Skip to content
13 is normally unlucky for most people, but 13 Hrs is a passable way of spending almost 90 minutes.
Sarah (Isabella Calthorpe, right) is is home from the U.S. on holiday for two weeks. After moving out there for work, she yearned of a return so she could see her father, Duncan (Simon MacCorkindale), brothers Charlie (Gabriel Thomson), Luke (Antony De Liseo), Stephen (Peter Gadiot), his girlfriend and Sarah’s half-sister Emily (Gemma Atkinson, below-right with Isabella in a promotional shot) and friends Doug (Joshua Bowman) and Gary (Tom Felton).
So, there’s the cast introduced and it’s nice to see the late Simon McCorkindale pop up in what, sadly, was to be his last film. However, it’s a brief appearance. Before too long, the kids get drunk kids, they’re in a big abode that looks like a haunted house and there’s a power cut. As they faff about, there’s tons of blood dripping on the stair carpet, but where’s it coming from?
Corky’s body has been eviscerated and so has Stoner the dog, but what is it that’s killing them? It’s snarling away and is forcing the kids into the loft, leaving Gary behind, who got cut off from the others as he went looking for fuses in the kitchen. One of them causes a distraction to the animal while another goes for a phone to try and call the police, but will it work? And will they, too, get eaten?
Well, what you need to know most of all is that Isabella Calthorpe is nicely toned and that Gemma Atkinson often has her breasts jiggling about with the other attraction being her very short skirt.
Yes, it’s one of those films where the cast get picked off one by one. It’s nicely directed and paced in order to move the film along and not show too much of the animal early on, thus giving undertones of The Thing, but it’s definitely not on that level. And when one character died around 50 minutes in, I didn’t actually realise straight away that they had! It’s difficult to describe without giving any spoilers but when you see it, you’ll know.
That said, it all moved towards an ending I wasn’t expecting and so it’s worth a rental if nothing else.
Presented in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic theatrical ratio, the picture is sharp, nicely detailed and Well framed with no major problems whatsoever. For the record, I’m watching on a Panasonic 37″ Plasma screen upscaled via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
Audio-wise, you get a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The atmosphere is fine, but the dialogue isn’t always 100% clear, so the disc could definitely benefit with subtitles. There’s no excuse for lack of subtitles.
The menu features a static shot of the cast against the haunted house in the film and… nothing. It’s silent. There are no subtitles, no extras and a paltry 12 chapters, which just isn’t enough. I work on the rule of thumb for approximately one every five minutes, ensuring one apiece for the opening and closing credits.
Before the main menu comes three trailers for forthcoming films and an advert for a chocolate bar. Er… extra material goes in the ‘EXTRAS’ menu, if there is one. We are not in the age of rental video!
Overall, this High Fliers release is abseiling with low ambitions. What a shame.
|
FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
6 8 7 0 |
| OVERALL | 5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 82 minutes
Studio: High Fliers
Cat.no: HFD8909
Year: 2010
Released: October 25th 2010
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 12
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 5
Director: Jonathan Glendening
Producers: Duncan Napier-Bell, Nicholas Napier-Bell, Tom Reeve and Romain Schroeder
Screenplay: Adam Phillips
Music: Edward Bradshaw
Cast:
Sarah Tyler: Isabella Calthorpe
Gary: Tom Felton
Emily: Gemma Atkinson
Doug Walker: Joshua Bowman
Charlie Moore: Gabriel Thomson
Stephen Moore: Peter Gadiot
Luke Moore: Antony De Liseo
Mrs Moore: Sue Scadding
McRae: John Lynch
May: Cornelius Clarke
Duncan: Simon MacCorkindale
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.