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Elfie Hopkins (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (12th March 2013). |
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The Film
 There are thousands upon thousands of fame hungry wannabe actors and actresses out there, so although it may be easier for an actor/actress with a famous relative to initially get involved in the industry, they also perhaps find it that little bit harder to actually make an impact, especially when their parent has such a varied and illustrious career. In fact, there are many who have tried and failed to make a huge impact, and very few who have managed to get the critics talking about them, rather than their relatives. One of the actresses who is getting plenty of work but struggling to get critical praise is Jaime Winstone, daughter of the fantastic Ray Winstone, but Elfie Hopkins is her first movie in which she is the main actress that has to make the movie work (in this case, she's the title character). The synopsis for Elfie Hopkins reads: Elfie Hopkins (JAIME WINSTONE) is an animal-loving slacker, stoner, and wannabe detective, living in a sleepy hunting village. Haunted by the death of her mother, Elfie seeks solace from the old school detectives in The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown. She entertains herself by investigating the villagers and upsetting everyone with her imaginative allegations. Things get serious however with the arrival of trendy city dwellers, the Gammons, who weave seductive tales of adventure and entice the villagers with offers of exotic hunting holidays around the world. Elfie smells a rat - her mundane existence is about to be blown apart. Unfortunately, Elfie Hopkins is a very mixed bag. The first problem is that it just can't decide what type of film it wants to be. The first hour or so is very much a murder mystery with some noir qualities, whilst the final half hour is firmly in the horror genre with several gory scenes and a couple of jumps. On their own, both parts of the film have some fitting scenes and are at times quite good, but they have been merged together with haste and because of that it suffers from tonal problems and a slight lack of direction. The next problem is unfortunately our star, Jaime Winstone. I've enjoyed her in minor roles I've seen her in, such as Kidulthood, and I thought she was one of the better elements in Donkey Punch, but here she is very one-dimensional and just grunts her way through the movie without changing emotion either through her face, or through facial expressions. Although the film is set in a village in Wales, accents (or lack of) are all over the place from all cast members. Jaime's poor acting here is made all the more obvious by a great cameo appearance by her own dad (twice). Now all is not lost. When the film first starts you are treated to a really nice monochrome tint to the proceedings and I loved the colours used to make it feel like a mystery film of yesteryear. This of course changes when it ramps up into horror, but was still impressive none-the-less and really suited the atmosphere and story during that first hour. The horror elements were also well utilised at times with some good gore and it leaves one wondering if the six seconds that were cut to gain a 15 rating (an uncut 18 was available) may have added even more to the horror elements or the genre cross-over. Elfie Hopkins has some good ideas and was obviously filmed with the possibility of a franchise in mind, and I do think if they had ignored the horror element, this would've been better. As it is, I can't find myself recommending this to anybody though. A disappointment.
Video
Shot on digital, Elfie Hopkins receives a 1080p AVC transfer from Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment which is rather average. Although the drab colours from the first hour look great, the print suffers from a lack of sharpness and suffers from some considerable edge enhancement at times, as well as some digital blockiness. It's not bad enough to completely distract the viewer, but it is noticeable enough that it could certainly be improved upon. It's a serviceable transfer.
Audio
There are two audio options included on the disc, both in the original English language. The choice is between DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Stereo and for the purposes of this review I opted for the DTS-HD MA track. Thankfully, this is better than the picture quality. Dialogue is clear and volumes consistent, whilst the surrounds are used to good, sometimes subtle effect. The LFE could've been better utilised at times, but for an independent horror this is a good track. Unfortunately no subtitles are available.
Extras
We start of the extras with a selection of deleted scenes (2:33, HD) available as a play all option only. The first is some dialogue about killers between Elfie and Bryn the Chef outside of the village police station. The second is between Elfie and Michael talking about the death of Old Man Horton in a police cell. I think both of these would've been okay left intact and added a little more to the storyline. Next up we have a "Making Of" featurette (10:38, SD) which isn't particularly informative and is made up of various cast and crew members talking about their roles and the film in general. Standard stuff and to short to be of any particular note. We are treated to a short film; "Little Munchkin" (10:05, SD) is directed by Ryan Andrews and is about a husband and wife who visit an orphanage to adopt a child. The problem is, they want a child who is 'unique', so adopt Margaret and immediately leave her with a babysitter, Mr. Sumner. They play a game of hide-and-seek and he realises that she isn't quite normal. Worth a viewing and better than the main feature, but nothing great. We finish the extras with some trailers. Start-up Trailers (5:15, HD): - "A Lonely Place to Die" - "Victim" - "The Man Inside" Theatrical Trailer (2:15, HD)
Packaging
Packaged in a standard blu-ray keep case.
Overall
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