Dead Shadows (Blu-ray Review)
April is kind of a bummer month when it comes to Scream Factory titles. There’s only one title dropping and its not coming out until the tail end of the month (April 29th). No worries though, it’s only the calm before the storm that is the “Summer Of Fear”, which is HUGE and going to rock all horror fans’ socks off. For now, we have Dead Shadows. A completely independently funded film about a crazy little alien invasion. It’s directed by first timer David Cholewa and he’s a name you might want to take some interest in as he does show plenty of potential with his debut. The film came out in 2012, but is just now making its way here to the states in 2014. Before we begin, I need to give David Cholewa credit for using the song “Wax Ecstatic” by group from my alternative music days that has long been forgotten called Sponge. Bravo sir, I used to rock to that song plenty in my youthful days.
Film 
Chris, a recluse introvert lives and works in his tiny apartment. Eleven years ago, at a time when Halley’s comet was visible from Earth, his father went crazy and murdered his mother. Chris also has a giant fear of the dark due to this. His residence is in a part of town that does contain some seedy elements. When his neighbor (whom he is crushing on) takes an interest and invites him to a party down the street, he goes against his own reclusiveness and goes out. As another comet is becoming visible to Earth, people begin to act strange again. They start having gross deformations appearing and begin acting violently. Before he knows it, Chris is left to defend himself against some sort of alien invasion.
I wanna give this movie some massive credit. From the opening credits and through many of the introductory scenes, it sucks you in. Its look, style and score are all pretty attractive. Throughout the film I was marveling and anticipating where all of this was going to potentially lead. And that’s the word I keep coming back to; “potential”. This film had a lot of it. Its an extremely short film, just over 70 min, and as I was checking time I was growing concerned about how much time was dwindling away and the lack of something big happening or things getting a move on. Establishing characters and slow burn horror are things that I truly love, but you have to deliver in the end. And this film only kinda “makes due”. Yes, there are likely budgetary restrictions to what could have been done with a few more dollars and I AM giving it that benefit of the doubt, but the film led me to believe a lot more was going on. But in the meantime it did have some lovely grotesque horror imagery and disturbing moments.
If you couldn’t tell from the super awesome foreign Escape From New York poster on the lead character’s wall, this movie is very John Carpenter inspired and feels like it wants to be Escape From New York meets The Thing. And once you see these aliens, your mind won’t be able to make any correlation other than The Thing. And with the monsters we gets some really awesome gore effects melding with some average CGI. There’s one instance in the film where the director really decided to go for it with a grotesque sexual murder that maybe in my youth I would have thought was awesome, but nowadays I just found it to be juvenile and slightly in bad taste. But, while it wasn’t a moment for me, I do give the credit that he wasn’t afraid to hold back. To add, the score is very Carpenter-esque as well. Its nice to see the love for one of my all time favorite directors, but in all honesty I have seen other film’s do homages a bit better than this.
Dead Shadows leads you to believe (at least I got the sense) that it was going to turn into an all out battle for survival against zombie-alien things and in the ends winds up being merely just a small segment of what it is. With its super short run time and the amount of set up and establishment of location (this movie does a terrific job with its geography), I thought it was leading to something happening which leads to a non stop chase to some grisly finish. That’s not really what we get here. Its not bad, but I couldn’t help but think of how much opportunity felt like it was left on the table.
David Cholewa’s Dead Shadows is a solid movie. And its one that may improve for me with a second viewing. That is something I need to state. While I gave it the dead center middle of the road score, I do want to watch this film again and then maybe another time after that. I need to give it a go “after the fact” where I can truly appreciate and know what its giving me as opposed to unknowing and dreaming up potential stuff that never came to fruition. Don’t get me wrong, there was some creepy cool stuff and awesome gory imagery. And I love that the film is not heavy on trying to explain everything. This is something I did enjoy, but feel I’m going to have a greater appreciation for it and like it much more as time goes by and I watch it a few more times.
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1:78.1
Clarity/Detail: This is a good looking picture that isn’t spectacular but is definitely above average. Detail is pretty solid on that of baseball bats, clothing fabrics and shaggy hair. Its almost too clear and clean for the CGI though which really sticks out as obvious.
Depth: There’s some solid 3 dimensional work throughout. Highlights include our lead walking through hallways, a street fight with the aliens and a scene atop a parking garage.
Black Levels: There’s a bit of crushing involved and at times its almost too dark. This may have been intentional as to keep the effects looking as real as they can.
Color Reproduction: Colors are bold and definitely stick out. Like the tentacled monsters, you really get a good pop from their flesh color.
Flesh Tones: Tones are consistent but a tad on the smooth side, with some solid detail
Noise/Artifacts: None witnessed.
Audio
Audio Format(s): French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French 2.0 DTS-HD MA, English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English
Dynamics: This features good avenues in terms of score, effects and dialogue. The only issue being that when they were all going at the same time they tended to all blend together. I think its awesome though that they included lossless audio for all language tracks.
Low Frequency Extension: Some good use where expected. It could have been more utilized though.
Surround Sound Presentation: There is some good work here, especially at the party where you can hear music and different people in the back channels.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is clean and clear. It does tend to blend in with the score at times and is mildly troublesome.
Extras
The release contains reversible cover art which contains the very similar theatrical poster for the film.
Interview With Director David Cholewa (HD, 33:37) – A sit down with the director talking about his influences, production and self financing the film. The video is one long single shot with question cards popping up, so be prepared.
Making Of Special Effects (HD, 3:43) – This one was neat as you got see the shot of the film go through each stage of development to get the final result.
Deleted Scenes (HD, :49) – A couple deleted/alternate scenes from the film.
Unfinished VFX Scene (HD, :32) – What a moment from the end sequence could have been, but was not finished.
Trailer (HD, 2:07)
Teaser (HD, 1:09)
Summary 
If you are looking for something new and interesting with modern horror, definitely give Dead Shadows a look. While I was sort of the side of lukewarm the first time, I have a feeling my sentiments may change with another viewing. Its a film that has a lot of potential that I didn’t feel it quite reached. David Cholewa has made a movie that’s first two acts had me engaged enough that when its finale happened it felt like it was enough just to get by. But it is a movie that will grab you from the moment it starts. And I think it does deserve credit for pulling me in and keeping me on my toes throughout the ride. I did indeed like the film, but I have a feeling my appreciation will grow with future screenings. I’d recommend this for horror fans and Scream Factory fans for sure. Give it a shot!
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