Disturbing Behaviour

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Dom Robinson reviews

Disturbing Behaviour
Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

    Cover

  • Cat.no: CDR 98051
  • Cert: 15
  • Running time: 80 minutes
  • Year: 1999
  • Pressing: 1999
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 36 plus extras
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English, French
  • Subtitles: 14 different languages available
  • Widescreen: 1.85:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 5
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras : Scene index, Filmographies, US Theatrical Trailer, Music Video

    Director:

      David Nutter

    (TV: Millennium, The X-Files)

Producers:

    Armyan Bernstein and Jon Shestack

Screenplay:

    Scott Rosenberg

Music:

    Mark Snow

(The X-Files)

Cast:

    Steve Clark: James Marsden (Campfire Tales, Taken Away)
    Rachel Wagner: Katie Holmes (Go!, The Ice Storm, Teaching Mrs Tingle, TV: Dawson’s Creek)
    Gavin Strick: Nick Stahl (Eye of God, The Man Without a Face, Safe Passage, The Thin Red Line)
    Officer Cox: Steve Railsback (Alligator 2: The Mutation, Barb Wire, Deadly Intent, Final Mission, Lifeforce, Stranger in the House, Street Corner Justice)
    Dorian Newberry: William Sadler (Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, Bordello of Blood, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Hard To Kill, Solo, Trespass)

Disturbing Behaviouris one of those teen-films where weird goings-on are afoot in a remote partof the US that no-one seems to want to visit. The town in question here isCradle Bay and while most film schools get by as a combination of dysfunctionalcharacters stick to their own genres, the high-school here is only capableof turning out well-educated kids of the ‘jocks’ and prom queen variety,who, for the former, turn out in the form of Chug Roman (A.J. Buckley),Andy Effkin (Tobias Mehler) and Trent Whalen (Derek Hamilton)and in the latter, braindead bimbo Lorna Longley (Crystal Cass).

Newcomers Steve Clark (James Marsden) and Rachel Wagner (Katie Holmes)take a while to catch on to the phenonemon occuring, which even the DVD’sback cover attributes to as “Stepford-like”. Each of the kids who get thetreatment from Dr. Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood), who makes HaroldShipman seem like a very nice man, either comes out smelling of rosesand brimming with academic qualities, or it goes horribly wrong and theyend up in a nuthouse that makes the inmates of One Flew Over TheCuckoo’s Nest look A1-sane.

The battle begins for our intrepid heroes to put a stop to the shenaniganswhen one of their kind, Gavin Strick (Nick Stahl) is brainwashed inthe same way, especially when Steve finds out he’s next for the op. The policeare no help as corrupt cop Officer Cox (Steve Railsback) is on the sideof evil, but they may just find a friend in seemingly-demented janitor DorianNewberry (William Sadler) and his rat-trap machine.

While the plot may be full of holes, the picture certainly isn’t. No complaintshere and it’s presented in its original 1.85:1 ratio and enhanced for widescreentelevisions. The average bitrate is an above-average 5.59Mb/s, occasionallypeaking above 5.59Mb/s.

As the shocks are delivered to the cast, if not particularly to the viewer,so are the musical cues, causing loud spots to impregnate the quiet moments.The sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 for English and French, but my only complaintis that the whole thing sounds too quiet when my volume setting would normallypack a punch. That said, I only have a surround sound setup, so perhapsthe 5.1 mix has one up on this?

Extras : Chapters/Trailer :Columbia have taken a leaf out of Warner’s book for this film and given itmany many chapters – 36 over the 80-minute running time. The original UStheatrical trailer is also included. Languages/Subtitles :Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and French, plus subtitles in FOURTEEN languages :English, French, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Arabic,Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian and Dutch. And there’s more… :Very brief Filmographies and biographies are available for the lastfour names mentioned in the cast list at the top of this review, but there’snot a single mention for its lead actor James Marsden. The music promofor The Flys‘s Got You Where I Want You is emblazoned on thefront of the DVD cover, to which most UK residents will be wondering who theyare, but it’s not a bad song and plays over the closing credits. Menu :The menu is a simple but unadventurous affair, with a snapshot of the keycast members and options to start the film, select a scene, visit the extrasmenu or set up the audio and subtitle options.

Overall, there’s an idea here worth pursuing, but director David Nutter,nutter by name, but is he a nutter by nature?, doesn’t take it to its fullpotential and employs a twist right at the end, but it seems obvious thatthere’s money to be found in leaving the door open for a sequel.

Fans of the X-Files will also want to view this film. It maynot behave like an episode of that, but the composer is by the same MarkSnow and director Nutter has lent his hand to episodes of that show plusthe other Chris Carter TV experience, Millennium.

If there was a toss-up between this and the Region 1 disc, then the latterhas to win as it also includes extras for: 11 Deleted Scenes, a shockingalternate ending, a 4-Page booklet with quotes and insight from the starsand a director’s commentary track.FILM : **PICTURE QUALITY: *****SOUND QUALITY: ****EXTRAS: *½——————————-OVERALL: ***

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

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