IT FOLLOWS (2014) (Second Sight Films 4K Ultra HD Review)

IT FOLLOWS (2014) 

Label: Second Sight Films 

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: 15 Cert. 

Duration: 100 Minutes 

Audio: Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1  with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

The David Robert Mitchell (Under the Silver Lake) directed It Follows (2014) opens with a teenage girl running panicked from her house, seemingly pursued by an unseen assailant, later sitting alone on a beach she calls her parents and tells them she loves him and she's sorry for any trouble she might have caused. The next morning her horrifically twisted and broken corpse is seen on that same beach. We then meet college student Jay Height (Maika Monroe,  Independence Day: Resurgence), and her sister Kelly and longtime friends Paul (Keir Gilchrist, Dark Summer) and Yara (Olivia Luccardi, Channel Zero: Butcher's Block). Later on a date with her new boyfriend Hugh (Jake Weary, Zombeavers) they have sex in his car, but afterward he chloroforms her, and she wakes up a short time later cuffed to a wheelchair in an abandoned building. He tells her she needs to listen to him, that by having sex with her he passed a fatal curse of some sort, and that she will be pursued by a supernatural shape-shifting entity that can take on the form of anyone, it could be someone she knows, a stranger, anybody... and that if it gets to her it will kill her, much the way it did the young woman at the start of the film. The only recourse she has is to pass the curse onto someone else through sex, but if they are killed by the entity it will again pursue her, and if it kills her it will go after High, and so on. It's also stated that the entity only travels at a walking pace, so she's gotta stay ahead of it by putting some distance between herself and it, and have sex with someone else. She doesn't believe him at first, but when an ominous looking naked woman shows up she becomes an instant believer. Hugh takes her home and drops her off, now it's following her.   

This is a flick that was ultra-hyped when it first started making the rounds, by the time I got around to watching it I was a bit jaded the endless praise, but I will tell you what, it's the rare film that actually not only lived up to the hyperbole lauded upon it, but it exceeded my expectations and still holds up years later. It feels modern but also vintage, perhaps because of the weird retro near-future aesthetic, having been shot in a run down neighborhood in Detroit it feels lived in, actually quite desolate in fact, and then there's this the sort of future-tech device that Yara reads from, it's like a Kindle bit housed in a clam-shell like device that looks a bit like a woman's compact mirror, which is another curious element. 

The generally uneasy tone of the film is also key to it's success, enhanced by the electronic score from Disasterpeace, a distorted, throbbing John Carpenter-esque slice of synth that helps the flick get under your skin. The cast is pretty uniformly strong, particularly lead Maika Monroe, who is quite likable and really is torn about passing the curse along to someone else, though she eventual does, first to a neighbor boy who doesn't truly believe in the entity, then, it's implied, to a group of men on  fishing boat, and later to her sex-pest pal.

Also adding to the nightmare like atmosphere is the way the entity appears to the afflicted, it can be someone they know, a stranger, a loved one, it could be anyone - so those who are cursed have to be hyper-vigilant not to be caught unaware, and the striking cinematography by Mike Gioulakis (John Dies at the End, Us, Glass) has a leering over the shoulder quality that will have you exploring every frame of the screen looking for the entity, which also made me uneasy. The look of the entity is ever changing but never not super-creepy, appearing a men and women who are often naked, wounded, or just upsettingly weird for one reason or another; it appears as a woman pissing herself, some poor kid's mother murdering him, a lumbering giant, a nude guy standing on the roof, it's all unnerving and upsetting and adds to the nightmare vibes. 

I pretty much loved everything about this movie, I loved the way it channel and modernizes John Carpenter's Halloween, subverting the suburbs of Haddonfield by depicting a crumbling almost dystopian neighborhood that was once probably middle class but has crumbled, The Shape now a shape-shifting sex-demon entity, plus the pulsating synth-score... there's a lot of familiarity, but it's also a new spin on classic ideas, and regardless of what your read on it is the pure chilling vibe of this one makes it an instant classic in my book, I've re-watched this no less than six time since my first viewing and it keeps getting better with each new watch - this is a stone-cold creepy classic, and it's looks terrific on UHD from Second Sight Films. 

