Blu-ray Review: THE BARRENS (2012)

THE BARRENS (2012)
Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack 

LABEL: Anchor Bay Entertainment
REGION: A, 1 NTSC 
RATING: R 
DURATION: 97min
VIDEO: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1) 
AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
CAST: Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner, Allie MacDonald, Erik Knudsen, Shawn Ashmore 
DIRECTOR: Darren Lynn Bousman
TAGLINE:  The terrifying legend of the Jersey Devil is alive

SYNOPSIS: It’s known as the Jersey Devil, the winged beast spawned 400 years ago by Satan himself. Some say this creature still inhabits the dense pine forests of southern New Jersey, where Richard Vineyard (Stephen Moyer, “True Blood”) takes his family for a rustic weekend camping trip. As the Vineyard family ventures further into the woods in search of the perfect campsite, Richard teeters on the edge of sanity. And it seems that the blood-crazed demon called The Jersey Devil may no longer be just a myth. Mia Kirshner (“The Vampire Diaries,” “The L Word”), Erik Knudsen (SAW II, SCREAM 4) and Allie MacDonald (HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET) co-star in this twisted chiller from writer/director Darren Lynn Bousman (SAW II-IV) about a new kind of horror that lives – and kills – in a place called THE BARRENS.
 

THE FILM: This tense chiller begins with an effective pre-credit sequence as a young couple walking in the Pine Barrens at the break of dawn find themselves a bit lost. The wooded area is alive with bird and animal noises echoing through the branches when suddenly it gets eerily quite and an odd shriek is heard. Already a bit spooked they get downright unnerved when they find a pile of animal guts on the forest floor, maggots and buzzing flies are having a feast. Suddenly they are then charged by a creature and they turn to flee in a panic, as you do when something that might want to eat you is in pursuit, and then WHAM! The young woman runs face first into a tree. It turns out not to be a viscous creature after all, but a wounded deer that drops dead, it's been clawed viciously and whatever it is that ripped it open is now upon the hikers....

Sometime later we meet the Vineyard family as they endeavor to the wilds of the Pine Barrens, New Jersey to spread the ashes of a loved one and for a weekend of camping fun, at least that's the plan. We have Richard (Bill Moyer, TRUE BLOOD), wife Cynthia (Mia Kirshner, THE BLACK DAHLIA), adolescent son Danny (Peter DaCunha) and rebellious teen daughter Sadie (Allie MacDonald). You can detect some underlying family issues are at play, they're a dysfunctional bunch but not dramatically so, they seem pretty normal. Danny's sad because the family dog "Oscar" has run-off and Sadie just does not wanna be there, a pretty typical teen.  Dad's a bit tired looking, he's got some stress and is really looking forward to the getaway, to return to the place he enjoyed with his father as a boy. En route they're a bit shaken when a wounded deer leaps in front of the SUV and drops dead, but none more so than Richard who nervously watches the edge of the woods along the road as if something dangerous lays in wait. 

Arriving at the campsite they report the deer to the local ranger and settle in for the weekend. That night they gather around a communal campfire as a young man spins the tale of the local area legend - the Leeds Devil. The tale involves a woman named Mother Leeds who's burdened with twelve children and was said to commune with the Devil, in fact as legend tells it she bore a 13th child by Old Scratch himself and it was a hideous thing with cloven hooves, a horses head, a kangaroo's body and a serpents tail with leathery wings.  The monstrosity is said to stalk the nearby woods and in grand  campfire tradition the tale ends with a classic fright that sets the campers on edge, especially Richard who overreacts like a frightened schoolgirl.

It's right about here that we know for sure that something from Richard's past is stirring within him, something that's unspooling his mind. Through a series of flashbacks we piece together that when he was a child he witnesses something in the woods, something terrible which he believes was the Jersey Devil, and the thought fills him with dread, haunted by nightmares that have him sleepwalking through the forests at night. 

Making matters worse Richard has a festering open wound on his upper arm which pains him, his behavior becomes more erratic and his temper flares. When some of the campers begin to disappear from the site under mysterious circumstances Richard decides to go deeper into the woods away from the others, it seems the deeper they go into the forest the deeper he sinks into madness.
The film benefits from some decent performances, particularly Moyer who keeps his native English accent intact which might surprise those who only know him as the Southern drawled Bill from HBO's TRUE BLOOD. It's his portrayal of a man's descent into madness that anchors the film and keeps you plugged in. 

It's a great looking film shot on 35mm with wonderful cinematography, we get a lot of off-kilter angles giving the film an unease about it. Great saturated colors, the forests scenes look stunning, very well lit and crisp particularly the films final reel when they're drenched in atmospheric fog accentuated by a composer Bobby Johnson's haunting score.  

The film does begin to drag a bit as the family argue about mundane things but the finale ratchets up the intensity and violence as Richard, suffering from dementia, fevered hallucinations and paranoia tries desperately to convince his family that the Jersey Devil exists and is a threat. It's not a perfect film, in fact after the first viewing I thought the ending was sorta a cheat, trying to be all things to everyone but with a repeat watch I was left with the opinion that this is a really decent pulse-pounder with some definite notes of THE SHINING as he loses his shit Jack Torrence style putting his son Danny in danger. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

 - Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Darren Lynn Bousman and Director of Photography Joseph White
- Deleted Scene (3:25) 16:9
- Trailers: Jennifer Lynch's CHAINED (1:35), MOTHER'S DAY (2:15) 
- Standard-definition DVD Version of the film with same special features

VERDICT: Darren Lynn Bousman's THE BARRENS (2012) is a tense, chilling psychological horror, this is a semi-original idea, can't recall too many Jersey Devil films. It's a real shame that this and Bousman's sleazy MOTHER'S DAY (2010) remake didn't get a wide theatrical release, this is fun stuff. If you enjoyed wooded horror, like THE SHRINE, there's a lot to love here, a recommend. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: The Crow - City of Angels (1996)

THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (1996)

LABEL: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment

REGION CODE: Region A
RATING: R
DURATION: 86 mins
VIDEO: 1080p 16:9 1.78:1 Widescreen
AUDIO: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
DIRECTOR: Tim Pope
CAST: Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks, Iggy Pop. Vincent Perez
TAGLINE: There will be another.


