues like scan lines, murkiness and poor colors. The sequel film Revenge of the Chupacabras looks slightly better with a cleaner, but still VHS looking, picture quality, in widescreen (1.78:1), but still suffers from tape-based issues and a general lack of decent lighting and/or style. Audio on both movies comes by way of English Dolby Digital 2.0, with only the main feature having optional English subtitles. Neither are optimal but both are serviceable, but I did miss the subtitles while watching the sequel. There's tape-based noise throughout and poor recording acoustics to deal with, as well as audio levels ramping up and down from scene to scene.  

The poor quality of the double-feature aside the Visual Vengeance extras and  packaging are top-notch, we get brand new Audio Commentary with director Jonathan Mumm for both films, bloopers, special effects featurettes, film festival and premiere footage, and trailers - it's a pretty packed disc. The single disc release arrives in a clear keepcase we get a Limited Edition Slipcase (first pressing only), and a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring artwork for both Blood of the Chupacabras and Revenge of the Chupacabras. Inside there's a 'Stick Your Own' VHS Sticker Set (the same sheet as was included with all the previous Visual Vengeance releases), plus a Collectible Mini Folded Poster, and an insert with Blu-ray credits and acknowledgments. 

Special Features: 

- Archival 2003/ 2005 SD masters from original tapes

- Blood of the Chupacabras: New Audio Commentary with director Jonathan Mumm

- Blood of the Chupacabras: Blooper Reel (4 min) 

- Blood of the Chupacabras: The New York International Film and Video Festival (2002) (3 min) 

- Blood of the Chupacabras: Breaking Down the Special Effects (5 min) 

- Blood of the Chupacabras: West Coast Premiere: The Crest Theater (2002) (3 min) 

- Blood of the Chupacabras: Trailer (1 min) 

- Blood of the Chupacabras: Behind The Scenes Trivia (6 min) 

- Bonus Feature Film: Revenge of the Chupacabras (2005)

- Revenge of the Chupacabras: New Director Audio Commentary

- Revenge of the Chupacabras: Archival behind the scenes documentary (13 min) 

- Revenge of the Chupacabras: Fleshing Out

The Monster effects featurette (6 min) 

- Revenge of the Chupacabras: Blooper Reel (8 min) 

- Revenge of the Chupacabras: Theatrical  Premiere and cast/crew Q&A (27 min) 

- Revenge of the Chupacabras Trailer (1 min) 

- Super 8 Short Film: Professor Bloodgood (4 min) 

- Visual Vengeance trailers: Repligator (1 min), Saurians (1 min), Suburban Sasquatch (1 min), 

Sleeve of Reversible Artwork 

- Folded mini-poster

- ‘Stick your own’ video store sticker sheet

- Limited Edition Slipcase — First Pressing Only!

Despite liking a lot of "crap" - just ask my wife, she'll tell you! - The Blood of the Chupacabras double-feature was just not my bag. That's okay though, the extras are pretty terrific and add a lot to the viewing experience. When I hear the filmmakers talking about their love of genre, the fun they had making it, and the trials and tribulations of no-budget movie-making it certainly makes me appreciate even the shittiest flick, but just know what you're getting yourself into, you're diving into the deep end of low-budget filmmaking with this double-feature, it's not for everyone. 

Screenshots from the Visual Vengeance Blu-ray: 

Blood of the Chupacabras (2003) 

Revenge of the Chupacabras (2007)