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Werewolf Rising
R2 - United Kingdom - Image Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (21st September 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Out of the darkness comes a new kind of blood lust. When Emma returns to her childhood home deep in the Arkansas mountains, she’s in need of rest, relaxation and some deep soul searching. What she finds is dark wooded slaughter, fear and the foul pestilence that comes with a full moon. A bloodthirsty werewolf is tearing through the township, ripping and ravaging all who cross its path, revealing a sinister underlife to the town that few knew existed. Suddenly Emma finds herself plunged into a fight for her life and more – a fight to the finish for her soul. Beware the beast.
Video
Image Entertainment have released the horror movie "Werewolf Rising" on to DVD in the United Kingdom at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is anamorphic, but even though it has a very small budget, you would hope for a higher quality picture than this. The transfer suffers notably from some minor edge enhancement throughout. One of the worst scenes in the entire feature is at 22:20 though. As the camera rises above the ground, we get some horrible blockiness surrounding the ground detail, and it looks absolutely atrocious and is very distracting. Move on less than ten minutes to 31:40, and we see the first of moire type lines like you would see if someone scans a photo poorly, plastering the screen. On rare occasions, there is also a lack of clarity which can descend into blurriness, just like on the back of the jacket at 33:20, which comes in and out of focus and does not appear to be intentional. One of the most obvious signs of heavy aliasing takes place at 47:29, and like other flaws, can be overly befuddled. Yet - despite all these flaws - the transfer isn't too shoddy. Colours are quite soft, but this suits the tone of the film well, with clothing often showing good detail during close-ups. Other details, such as facial close-ups, can also look very good indeed. Unfortunately though, the consistency of the transfer is just not up to par, and the flaws are too obvious. The feature is uncut and runs 76:39.
Audio
Two options are included: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo For my viewing, I opted to watch the film with the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and like the transfer, it's a little disappointing. The surround usage is rather basic throughout, often utilised for the score only, with occasional effects lacking a little direction. Dialogue is understandable at all times, but has a tendency to feel slightly murky, and can lack sharpness. LFE usage is minimal - used for occasional thuds and slight boosts to the bass of the score. Channel separation is sufficient, but a lot more could have been done to make the movie more immersive during more tense segments. There are no drop outs, and no scratches. It should be noted the stereo track plays by default. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
Start-up Trailers (3:38): - "Camp Blood" (1:21) - "Varsity Blood" (1:05) - "The Invoking" (1:10)
Packaging
The best thing about this release is the artwork, which is replicated on a nice slipcover available for initial pressings.
Overall
Unfortunately, I can't even recommend this to the most ardent fan of low budget horror. It's not even good enough to be used for a 'beers with the boys and a bad movie to take the piss out of' night.
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