Why So Blu?

A Creature was Stirring (Blu-ray Review)

A nurse taking care of her daughter’s mysterious affliction struggles to hide her secrets when uninvited strangers take shelter in her house during a lethal blizzard in the terrifying holiday horror thriller A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, available on Blu-ray and DVD February 13, 2024 from Well Go USA Entertainment. The first feature film by Director Damien LeVeck with creature design and effects by award-winning SFX artist Tate Steinsiek (Face Off), A CREATURE WAS STIRRING stars Chrissy Metz (“This is Us,” “American Horror Story”) Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween, Halloween II), Annalise Basso (Ouija: Origin of Evil) and Connor Paolo (Stake Land, Better Half).

Film

Faith (Chrissy Metz) and her daughter Charm (Annalise Basso) live in the same house as Faith takes care of Charm who suffers from a peculiar affliction. They’re snowed in from a blizzard – Charm keeps busy with her artwork, while Faith cooks and mixes up what seem to be ingredients for home remedies.

They’re paid a visit by a couple who take shelter in their home. Now it’s not as simple as them coming out of the snow to take shelter – Faith lets them know who’s the boss first. Once an uneasy alliance takes place, the couple, (Liz & Kory) start to see things in the dark that don’t make sense. Charm is locked up in her room, Faith is downstairs in the kitchen making batches of who knows what – the dealings look shady from where Liz (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Kory (Connor Paolo) are standing.

I had no idea what A Creature was Stirring was about I just knew that it was a “creature-feature” and I was here for it. The film takes place in one multi-room family home and in various rooms throughout the same house. The lighting is the main selling point along with the cool looking monster. One of the first things viewers will notice is the lighting design. Each room seems to be lit using a different hue of blue, red, purple, etc. It’s a “colorful” film without the light since it all takes place at night or in the dark. It also takes place 90% inside, with one or two flashbacks.

The acting and story were satisfactory and to my overall liking. I know that some viewers will want to give it a couple of views, because I can already hear the comparisons to stuff like Memento. I think the creature was cool and I loved the way it looked and the way it was lit during some darkly shot interior scenes.

A Creature was Stirring was entertaining and a lot of fun. I enjoyed the performances, lighting design, and creature(s). If you’re into horror films and like actual physically-made-from-scratch-non-CGI-monsters then A Creature was Stirring is the movie for you. Keep reading to see how the video and audio stacked up.

 

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-25

Clarity/Detail: A Creature was Stirring looks great on Blu-ray. Detail levels are clean and crisp and I did not notice any instances of DNR or artificial sharpening.

Depth: The film is set in a very enclosed space but there’s enough visual flair to give a higher priced production a run for their money. The Blu-ray transfer gives the film’s production design some added value – it’s a lovely, monsters inside the home notwithstanding.

Black Levels: Black levels on this Blu-ray are strong and crush-free. Considering the film takes place in low-light/in the dark, the transfer handles black levels quite nicely.

Color Reproduction: The color palette on A Creature was Stirring is colorful but muted to say the least. 95% of the film features some crazy low-lit scenes. Blues, reds, purples, etc., are the majority of what we have to play with and I thought it gave the visual aesthetic some added flair. It’s garish but not in a bad way.

Flesh Tones: The two leads are redheads and the transfers handle their flesh tones really well, which you can see in these cool-lit rooms.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: The dynamics on this sound-mix is quite aggressive, which bodes well for it, because it takes place in one location. There’s clever use of sound design that gives the production grand sense of scale in some scenes.

Low Frequency Extension: The LFE subwoofer channels had several scenes that benefitted from some nice otherworldly roars and rumbles. I have two subwoofers plugged in, so I got some mean butt kicking bass!

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels handled the creepy sound design rather well. There are some scenes towards the end that had a lot of activity going on back there.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels were clean, clear, and crisp. I had no issues with the center channel capturing voices out in front.

 

Extras    

Sadly, there no special features included on the Blu-ray outside of a trailer and trailers for upcoming Well Go USA.

• A Creature was Stirring Trailer
• Well Go USA Trailers

 

Summary 

A Creature was Stirring was a lot of fun. I think it’s a very ambitious horror film that maxes out every dollar, while looking like it cost millions of dollars and I appreciated that. The Blu-ray looked and sounded fantastic and is recommended.

 

 

A Creature was Stirring is available on Blu-ray!

ORDER NOW!

 

Paid Advertising Link