Why So Blu?

Muck (Blu-ray Review)

Anchor Bay Entertainment invites fans for a little bit’o the green and a LOT of the red with MUCK, a chiller seething with the greatest fear of all: that nowhere is safe!  The directorial debut of Steve Wolsh, who also wrote and produced, MUCK reads like a bloody love letter filled with just the sort of jolts horror fans have been waiting to hear – and see!  Shot in state-of-the-art 4K Ultra HD resolution, MUCK is packed with old-school effects, shocks – and yes, breasts – that stick with you, creating terror with effects and stunts without the use of CGI.  MUCK arrives uncut, uncensored, and unrated.  Featuring Kane Hodder (Hatchet, Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday the 13th films), Lachlan Buchanan (“Pretty Little Liars”), Puja Mohindra (Foreign), Bryce Draper (Bound) and YouTube Sensation Lauren Francesca (iwantmylauren), MUCK is throwback horror at its best.

Film 

After narrowly escaping an ancient burial ground, long forgotten and buried underneath the marshes of Cape Cod, a group of friends emerge from the thick, marshy darkness, tattered and bloody, lucky to be alive. They have already lost two of their friends in the marsh, presumably dead. They stumble upon an empty Cape Cod vacation house alongside the foggy marsh and break in to take shelter.

Whatever was in the marsh is still after them and soon after one of them goes for help, the rest of the group learns that the evil in the marsh is not the only thing that wants them dead. Something worse, something more savage, was lying in wait just outside the marsh, in the house. What happens next is unspeakable horror that cannot be unseen. These unlucky travelers spend their St. Patrick’s Day trapped between two evils forcing them to fight, die, or go back the way they came.

Muck started out interesting enough, and I have to give it merit there.  We don’t begin with friends going out to the country, dicking around, slowing getting offed and then a chase with one left.  Nope, we start after the killing has already begun and we’re down to five friends with one being severely injured.  However, the film can’t even come close to being this interesting again and blows it immediately the moment the opening credits begin.

This is an incredibly juvenile film that thinks its so damn smart and so damn funny.  It becomes tiring watching this movie over explain the fact that its seen a handful of slasher films before.  And its jokes happen too frequently and just don’t stop and continue going.  Heck, this thing even asks you to take it seriously too.  I’m not even sure if it knows some of its moments are “funny” or if its just being a 13 year old.

The film does boast that it strays nothing but practical effects.  However, it seemed to just amount to a lot of just dumping blood on people and fake boobs.  There is some good violence, but its all very dark and it just isn’t enough.  For some reason with Kane Hodder’s name attached to it, I was expecting a little more quality, but nope.  If you have the cinematic tastes of a angsty, horny 12 year old boy, this might be the movie for you, though.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Clarity/Detail: While this boasts this awesome 4K shot feature, 98% of this movie is in the dark and at nighttime.  Impressively, it still appears plenty sharp, crisp and detailed.  Through the darkness you can make out denim patterns, leaves, straw, rope texture and clothing fabrics.  A great image for a crummy movie!

Depth:  Plenty of freedom in the image quality.  Everything is clear and moves seamlessly in its environment.

Black Levels: This whole damn movie is pretty dark.  But there maintains a good amount of variance in shading and keeping details alive and healthy.

Color Reproduction:  For the most part, this takes place in the dark and colors are dingy and blue tinted.  When lit though, it can look really nice and vibrant.  Reds stand out regardless.

Flesh Tones:  Flesh tones are natural and consistent.  Full details on display of stubble, facial lines and dried blood.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics:  This audio track is pretty intense when it comes to the delivery of horror action.  The music is loud and punchy.  Effects are well rounded and you can hear every squish of an impalement or creek of door hinges.  As good as it is, I feel it could have been a touch looser in feeling.

Low Frequency Extension:  Music gets a boost from the sub, and thumps, thuds and crashes pound.

Surround Sound Presentation:  Front speakers display a nice volume range while keeping the action alive and accurate to what’s going on onscreen.  Rear speaker provide ambiance and distant spook noises at times.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Dialogue, is crisp, clean and loud.

Extras 

Nothing.

Summary 

Well, this disc is technically outstanding, but he movie itself is about the furthest thing from being that.  With no extras, you’re left with this mess of a film with no explanation.  Its a film that I’m not sure if it understands what its doing, or realizes what exactly its accomplishing (There’s a lot of humor parts that I’m not sure the film realizes its telling a joke).  Shot on 4K-whatever-and-ever camera and going “old-school” and being “pure” with effects doesn’t matter when your film is garbage.  While this Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific, there’s nothing to see or hear here, pass on it as many times as you can.