Why So Blu?

Hush (Collector’s Edition) (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Home invasion/stalker films will always put me on edge.  The horror ones, such as Halloween that involve serial killers will always have me shouting at the screen.  Thrillers like Panic Room are tense wonderful exercises in testing my blood pressure.  I love these types of films.  Mike Flanagan’s Hush sits somewhere in between horror and thriller and did nothing to calm my nerves while I watched it.  So where does the film sit in my critical view? Find out more about the film and Shout Studios/Scream Factory’s 4-Disc collector’s edition 4K UHD Blu-ray below!

Film:

Maddie Young (Kate Siegel) is a deaf-mute writer living in a secluded wooded area. She is trying to finish her novel and finding a way to move on from a bad relationship.  She is an everyday person, cooking, caring for her cat and chatting with friends and family. After a failed cooking moment, Maddie is cleaning up her mess and we see a brutal murder take place on her front porch.  A masked killer has shot her neighbor with a crossbow and is staring right at Maddie, unable to hear or feel anything going on outside.

One thing leads to another, and Maddie comes face to face with the killer.  She makes notes to him on her sliding glass door, but the notes don’t sway the killer.  Unbeknownst to Maddie, the killer has been in the house, but now wants to toy with Maddie.  Treating her as prey, he torments her from outside, threatening her and making things tense to say the least.  Maddie is in a fight for survival and knows that she can’t run, can’t hide and can’t continue to stay in the house, simply because eventually, the killer will get in.

Hush is an incredibly simple film, telling a simple horror/thriller story right to the point.  At a swift 81 minutes, the film takes shape by showing Maddie’s desire from simplicity in the woods, and her fear almost taking over her desire to survive.  As Maddie works through her emotions, and her near-miss injuries from brief scuffles with “The Man”, she begins to conclude that if she wants to live, “The Man” must die.

Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel were dating when the film became their idea.  Over time and through the creation of the film they were married.  We see their creative forces happened to have come together through the making of this film, and then later shows and films.  Siegel brings a great strength to the role of Maddie, and we root for her as she pushes forward, hiding and fighting her way through the night.  The killer, “The Man” is menacing in his creepy mask and even more when he reveals himself.  He does not know Maddie and their connection is fleeting.  He simply wants her dead.  He is without any merit and is the embodiment of a serial killer, except he’s talkative and his motive is never mentioned… He simply wants to kill, which is creepy to no end.

Hush is a lean and mean film.  It gets its point across simply. It chugs right along too! The direction is proof of Mike Flanagan’s great creativity using a simple plot and making a tense, edge of your seat film. This is a film that demands multiple viewings to take on the small details and relive the horrors with Maddie each time. Hush is must see entertainment for horror and thriller fans.

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Layers: BD-100

HDR: HDR10

Clarity/Detail: A more recent film from Scream Factory, Hush has a new 4K transfer supervised by Mike Flanagan, and the film is not super showy in the format.  Make no mistake, the film uses the format to its best abilities, giving you an excellent looking digital look.  Colors are mostly muted, as much of the film takes place in the dark.  The early scenes during the day look autumnal and lovely, while the night scenes that feature heavily have a nice blue hue to much of them.

Depth: Depth of field opens in the interiors of the home and brings the landscape outside into sharp focus.

Black Levels: Deep blacks abound, with no crush in sight.

Color Reproduction: Colors are muted tones most of all, with greys, blacks and blues dominating for much of the film.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural, with bloody makeup making a splash on the actors.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

** The “Shush” cut of Hush features the film in Black and White, which adds a mood.  The film in this cut is the preferred way to view the film according to director Mike Flanagan. Overall, the film looks more digital to my eyes in this way, but the difference in atmosphere is interesting, simply from the draining of color from the film.

