- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: R
- Running Time: 87 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 6, 2011
- List Price: $34.99
[amazon-product]B0055V0K90[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase A Horrible Way to Die on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch this indie film from director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett. I thought I’d be seeing another average slasher film, but instead what unfolded was a beautifully filmed, if sometimes heavy handed, chilling, and atmospheric account of the effect of a psychopath on people’s lives.
A Horrible Way to Die tells the story of Sarah (Amy Seimetz), a recovering alcoholic who has escaped a life with her murderous boyfriend to start over in a small Midwestern town. There she meets Kevin (Joe Swanberg), also an addict, at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Kevin has romantic feelings towards her, but Sarah is haunted by her past and timid to start a new relationship, which could be with good reason. Her serial killer boyfriend Garrick Turrell (AJ Bowen) has escaped police custody and is killing his way across the Midwest to track her down. The film unfolds in an almost dreamlike series of flashbacks, flash-forwards, and scenes in the present, our only clues being Sarah’s relationship with Kevin and Garrick’s facial hair – full-bearded or partially shaven. Perhaps. There are a few interweaving story lines that all come together at the film’s stunning conclusion.
Wingard shows a true mastery of his subject in A Horrible Way to Die. From the very opening scenes, we feel the grip of insanity and death nipping at us; the madness growing to its inevitable conclusion. As Turrell tears across the country on his murder spree, there’s no attempt to explain his actions or to get inside his head, but we do get a sort of outsider’s look at some kind of inner struggle for him to try and understand what is compelling him to murder. Through Sarah’s struggle with alcohol, we already see the terror he has wrought upon others and there is the foreboding that Kevin has been drawn into this web unsuspectingly as well. Excellent psychological drama all around.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
A Horrible Way to Die is rather grainy looking film, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing here. It adds to the bleakness and moody feel of this film, and there are certainly no signs of video noise in this AVC/MPEG-4 encodement’s layer of grain. Colors shift between greys, blues, and warmer reddish tones, sometimes looking muted overall; all part of the artistic intention of the filmmakers. The transfer puts forth this look quite well and the image looks natural and organic at all times with good detail in the darker scenes even if there is a bit of black crush.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
While the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack has a tendency to be a bit too abundantly boomy for the material at hand, it is still marvelously atmospheric, makes good use of the surround channels and has an otherwise strong balance between front imaging and surround information. Dialogue is clean and punchy as well and the whole thing sound quite warm.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Though the supplements are rail thin on this release, there is a high quality filmmakers’ audio commentary worth checking out, but the run-of-the-mill “behind the scenes” featurette can definitely be passed over.
- Audio Commentary with Director/Editor Adam Wingard and Writer/Producer Simon Barrett
- Behind the Scenes of A Horrible Way to Die (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:07:13)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
A Horrible Way to Die is a not so horrible way to spend 81 minutes of your life. The chilling, spine tingling exploration of violence and tragedy is at times difficult to get through, but like a car wreck, you just can’t turn away. Recommended.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B0055V0K90[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase A Horrible Way to Die on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Film
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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