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Travis Willock reviews
DEJ Productions
- Cert: R
- Cat.no: BBA-303D
- Running time: 105 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 24
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: Spanish
- Widescreen: 1.85:1; Full Frame: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: $19.98
- Extras:Featurette, Producer’s Commentary, Theatrical Trailers.
Director:
- Neil Marshall
Buy the R2 DVD from 
Screenplay:
- Neil Marshall
Cast:
- Wells: Sean Pertwee
Cooper: Kevin McKidd
Megan: Emma Cleasby
Ryan: Liam Cunningham
Bruce: Thomas Lockyer
Spoon: Darren Morfitt
Finally, a good horror movie.And a good werewolf movie too, you can’tbeat that. I was beginning to think that horror had disapeared andreplaced by comedy splicers (the decentEight Legged Freakscomes to mind). It’s a wonder how movies like this with a small budget workbetter than the big budget ones anymore. Why? Because this was made forthe hardcore fans and they won’t be dissapointed.
The script splices Night of the Living Dead, Predator, The Evil Dead,Jaws,andAliensinto a seamless experience. You would think this meshof film would not work but you’ll be wrong. The feeling of Aliens ishere, the isolation of Night of the Living Dead, someone has done theirhomework. Teetering on the simple plot of a team of commandos in theScotland woods. The scene turns messy when their rival wargame team isdiscovered torn to pieces. One survivor tells of creatures andthen..they strike. The team is attacked by werewolves and flee to anabandoned farmhouse. Now they must figure out a way to stay alive untilsunrise and aid their wounded seargant in the process. What follows iseverything a horror movie used to be.
The cast is assembled well and each plays their roles well. I neverstopped believing they were commandos. The score used is very similar toAliens but it still works for this movie and gives it that tensefeeling. Werewolf effects are done the traditional way of people incostumes instead of phony CGI. The script jumps around from time to timebut still stays together.
This is the movie horror fans thought would never be made again. Goodeffects and a cool plot make this stand out. Only a couple of minorcomplaints. The film takes some worthless twists towards the end andsometimes they didn’t show the werewolves very well, which got annoying.You’ll see past these problems and see a good movie though.
The color pallete wasn’t made to burn your eyes and it shows. The fogand dark interior lighting of the house are generally what makes up thistransfer. But is it any good. Both a widescreen 1.85:1 and a worthlessfull frame transfer are on the same side. The widescreen transfer wouldhave looked a lot better without the full frame version and it shows.Pixelization is there and the transfer just looks muddy and dark attimes. Not a complete waste but could have been better.
Audio is presented in Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Surround. The 5.1 track justwas not produced well. Some sounds are faded while the most minutepractically amplifies. Action scenes work well but others areinconsistent at times. Like the video it’s not bad but it could havebeen better.
The extras department is pretty bare. Here’s how it stacks up:
- Audio Commentary: A track featuring the producer of the film. Interesting.
- Featurette: A 19 minute segment on the making of the movie. Features interviews with cast and crew.
- Trailers: Two are here, the domestic video trailers and theinternational theatrical trailer. Both are deceptively short and offerlittle to what the film is about.
Nothing that will knock your socks off in the extras department but atleast there’s even anything here.
Packaging is amaray and features a pretty standard cover. 24 chapterssplit up the movie and menus are static (not to mention set up simply)but feature the film’s score.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. Unfortunately the DVD doesn’t shinethe same way. But if you like these type of movies it’s a guarentee buy.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALLEmailTravis Willock
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.