Audio/Video: The digitally shot It Follows (2014) arrives on region-free 4K UHD from Second Sight Films framed in 2.35:1 widescreen with a brand new 4K master produced in conjunction with the original post production facility, and approved by director David Robert Mitchell. I tried to dig out my Blu-ray from the collection to compare this with but it seems to have gone missing (OK, who borrowed my It Follows?) and we were only sent the stand alone 4K release for review with no accompanying Blu-ray, so no comparison this time. On it's own though the 4K resolution really draws out the detail in facial features and surface textures, colors are well-saturated, the Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible) WCG color-grade punches-up the primaries quite nicely, the reds have a subtle pop to them, and the blacks are quite pleasing with nuanced shadow detail. Depth and clarity were also very pleasing. Audio comes byway of a Dolby Atmos remix that pumps up the previous DTS-HD 5.1 track quite nicely with immersive use of surrounds and height channels. The bass response is outstanding, and the Carpenter-esque synth score by video game music composer Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpeace ( Under the Silver Lake) really shines it's ominous, distorted  electronic tones deep and strong. 

Second Sight have really gone all-out for extras on this release, we start of with two brand new commentaries, the first is an new Audio Commentary by critic/academic Joshua Grimm, plus an archival Audio commentary by Danny Leigh and Mark Jancovich - neither of which I have listened to yet. 

Also new are the 19-min Chasing Ghosts: a new interview with actor Keir Gilchrist, the 12-min Following: a new interview with actor Olivia Luccardi; the 23-min It's in the House: an interview with Producer David Kaplan; the 13-min Composing a Masterpiece: an interview with composer Rich Vreeland; 24-min A Girl's World: an interview with production designer Michael Perry; and 11-min It Follows - The Architecture of Loneliness: a video essay by Joseph Wallace. I thought it curious that neither director David Robert Mitchell not star Maika Monroe contributed to the extras, which was a disappointment, but the 102-minutes of new interviews and video essay were solid. The single-disc standard edition 4K Ultra HD arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.  

 Special Features: 

- Second Sight Films 4K master produced in conjunction with the original post production facility, approved by director David Robert Mitchell

UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR

- New Dolby Atmos audio track produced by Second Sight Films

- New Audio Commentary by Joshua Grimm

- Audio commentary by Danny Leigh and Mark Jancovich

- Chasing Ghosts: a new interview with actor Keir Gilchrist (19:09) 

- Following: a new interview with actor Olivia Luccardi (11:57) 

- It's in the House: an interview with Producer David Kaplan (22:31) 

- Composing a Masterpiece: an interview with composer Rich Vreeland (12:57) 

- A Girl's World: an interview with production designer Michael Perry (24:05) 

- It Follows - The Architecture of Loneliness: a video essay by Joseph Wallace (11:02) 

 

Purchase the Limited Edition (UHD/BD) and standard release 4K UHD from www.DiabolikDVD.com 

CREEPSHOW: SEASON 1 (2019) (Acorn Media Internationals Blu-ray Review)

CREEPSHOW: SEASON 1 (2019) 

Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert. 15 
Duration: 265 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Directors: Greg Nicotero, John Harrison, Rob Schrab, David Bruckner, Roxanne Benjamin, Tom Savini

The Shudder Original anthology series Creepshow revived George A. Romero and Stephen King's ode to the ghoulish tales of E.C. Comics in 2019 for a episodic streaming format, each episode offering up a pair of pulpy tales sure to tickle the horror loving pleasure centers of your brain. The first episode offers up "Gray Matter" and "The House of the Head". The first being an adaptation of Stephen King's same-titled short story directed by Greg Nictoero, the Lovecraftian tale of a grieving alcoholic father who turns to the bottle after his wife's death, which leads him down a path of grotesque transformation. It's proper start to the series that features Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad)  and Tobin Bell (Saw) among the cast. This one is littered with fun little Stephen King Easter Eggs with references to The Shining, Cujo and Pet Sematary. The second half of he episode  "The House of the Head" is based on a short story from Josh Malerman, author of the Bird Box, and directed by John Harrison (Tales from the Darkside), who was the composer for the original Creepshow film, another solid creeper about a precocious young girl who has a newly acquired handmade dollhouse, her doll family she subs "The SMithSMiths" live inside, but one day she notices a toy severed zombie head inside the house and it has a sinister effect the doll occupants of the home. Eagle-eyed viewers will no doubt catch a familiar rug pattern from The Shining tucked away inside the dollhouse, this one brought to mind Hereditary just a tad with the use of miniatures, but not really in any other way. 