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (Both Cuts), English DTS-HD MA 5.1(Both cuts), English DTS-HD MA 2.0 (Both Cuts)

Subtitles:  English SDH

Dynamics: Quite glaringly, the packaging for Hush does not mention the Dolby Atmos mixes for both cuts of the film. The original cut has the score and the “Shush” cut removes music. The film’s audio is almost like an ASMR exercise with incredible variances in sound. Music in the original cut is in your face, and without the music, sound effects come up with aggression too.

Height: The woods come alive in Atmos, especially up top.  The quiet lives in the height speakers, giving surprise sounds like flying arrows a chance to make you jump…

Low-Frequency Extension: Moments where we have the POV sounds of Maddie’s inability to hear bring deep bass to the scare party.  Music has its moments too, and of course moments of fighting between Maddie and “The Man” can bring some bass too.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surround channels bring in the woods and any house sounds large and small.  You are basically in the woods and in that house with Maddie for the whole movie.

Dialogue Reproduction: The 10 Minutes worth of dialogue sound perfect here.

Extras:

Extras For Hush are extensive.  The filmmakers, cast and crew come together for interviews a lot of which are longer than 15 minutes.  Each one has a special story and an obvious love and appreciation for the film.  Comparisons to Halloween, Wait Until Dark and Die Hard are discussed as well as the making of the film from everyone’s perspective. The release of Hush comes with new art for the standard edition, as well as an alternate edition available at Shoutfactory.com that has a different cover. Other purchase packages for the film are available at the Shout website as well that include posters. As always, Shout Studios has outdone themselves here, working with Flanagan to make an incredibly definitive physical media edition of Hush. Flanagan can definitely be seen in his interview championing physical media and I personally love that too.

HUSH Collector’s Edition (4K UHD™ + Blu-ray™)

Special Features

Disc One (4K UHD™, ORIGINAL VERSION):

• NEW 2024 4K Restoration supervised and approved by Director Mike Flanagan
• NEW Audio Commentary with Mike Flanagan, Actor & Co-Writer Kate Siegel, and Actors Samantha Sloan, John Gallagher, Jr., and Michael Trucco.

Disc Two (4K UHD™, “SHUSH CUT”):

• NEW 2024 4K Restoration – B&W “SHUSH CUT” supervised and approved by Mike Flanagan
• NEW Audio Commentary with Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel.
• NEW 2024 “Shush Cut” Audio Mix.

Disc Three (Blu-ray™, ORIGINAL VERSION & “SHUSH CUT”):

• NEW 2024 4K Restoration supervised and approved by Mike Flanagan.
• NEW Audio Commentary with Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, John Gallagher, Jr., and Michael Trucco (Original Version).
• NEW 2024 4K Restoration – B&W “Shush Cut” supervised and approved by Mike Flanagan.
• NEW Audio Commentary with Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel (“Shush Cut”).
• NEW 2024 “Shush Cut” Audio Mix.

Disc Four (Blu-ray™, Special Features):

• NEW Feature-Length Picture-In-Picture Video Commentary with Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, John Gallagher, Jr., and Michael Trucco (Original Version).
• NEW Interview with Samantha Sloyan.
• NEW Interview with Kate Siegel.
• NEW Interview with John Gallagher, Jr.
• NEW Interview with Michael Trucco.
• NEW Interview with Mike Flanagan.
• NEW Interview with Producer Trevor Macy.
• NEW Interview with Composers The Newton Brothers.
• NEW Interview with Director of Photography James Kniest.

Summary:

Hush is a brilliantly paced, scary, engaging horror/thriller.  The bravery of Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel choosing to reveal the killer under the mask so early on only makes the killer creepier, and the whole movie is an exercise in how to make your audience squirm.  The film demands repeat viewings and yeah, you can watch it on Netflix, but this as Flanagan says on the bonus features disc, you can hold in your hands! The film in both cuts is excellent and the technical merits are excellent too! While this isn’t a showy 4K presentation it’s definitive on all fronts and worth owning for fans of the film and the genres it imbues.

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