Why So Blu?

The Nesting (Blu-ray Review)

We are back and ready to bring you more cult-horror goodness from the good folks over at Blue Underground.  The Nesting is one of their latest offerings on Blu-ray and features a remastered print and new lossless soundtrack.  The Nesting comes on the heels of our recent Insidious Blu-ray in that they share something in common.  A haunted house!  Nice.  Haunted houses are very cool…unless they’re your own.  The Nesting will try to up the stakes on the true and tried myth.  How will The Nesting on Blu-ray fare?  You’ll just have to enter this Blu-ray review…if you dare.   

 

Film

Lauren Cochran (Robin Groves) is an agoraphobic mystery writer who can’t take the pressures of the city, so she decides to go off into the countryside where she rents out a huge old Victorian house.  All is not as it seems at the house.  She starts having visions and lucid dreams, and people close to her start to die grisly (but cool) deaths.  This house has a secret…and it’s trying to share.

The Nesting does have a lot going for it, but it doesn’t all work out.  I’d like to categorize the film into three separate parts.  The Beginning.  Middleground.  Resolution.  The beginning of The Nesting is super cool and takes you on a journey, but does so in a very brisk pace.  There’s an opening intro that alludes to some very bad deeds committed at this house many years earlier.  Once we are given a taste of what happened we are plunged into the busyness of the city where our protagonist is not able to deal with her condition.  The build up to her leaving the city for the quiet countryside is brilliant.

The middle of the film is where The Nesting goes for broke.  Weird stuff starts to happen at the old house and people start to die left and right.  Several things bothered me.  The first thing that comes to mind is empathy or the lack of it.  In one instance a somewhat pivotal character during the beginning is impaled through the head as he falls from the top of the house onto a second level deck with metal adornments.  What is bothersome is that after that horrific (but insanely cool) death we cut to Lauren talking to another character as if it was just a normal occurrence.  I don’t know about you, but if I witnessed someone get impaled through the head and face, I would be gone, agoraphobia be damned.  Nope, she decides to stay.

The final act is a tricky one, because as we start to find out what really happened in the house, some of the more dramatic elements may come off as cheesy to certain viewers.  This Lauren is a real screamer, and in some scenes she tends to over do it.  There are also a couple of side characters who are a bit goofy, as are some of the situations they are put in.  I could have done without those, but the ending and discovery of the film is very satisfying which is why I give The Nesting the benefit of the doubt.

As I said in the beginning, I’m all for haunted house flicks, so the more the better!  The Nesting was filmed in 1980 on a decent enough budget.  The old Victorian is creepy on the outside as it is creepy on the inside.  The production design and art direction is top notch.  The visuals are great as are the special make-up effects.

The Nesting has a few faults here and there, but overall the finished product is up to snuff.

Video 

The Nesting is presented in 1080p 1.85:1 widescreen.  The Nesting is a thirty one year old horror film, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it.  The print used is in tact, as I did not notice debris, dirt, or scratch marks in any area of the film.  What I did notice was the varying levels of slight inconsistency with regards to softness and contrast.  One scene would be nice and sharp with lovely grain then it would switch to a hazy like picture with boosted contrast.  Black levels are terrific and colors are nice and bold.  The latter two are why The Nesting gets a passing grade. 

Audio 

The Nesting is presented in DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless surround sound.  With the latest crop of Blue Underground releases it’s been a bit of a hit and miss with their soundtracks.  The Nesting sounds decent enough, but there just isn’t enough going on to warrant a 7.1 lossless soundtrack if the rear channels  don’t have anything to do.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that the front sound stage sounds great.  Dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to understand even through the screams of pain and agony.  The LFE (subwoofer channel) gets a bit of a workout during a few intense scenes.  Certain scenes of creepiness come alive (or dead) in great fashion on this lossless track. 

Special Features

Unfortunately there are no special features worthy of an extensive review.  We do get some deleted scenes and deleted extensions, trailers, tv spots, and poster and art gallery.  That’s it.

• Deleted Scenes and Extended Scenes
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Poster & Still Gallery

Final Thoughts 

Blue Underground has added The Nesting to its growing catalog on Blu-ray.  The Nesting is a better than average horror film, but some of the tech-specs and special features leave a lot to be desired.  It’s an “in-between” release, if you get my meaning.  It’s not great, but it’s not horrible either.  If you’re in the mood for a nice haunted house horror film then The Nesting may be right up your alley.

 

 

Order The Nesting on Blu-ray!