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Static
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (1st June 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** A young writer (Ventimiglia – Heroes, Rocky Balboa) and his wife (Sarah Shahi – Life) are struggling with the loss of their child but just as they are trying to get their lives back on track a hysterical young woman (Paxton – The Innkeepers, Last House on the Left), turns up at their secluded house in the middle of the night, claiming she is being chased by mysterious masked men. Letting her stay the night the couple are soon drawn into the horror when the unknown force starts to stalk them, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues, resulting in a shocking conclusion and one of the most chilling film finales of recent years.
Video
Second Sight gives horror movie "Static" its United Kingdom home media debut on dvd format only (as of time of writing), presenting the feature in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 which has been anamorphically enhanced. As is to be expected for such a recent movie, the picture quality is very good. The movie uses many very dark locations, most of which in the house after the electricity has been cut. Despite this, there is still enough difference in the blacks to differentiate objects and shadows, with macro-blocking kept to a minimum. Detail is sharp on most objects, though those further in the background can sometimes be slightly blocky. Facial close-ups look as good as they possibly can for this type of feature on dvd format. There is some minimal edge enhancement, but the transfer is free from blemishes and I noticed no signs of distress, scratches, or dirt. The disc is PAL format, region 2 encoded, and runs 79:35.
Audio
Unlike some of their other horror dvd releases, Second Sight have taken the extra step and provided us with two audio options here: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing of the movie, I opted for the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix which is very much above average. Tim Ziesmer has provided a rather formulaic score, but it is certainly put to good use and does well to build up the atmospheric tension and imminent sense of danger. The surrounds are well used without going overboard and the subtle effects have good directionality. My only gripe was that some of the dialogue did feel as though it was a little quiet when mixed with the score, but there is no damage or background hiss of any kind. No subtitles are included.
Extras
None.
Overall
"Static" is an average horror which happens to have an unexpected finale - an ending which I can't decide whether I like or not. The A/V and overall presentation of the disc is above average.
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