- Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
- Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: PG-13
- Run Time: 89 Mins
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: None
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 19th, 2013
- List Price: $29.98
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(The below TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Shadow People tells the story of a syndrome known to the world as Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome, wherein a seemingly healthy person falls asleep, only to mysteriously die. These sudden deaths are reported by late night radio host Charlie Crowe (Dallas Roberts), thus prompting CDC investigator Sophie Lacombe (Alison Eastwood) to verify his claims. What results is a horror film that builds itself on having a scary premise – only it isn’t scary in the slightest sense.
A film like Shadow People, with its premise of people dying when they begin to fear, sounds like it might have more than its fair share of frightening moments – right? While the first sequences in Cambodia do send some chills our way, the remainder of this movie has zero (yes zero) truly scary scenes. Now, I’m not going to sit here and claim that I’m the kind of guy that never is scared by movies (certainly that isn’t the case as ‘real’, convincing horror like The Orphanage or the recent Mama are brilliant in this aspect.) More, I expect movies to be scary (especially when they build themselves in such a manner.) Simply put, Shadow People just isn’t that.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Shadow People scares its way onto Blu-ray with a 2.40:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4, encoded transfer. The film uses a rather drab looking palette, dominated by grays and blues. Even though this is the case, detail is strong throughout. Facial close-ups result in accurate flesh tones, as well as correct contrast levels. Blacks can be a bit washy looking, but this still doesn’t really affect the image quality. The transfer in and of itself isn’t perfect, but will please fans of the film.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
This Blu-ray disc includes a lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, available in English. Dialogue is well reproduced via the center channel, while atmosphere (especially during the initial opening moments) is quite solid. Clarity, as well as directional effects (like that of chatter and ambience), is spot on. LFE adds in some solid low-end, helping to create a frightening sense of terror. While not as good as another ‘strange’ release in The Strangers (of which this sole reviewer feels is one of the strongest horror mixes to ever grace the Blu-ray format,) this mix still supports the film well.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
All included features are presented in High Definition:
- Shadow People: More To The Story – This sole feature runs 12:34 and showcases a few interviews with the creators of the film.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
Anchor Bay has put together a technically solid Blu-ray presentation (especially the audio), but Shadow People is suppose to be scary– and it never is. Based on that, I’m going to recommend you skip this one.
Additional Screen Captures
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BestBuy.com:
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:1.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
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