- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)/MVC (3D)
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit), Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0
- Subtitles: English
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 83 Mins
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray 3D/2D)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: April 2, 2013
- List Price: $29.98
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
HD: [Rating:3/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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:2.5/5]
Shimizu Takashi, director of The Grudge, returns with this sequel to his 2009 smash Shock Labyrinth. Truth be told, Tormented is a sequel in spirit only (no pun intended), as it does not continue the original storyline from the previous film, opting instead to rework it into an even more convoluted and often difficult to follow story. There are too many twists and revelations in Tormented to go into too much detail without running the risk of including spoilers, but the basic story follows a young woman, Kiriko (Mitsushima Hikari), who hasn’t spoken since a tragedy occurred in her life as a little girl. Now, after her young brother Daigo (Shibuya Takeru) kills a rabbit at the school where she is the librarian, the incident begins to evoke bad memories of her past, especially when Daigo begins seeing a giant, walking rabbit from a movie they went to see. Daigo’s hallucinations begin to come to life and have a shocking effect on Kiriko and her father. Tormented from the very beginning feels like a half-hearted attempt at recapturing the phenomenon that was its predecessor, Shock Labyrinth, in the Japanese market. The stuffed rabbit toy isn’t the only connection to the previous film; Shimizu shows no shame in going as far as to rehash many of the same 3D effects that went a long way to making the first film so tolerable and unique the first time around. The second go just makes them feel tired and an obvious play at a big payday. While the big twist halfway through the film goes a long way to explaining some of the more inexplicable things, the ending that inveigles Kiriko’s father even further confuses matters even more.
Video Quality
HD: [Rating:3/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:3/5]
Tormented was shot using the Panasonic AG-3DA1 professional 3D camcorder, which does not yield the highest quality imagery of some of the most high end systems from Red, Arri, and Sony. While there are lots moments where the 3D pop-out is strong, its the overall clarity and contrast that really suffer here. Gamma seems rather high, yielding darker images that aren’t exactly deep and inky, but more greyish and murky, containing lots of noticeable video noise. Also, the 3D has a lot of crosstalk, at least on my playback equipment. There have been productions done with, say, the PACE Fusion system where I may notice crosstalk from time to time, but not in such a noticeable, consistent degree.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit) soundtrack is clean with a punchy low end and a balanced, ambient sound. The discrete effects and atmospherics so crucial to films such as these are nicely done, natural, and clean.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
No supplements beyond the original theatrical trailer and additional Well GO USA trailers are included.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
Tormented is an unnecessary sequel to the somewhat entertaining Shock Labyrinth. It does no more than rehash the visual style and effects for a convoluted story with few scares and a rather dull story. Eave this one as a rental for a slow weekend.
Additional Screen Captures
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
HD: [Rating:3/5]
3D Effect: [Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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