Episode two pairs "Bad Wolf Down" and "The Finger", the first being a WWII set werewolf flick directed by Rob Schrab (The Sarah Silverman Program) about a platoons of U.S. Soldiers pinned down inside an old cottage by Nazis, who are lead by Reinhardt (Jeffrey Combs, From Beyond). Inside they encounter a mysterious woman in white, who turns out to be a werewolf, which gives them an edge over the Nazis. I love me some werewolf films and this one goes gonzo with the werewolf carnage at the end with nods to The Howling, American Werewolf in London and the original The Wolfman, and literally dripping with gore! The second half of the episode is "The Finger" based on a story by David J. Schow (Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) and directed by Nicotero, starring DJ Qualls (Road Trip) as a down on his luck loser who finds a bizarre severed finger that starts to grow, turning into something akin to a gremlin by way of xenomorph looking creature that can sense his sinister desires and carries out a series of gruesome murders, each time returning home with a body part, much the same way that a loyal cat will leave you a dead mouse on your doorstep. This one is also steeped in gore and features some stop-motion animation creature effects that I loved. 

Episode three doubles up "All Hallow's Eve" and "The Man in the Suitcase", the first based on a story by former Creepy and Eerie horror-comics writer Bruce Jones, about a group of dead teenagers that return to their neighborhood every Halloween to have their revenge on the bully's who killed them. This one has a vibe and tone that brought to mind the "Halloween School Bus Massacre" segment of Trick 'r Treat (2007), but notably the short story was written back in 1982. The second half of the episode "The Man is in the Suitcase" a trio of college kids come across a suitcase, inside a man, very much alive, is twisted and contorted unnaturally to fit inside. He semi-explains the mysterious way he ended up ion the luggage and despite one of the teens attempting to get him help, which he refuses, he starts spitting up gold coins from his mouth. Two of the teens take advantage of the man in the suitcases gold-coin dispending abilities with little care fir his well-being, which increases when they subject him to extreme pain, which they take full advantage of, until his Djinn nature is revealed, to their peril.

Episode four kicks of with the David Bruckner (The Ritual) directed "The Companion", based a story by Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-Tep), about a young boy cruelly abused by his older, sadistic sibling, who while hiding from his brother discovers a creepy scarecrow that ends up aiding him in putting an end to his sibling's abusive treatment once and for all. The second half of the double-bill is "Lydia Layne's Better Half" directed by Roxanne Benjamin (There's Something Wrong with the Children), a nasty tale wherein a boss lady kills her lesbian lover after an argument over a promotion, she then tries to cover it up, but ends up being stuck in an elevator with her corpse and she ends up with her just desserts. 

Episode five's pairing of  "Night of the Paw" and "Times Is Tough in Musky Holler" are both directed by John Harrison, the first is a macabre take on classic Monkey's Paw tale, here starring Bruce Davison (Willard) as a mortician looking to end his life with the help of a fugitive cold-blooded killer (Hannah Barefoot, King Richard) who shows up on his doorstep mortally wounded. Love the cemetery set pieces of this one, very E.C. comics looking stuff, and of course the Monkey's Paw twists are deliciously diabolical. The second half  is the tale of a small town during the zombie apocalypse whose people turn on the corrupt Mayor who ruled over the town with a tyrannical fist during the zombie uprising, subjecting him tot he same horrors he subjected the townsfolk to. 

