The Guest (2014)

"A Modern Classic"

One of the best exploitation films of the 21st century gets a deserved whistles and bells 3 disc all singing and dancing (well the set does include a soundtrack CD) 4KUHD and Blu-ray release courtesy of Second Sight.

The Peterson family are still mourning the death of their soldier son Caleb when a man calling himself David (Dan Stevens) turns up at their home and claims to have been part of Caleb's regiment. Admitting he has nowhere to live David is invited to stay. Soon father Spencer (Leland Orser) gets a promotion after the man intended for it is found dead, son Luke (Brendan Meyer) is no longer troubled by school bullies, and the drug-peddling boyfriend of daughter Anna (Maika Monroe) has been put away. Does David have anything to do with this? Is he as good as he appears? Or might he just happen to be part of a secret military experiment gone horribly wrong?

A big hit when it premiered at London's Frightfest in 2014 with director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett in attendance, THE GUEST was quite the revelation after the team's previous efforts YOU'RE NEXT (2011) and A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE (2010), representing a quantum leap in budget and ambition as well as giving us a star-making performance from Dan Stevens. Its influences (HALLOWEEN, THE TERMINATOR, John Carpenter films in general) aren't difficult to spot, although the only actual visual in-jokes are to HALLOWEEN III (at the end) and HALLOWEEN IV (pretty much the opening shot). It's a cracker of a movie and feels just as fresh and polished now as it did seven years ago.

Second Sight's special edition features a whole load of new extras. You get the Wingard / Barrett commentary track from the original Blu-ray release plus a new one specially recorded for this edition. There's also an excellent lengthy interview with the duo that lasts about 50 minutes and covers all their work together to date. You also get a 20 minute interview with Dan Stevens, looking like he's just stepped off the set of 2020's EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA; a seven minute interview with Maika Monroe; and longer interviews with producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder (23 minutes), DP Robby Baumgartner (21 minutes), production designer Tom Hammock (13 minutes) and composer Steve Moore in his room filled with classic 1970s and 1980s keyboards (12 minutes). There are also 15 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes with optional commentary, which were available on the previous Blu-ray release.

All the extras are on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. The CD soundtrack wasn't provided for review but it looks as if it contains the songs used on the soundtrack. Steve Moore's synth score has been issued separately but it's not known if any Moore cuts are on the CD included here.

Finally, the discs come in a rigid slipcase that also includes six collectors' art cards and a 160 page book featuring new writing, script extracts, notes on the soundtrack. A fantastic package for a fantastic film and another superlative package from Second Sight.

Adam Wingard's THE GUEST is out in a three disc limited edition set of 5000 from Second Sight on Monday 25th October 2021

Blair Witch (2016)

“Lives Up to the Comparison to Friday the 13th Part V on the Box”

Of course it had to happen. After the somewhat scrappy and uninspired remakes of HALLOWEEN (2007), FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009) and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010) it was only fair that young moviegoers of the twenty-first century also got to have their own remake of the most successful horror film of 1999. Directed by horror’s own ‘King of Swingers’ (of the camera that is), Adam Wingard’s BLAIR WITCH is getting a digital, DVD and Blu-ray release from Lionsgate.

It’s kind of a sequel as well as a remake, in the way that films that are anxious to cover all the bases in a desperate attempt to appeal to as many people as possible are. James Allen McCune plays James, whose sister Heather (nudge nudge) disappeared in the woods around Burkittsville when he was four years old. Convinced by some dodgy video footage that she’s still there, he sets off with some friends on his own ill-advised and ill-equipped journey into the Heart of Found Footage territory.  

BLAIR WITCH received decidedly mixed reviews on its cinema release last year and it's not difficult to see why. If you're a fan of the found footage subgenre this hits all the bases (not much happening for the first thirty minutes, followed by lots of frantic running around and wobblycam, brief glimpses of things towards the end). If you're not then you probably aren't going to watch this anyway, as, sadly there's nothing in BLAIR WITCH to distinguish it from the plethora of BLAIR WITCH wannabes from five years ago you can probably still find down the pound shop.

And that’s a great shame, because there are a couple of supremely scary and unnerving ideas here in desperate need of a proper film to be made about them. The group seem to get trapped in a time vortex, where a night can last five days. The drone they bring with them, in a nice touch, reveals from the air that the forest has changed and all paths leading out have vanished. 

None of this is used to any effect, however. Instead we have Mr Wingard using his ‘swing the camera around as much as possible' style that has marred pretty much everything he’s made except THE GUEST (I’m beginning to think that’s his LORDS OF SALEM as it’s the only thing by him I really like). The sound design is horrible, veering between people whispering and then SHOUTING VERY LOUDLY or people mumbling and then ROCK MUSIC PLAYED AT AN ABOMINABLE VOLUME. It’s all profoundly irritating, uninspired, and very annoying. It also made me feel old - make of that what you will.

            Lionsgate’s DVD and Blu-ray release comes with a Wingard commentary, plus a number of making of featurettes and a special ‘low sound option for late night viewing’. 

Adam Wingard's BLAIR WITCH is out from Lionsgate on digital platforms from 16th January 2017 and it gets a DVD and Blu-ray release a week later on the 23rd.