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.