SYNOPSIS:  After a brutal attack by an evil drug cartel, the murder victim (Perez) is brought back to life by a mysterious crow. With the help of a beautiful woman named Sarah (Kirshner), he exacts revenge on his killers one by one…only to realize his enemy, the lethal Judah, has discovered the one weakness that can destroy him forever.




THE FILM: When it was announced early this year that Echo Bridge Entertainment would begin distributing Miramax titles I was intrigued by the handful of titles announced which included several sequels to popular genre film franchises including HELLRASIER, HALLOWEEN, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (1996).


The sequel to THE CROW (1994) was directed by a first-time feature director Tim Pope who had caught the attention of the Weinstein's following a productive music video career. Sure, there are a number of music video director's who went on to prominent film careers, David Fincher being a great example, but this was not to be for Mr. Pope who immediately returned to music videos never again to return to the cinema. There's a reason for this.


First, let's look at the the story. It's a retread of the first film if ever there was one. A victim wrongfully murdered returns from the grave to reap his revenge. This time around it's the mechanic Ashe (Vincent Perez) and his young son Danny (Eric Acosta) who witness the murder of a drug dealer in an alley. They're tied-up, shot and dumped in the river. Meanwhile a young woman Sarah (Mia Kirshner) has nightmare of the murder and paints gothy images of death and resurrection. After following a large crow to the harbor she witnesses the resurrection of Ashe whom erupts from his watery grave and then sets about exacting revenge on those responsible for their deaths.  


I'm reviewing this not having seen the original film for at least 15 years but that's pretty much what happened in THE CROW (1994) if I'm not mistaken. The film is stylish and visually is a pretty pleasing to be fair but the script is just so damn redundant that you really get a strong sense of deja vu throughout the entire film. The cast is pretty terrible, too. Sure, I get a kick outta punk rocker Iggy Pop's portrayal of the gang leader Curve, that's good stuff but a movie it does not make. There's also a tasty appearance from a nearly unrecognizable Thomas Jayne as the pervy Nemo but on the other end of the spectrum the drug kingpin of the gang Judah Earl (Richard Brooks) was just way too over the top and that's second only to Vincent Perez's awful portrayal of The Crow following the tragic death of Brandon Lee. Perez is a pretty piss poor substitute for Brandon Lee and let's me fair here, Lee wasn't all that gifted an actor either but he The Crow suited him well. The Weinstein's never ones to shy away from a quick buck immediately put this on the fast track to capitalize on that films success and it shows on nearly every level.


What's to like? The film looks quite good, the set design and effects are damn decent, Iggy Pop as the film's bad ass is a blast but everything else is weak sauce right down to the lame mid-90's alterna-crap soundtrack. The film screams sub par sequel money grab from the get-go. If you can ignore the lazy scripting, redundant story arc and cartoonish acting grab yourself a bag of popcorn, shut of the brain, stuff your face and enjoy.


BLU-RAY: This marks the blu-ray debut of THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (1996) with a AVC MPEG-4 encoded anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen transfer in 1080i (not 1080p as the box suggests). The film's original aspect is 1.85:1 and it seems to have been reframed. It's not a huge difference in image but really any reframing other than the intended aspect ratio is wrong in my opinion. The quality of the image seemed to fluctuate quite a bit throughout with inconsistent black levels and fine detail that was quite uneven, at times it was difficult to tell this was a blu-ray. Likewise the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo soundtrack appears to be a 2.0 mix down of the original 5.1 mix. Despite my dislike for the alterna-crap soundtrack I think a 5.1 mix would have benefited this gothy action flick with all it's rampant gun play and explosions but as it stand the 2.0 is adequate though not ideal. This is a pretty sorry presentation for fans of the film who may be upgrading from the Miramax Collector's Edition DVD which was presented in 1.85:1 with a 5.1 audio options.


SPECIAL FEATURES: Nothing to crow about, that's right I said it. There's not even a decent start-up menu let alone a selection of special features. I thought we might see the Miramax Collector's Edition DVD special features ported over which included a commentary and several featurettes but apparently special features are not as easily resurrected as The Crow films. 


VERDICT: When one speaks of unnecessary sequels THE CROW - CITY OF ANGELS is a film that comes to mind rather quickly. It's an uninspired  cash-grab pure n' simple no doubt about it. Definitely a franchise that could have been left at one and done with THE CROW. On top of that Echo Bridge have given the film a lacklustre release presenting the film in the wrong aspect ratio with a mixed-down audio track with no bonus content. I'm down for some Miramax back catalogue titles at bargain prices but not if this is the quality we'll be seeing with future releases, truly this feels like a budget-dump. If you own the previous Miramax Collector's Edition I can't recommend an upgrade.  2.5 outta 5