Why So Blu?

The Craft: Legacy (Blu-ray Review)

Everyone wants their franchise to have Blumhouse take the reigns these days. And I’m not of the opinion to argue against it as I love Jason Blum’s low budget business model. Cult classic teen horror film The Craft is the latest to get the Blumhouse treatment with The Craft: Legacy. Reaching us over the Halloween season via VOD, it was met with some excitement and those saying “Why mess!?!” To the latter, they didn’t touch anything about the original. You’ll be just fine. As a matter of fact, there’s a terrific Scream Factory Blu-ray of it. But this review is for the Blu-ray for the NEW one. Not a remake, but a sequel that kinda sorta acts as a fresh start. So, lets put it in the Lega-Sequel category of resurrecting IPs. This release is available now as it was released back on December 22nd (Review copies were delayed because…well, you know this). You can order a copy of the Blu-ray, which comes with a digital code, using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review.

Film

An eclectic foursome of aspiring teenage witches get more than they bargained for as they lean into their newfound powers.

The Craft: Legacy does quite well in just being the film its going to be without worrying about the original film or trying to adhere to finding “all audiences” acceptance. The original was about some modern teen witches who welcome the new girl into their coven and flirt with the dangers of witchcraft. And that’s all you need to run with it. While the film wasn’t always working for me, I was enjoying the relentlessness of Zoe Lister-Jones not apologizing for it and making the film that this needed to be. A witchcraft horror for teens (or teen girls), and being that above all else.

Lister-Jones modern take on The Craft is plenty well cast with some young actors showing great potential paired with some strong adult companions. Cailee Spaeny proves a pretty capable lead and the coven really has some strong chemistry to share and carry the film. For some reason I didn’t know or had totally forgotten that Michelle Monaghan was in this and I was excited from early on. She’s always such a fun presence and brings a lot that here with a decent bond with Spaeny. David Duchovny give a pretty solid performance, choosing to be lax instead of going a little bigger which I was hoping for, but this is fine and very Duchovny.

I’ve mentioned that I’m clearly not the target audience for the movie, and I have no problem with that. I know that going in many times with films (As you’ve seen when I review children’s films on this site) and try to respect that factor when typing up my words. Even if you’re hesitantly curious, I still feel its worth a gander. However, I wanted to share a review that was written that I think really spells out that sort of thing and showcases the success of what The Craft: Legacy represents and how it might carve its own…um…legacy. You can find that by clicking HERE.

I’m kind of smack dab in the middle of The Craft: Legacy. I enjoyed some things about it and liked the cast. Perhaps because I’m not the key demo, I had a hard time having it stick with me. But, I’m not going to fault it for that. I applaud it for going all in and making a film that is aimed at a modern teen audience that longtime fans can still find themselves enjoying. It also felt like it might make for a good double feature with the recent Black Christmas (Another Blumhouse film IP resurrection that I also find plenty to appreciate about). At the end of the day its a really good effort and I think one that we’ll see as the years pass by, has and will continue to find an audience.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail:  The Craft: Legacy debuts on Blu-ray with a pretty fine picture as you’d expert from a modern film shot digitally. It has a nice well rounded image that is crisp, detailed, textured and feels nice and flush. Its nothing you’re going to lose your mind over, but its potentially an overlooked “really good”.

Depth:  Depth of field is decent. There’s a lot of tighter shots to tell this story and the backgrounds in the interiors are separated and pushed back enough. Exteriors do provide a little scale and are displayed well. Movements are smooth and carry no issues with digital blurring or jitter.

Black Levels:  Blacks are deep and heed toward natural. No details get swallowed up in the shadows or dark textures/fabrics/surfaces. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  This has a more natural, rustic vibe to it, and those colors are all pretty bold. Make-up, fabrics and some wall décor help add some pop and contrast.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and consistent start to finish. Facial features and textures are discernible and clear from any reasonable distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics:  The Craft: Legacy provides a solid 5.1 experience. The film is pretty front heavy, but bigger moments do take the opportunity to use the room. Overall, a more than decent experience and should be enough to compliment and suit the film.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension:  The subwoofer is most active during music and conflict with punches, crashes and such.

Surround Sound Presentation:  This mostly hangs out up from. Rear channels do make contributions and add to travel, but with a movie that includes plenty of fun moments of witchcraft, you’d think they’d maybe add extra some fun in mixing it for surround.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Vocals are clear, crisp and present.

Extras

The Craft: Legacy comes with a redeemable digital code.

Franchise Legacy (HD, 2:27) – A quick little piece where the Zoe Lister-Jones, Jason Blum and the cast talk about what made the original so special.

Powerful Story, Magical Director (HD, 3:11) – Jason Blum proclaims Zoe Lister-Jones gave an all-time great pitch for the film as well as other praises from the cast about working with her. This one also basically brushes over the plot, themes and characters.

Extended & Alternate Scenese (HD, 11:39) – Hilariously introduced by Zoe Lister-Jones.

Summary

The Craft: Legacy is a decent effort in following the original cult classic. Perhaps it, too, will find itself with that status as the years move on and its becomes more easily accessible. Audio and video on the disc from Sony are both admirable and there are some fluffy featurettes, but worthwhile deleted material that make for a nice bonus package. Fans should definitely pick this up when it hits a bargain price, others may want to rent before purchasing.