13th July 2009

MARTYRS Blu Ray Optimum Releasing Available now

Our most audience dividing and controversial selection from last years FrightFest arrives to the home formats courtesy of the ever fabulous Optimum people.

Many who attended last years screening who had an initial knee jerk reaction of “I really didn’t like that” to pure hatred for the film have now, with the benefit of hindsight, come to love, respect and appreciate Pascal Laugier’s film for the seminal masterpiece that it undoubtedly is.

Unashamedly antagonistic and an unparalleled assault on our senses and sensibilities – Laugier was always expecting extreme reactions to what is a brave, honest and often brutal film. For this and this alone he MUST be applauded in this time of teen friendly PG 13 rated horror. There is always the need for such outré and distinctive works from any continent. And it feels like the bravest, and ironically most under-appreciated by critics and audiences in their homeland – the French are truly leading the way with an incredible renaissance in genre film-making.

The BR in question features a solid transfer that carefully incorporates the differing tones, film stock and lighting used to film MARTYRS. Plentiful extras include a 19min interview with the director which focuses on themes including the reactions to the film, the music, the morals and the brutality. A 13 minute featurette focusing on the sadly departed make-up FX genius Benoit Lestang who guides us around his workshop and reflects on his all time favourite effects work within film (Carpenter’s THE THING) amongst many fascinating topics.

The real meat of the release however is a fantastic feature length making of documentary entitled Organic Chronicles – which as the title suggests includes every aspect of the production from pre to post production and publicity and some truly incredible candid behind the scenes footage of how some of the extreme sequences were put to film.

A perfect package and an essential purchase.

SPLINTER Icon Releasing Available now

A perfectly carved tiny gem of a horror film that did not receive (at least in the UK) the theatrical fanfare and attention that it deserved. Thankfully it is now available for all to see and enjoy courtesy of this excellent release from Icon.

A pin sharp transfer – befitting the spiky creature itself – is the highlight of the disc. The supplemental features include a bunch of podcast materials running around the 1 to 4 minute each mark are OK but nothing special. There is also a HD NET 4.34 mini feature. The real meat on the bones of this release however are the excellent audio commentary tracks with Brit born director Toby Wilkins and various cast members, and a separate additional commentary with Wilkins and some behind the camera talent. Finally a conceptual art gallery focusing on the creature is included on this release.

All in all then an excellent release for a low budget creature feature film that is well worth checking out.

Keep watching.

Paul.

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