The final episode features a creature-feature two-fer with "Skincrawlers" and "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain", the former directed by Roxy Benjamin (Body at Brighton Rock) from a story by Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series), about a new revolutionary weight loss treatment involving a rare species of leeches that dissolve fat. A could be client (Dana Gould, Stan Against Evil) is skeptical about the process but on the day he volunteers to have the procedure performed on live TV a rare solar eclipse derails the treatment in a most horrific way. Fans of stuff like Squirm, Slugs, Shivers and Slither are sure to revel in this ultra-gory and squeamish delight, chock full slime-covered eye-trauma and gore gags. "By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain" is directed by horror royalty Tom Savini (Night of the Living Dead '90) from a story by Joe Hill (The Black Phone), about family who father does while searching for Lake Champlain's fabled lake monster "Champy". The mom is now with a new abusive boyfriend Chet (James Devoti, The Walking Dead) who treats her and the kids like shit, and when the daughter discovers that her dad was right about the local legend shitty Chet attempts to steal the glory, but the toothy sea-beast  "Champy" has other plans.  

I thought the first season was pretty terrific, there's a great group of talent in front of behind the camera, the stories are interesting and varied, and the special effects were solid. At times you can tell it reverts to comic book panels to show the werewolf transformations or whatnot because obviously they couldn't afford to show it all live-action or rendered digitally, but that's the beauty of it, that fits right into Creepshow vibe! I also loved how they have the live-action to comic panel and vice-versa, the garish lighting style and comic book framing, it's just a fun time.  

The stories themselves are right in that E.C. Comics-inspired sweet spot of black humor, twisted morality tales and the macabre, it just tonally feels like a proper successor to Creepshow and Creepshow 2 - into all of the stories are home runs, some are hampered by budget constraints, bit each one is at least interesting of not exactly perfection. My top three for this season are the Lovecraftian Stephen King adaptation "Grey Matter", werewolves versus Nazis in "Bad Wolf Down" and the squirmy body-horror of  "Skincrawlers", but I think this first season was pretty terrific on the whole. 

Audio/Video: Creepshow: Season 1 (2019) arrives on 2-disc region-free Blu-ray from Acorn Media International in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1), shot digitally there are no issues with source related blemish and the series translates to treasonably sharp HD with bold colors, particularly during the animated comic panels and garish lighting which harkens back to the style of the original Creepshow film. Black levels are solid but the more dimly lit scenes struggles a bit with shadow detail, but still solid. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, it's strong track with some nice use of the surrounds.

Extras feature Audio Commentaries with the Cast and Crew on all twelve episodes, but notably this release does not include the  the 62-minutes of making of featurettes found on the U.S. Blu-ray from RLG. The 2-disc release arrives in an oversized UK style keepcase with a flipper tray housing the two disc, the single-sided wrap features the same key artwork as the U.S. release. 

Special Features: 

Disc 1: 

- Episode 1:  

- Audio Commentary with Greg Nicotero and co-writer Philip de Blasi for Gray Matter 

- Audio Commentary with Director John Harrison and Michael Felsher for The House of the Head

Episode 2: 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher, Director Rob Schrab for Bad Wolf Down 

- Audio Commentary with Director Greg Nicotero and writer David J. Schow 

Episode 3:

-  Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and Director John Harrison for All Hallow's Eve 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and Director David Bruckner for The Man in the Suitcase

Disc Two

Episode 4:  

- Audio Commentary with Director David Bruckner and Matt Venne for The Companion 

- Audio Commentary with Director Roxanne Benjamin and Greg Nicotero for Lydia Layne's Better Half 

Episode 5: 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and Director John Harrison for Tough in Musky Holler 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and Director John Esposito for Night of the Paw 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and co-writer John Skipp for times is Tough in Musky Holler 

Episode 6: 

- Audio Commentary with Director Greg Nicotero, Roxanne Benjamin, and Actor Dana Gould for Skincrawlers 

- Audio Commentary with Michael Felsher and Director Tom Savini for By The Silver Water of Lake Champlain

Screenshots from the Acorn Media Blu-ray: