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Aftershock
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (30th August 2013). |
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The Film
 Eli Roth is a man who wears many hats. He writes. He produces. He directs. He acts. Hell, recently he even lent his name to a major Vegas attraction when his 24/7 spook house, the eponymous Eli Roth’s Goretorium, opened last year. His constant media exposure and rampant self-promotion have led the media to essentially christen him king of the Splat Pack, referring to the crop of new millennium directors working in horror. If he isn’t doing promotion for one of his finished films, he can usually be heard spouting quotes about all of the ideas he has for upcoming projects. The guy has more jobs than Damon Wayans in a “Hey Mon” skit on "In Living Color" (1990-1994). And that’s exactly the problem, because despite all of the prestige he enjoys from the media, most horror fans would agree that Roth hasn’t given the genre a truly classic film. "Cabin Fever" (2002) was an auspicious debut that showed promise for the young director, but since then the only memorable offering he’s produced was a fake trailer featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse (2007). There’s a lot of sizzle, not a lot of steak. Which brings us to Aftershock (2012), the Chile-set disaster flick that Roth has been promoting heavily for the better part of a year. Roth leads the film as the generically-named Gringo, an American tourist visiting two of his friends – Ariel (Ariel Levy) and Pollo (Nicolás Martínez, who looks like Chile’s answer to Zach Galifianakis) - who are trying their best to get him laid while on vacation. They visit clubs, they go wine tasting, they play by the pool. The film spends an interminable thirty minutes with these three douchebags, without providing any kind of character development or a reason to care about them once the earthquake finally hits. Once it does, chaos ensues and our leading pack of men, now joined by a trio of women, are thrust into a war zone situation with toppled buildings, marauding prisoners, and the threat of a tsunami that is constantly teased throughout the proceedings. Since Mother Nature, as the film’s main threat, can’t have a physical incarnation it’s up to the film to provide leading characters we can empathize with so we (the audience) feel something when one of them bites it. As stated earlier, we spend a great deal of time with these guys, but they’re painted as typical archetypes that are impossible to care about. Roth’s Gringo is a stereotypical American, who doesn’t speak the language, spends the entire opening cruising for cooze, and he makes a lot of self-deprecating Jew jokes. Pollo is a dead ringer for Alan from "The Hangover" (2009), with his thick scruffy beard and amusing t-shirts. Honestly, there’s a club scene early on where ironic hipster shirts seem to get more screen time that our leading men. Was this sponsored by Tee Fury or something? Ariel is kind of the odd man out, adding very little to the film aside from being the boring straight man of sorts. The worst part is that they don’t even seem to all like each other, with Gringo and Pollo going at it enough that you’ll be begging for their deaths to happen pre-quake. The film’s main conceit is to show how a society can break down during a major catastrophe, but it only does so in very typical ways, like showing how panicked clubbers are willing to trample others to death in order to escape. The real meat of this concept is the escaped prisoners, who stalk the streets looking for women to rape and men to rob. While a somewhat novel idea, the major issue is that the film has already established our leads aren’t really people to care about, which sort of neutralizes the threat of murder. Who cares if they die? The only hint of non-douchebaggery given to Gringo is that he has a daughter he cares about, but since their relationship is barely touched upon that isn’t a credible reason to see him live. And Pollo is a daddy’s boy through and through, using his father’s money to finance his lifestyle of luxury. That’s normally the guy we want to see offed in a horror flick. Aftershock is more concerned with showcasing the violent aftermath and wanton destruction of Chile instead of proving some emotional depth to make us care about what happens to these characters. It’s a vapid vessel for delivering one gory comeuppance after the next, devoid of the necessary pathos that makes truly classic disaster films work. Some credit can be given for a few practical FX gags that are appropriately gory, but there’s no redeeming the remainder of the film surrounding them.
Video
The 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image certainly showcases its low-budget roots. Shot using Digital SLR cameras, the picture attempts to mimic 35mm but ultimately falls short. The opening scenes, which are entirely in daylight, appear too saturated, with hot colors and blown out visuals. Later on, once the image shifts to nighttime, many fine details and background elements are consumed by the oppressive black levels. Skin tones and facial details don’t look half bad for the most part, and colors appear generally strong throughout. It isn’t an ugly picture, but it certainly doesn’t look very filmic.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track (48kHz/24-bit) fares much better. The film opens with absolutely crushing bass, something that remains a staple throughout the film. Dialogue is balanced well in the mix, never lost to the chaos surrounding our characters. The rear speakers don’t do much to envelope viewers or to expand the soundscape past the front assembly, something that almost seems crucial for a film like this. Subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired, and Spanish.
Extras
This release is minimal on features, with an audio commentary and two featurettes making up the supplements. An International audio commentary features producer Eli Roth chiming in from L.A., while director Nicolás López phones it in from Chile. Wow, technology, huh? Anyway, they discuss all aspects of making the film, where the idea came from… all the expected topics. “The Making of Aftershock” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 9 minutes and 26 seconds. It’s hard to take López seriously when he’s wearing a cat shirt, sports coat, and thick-rimmed glasses that make him look like a raccoon. This piece features many clips from the film alongside some behind-the-scenes chatter. “Shaking Up the Casting Process” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Unsuspecting actors are brought in to “audition”, where they are asked to change in a booth that is rigged up to a shaking device which simulates an earthquake. Slight amusement follows. The disc opens with some bonus trailers (1080p) for the following: - “Solomon Kane” runs for 2 minutes and 11 seconds. - “Pusher” runs for 1 minute and 56 seconds. - “Only God Forgives” runs for 1 minute and 38 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in an eco-case, with cover art that features a lot of floating heads.
Overall
I want the 90 minutes of my life I spent watching this back.
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