Why So Blu?

The Room (DVD Review)

In THE ROOM, when Kate and Matt leave the city to move into an old house, they discover a secret hidden room that has the extraordinary power to materialize anything they wish for. Their new life becomes a true fairy tale. Yet beneath this apparent state of bliss, something darker lurks: some wishes can have dire consequences. The claustrophobic shut-in film is the most-watched Shudder Original film of the year and one of the most watched Original premieres in the history of the service.

Film

Kate (Olga Kurylenko) and Matt (Kevin Janssens) have left the busy city behind and bought themselves the house of their dreams out in the countryside. They left their high paying jobs behind and got a great deal on their new home. As the couple settle in, they discover that the house has a hidden room. It has a room that can materialize anything that they wish for. The room is a literal genie in a bottle.

Not knowing anything about The Room really came in handy because it was an unexpected treat, as you can see by the high rating. It has great production design and great special effects for such a small-scale production. There are many scenes where the couple goes “wish” crazy and some of the scenes get enhanced by visual effects. I also like the social undercurrent at play in the film. As I mentioned before, both seem to be from well-to-do backgrounds but wishing wealth and having it instantly gets to be old and tiresome and the cracks in both of their lives really begin to take form. That’s where the real drama begins.

The Room has horror overtones, but I’d say it stacks up more like a thriller than anything else. Once the major plot element reveals itself, all bets are off. The Room looks like it could also have come from something along the lines of The Twilight Zone, because there are definitely some ironic moments peppered throughout the film.

I do not want to say anymore due to potential spoilers and it’s a film that does have some shocking twists including a gut punch of an ending, which is all I will say about that. The Room originally premiered exclusively on Shudder, the horror and supernatural streaming channel. It now makes its physical media debut on DVD. In fact, if you read the lead-in paragraph, it was a ratings success upon its streaming Shudder debut. Again, The Room is worth your time and is available on DVD now.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-2

Resolution: 480p (upscaled to 1080p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Clarity/Detail: The film takes place indoors for the majority of its running time. Edge enhancement is visible in some outdoor scenes, but I suspect it’s native to the DVD source. I’m sure the HD version looks much better.

Depth: The interior shots of the film the best, where everything seems bigger yet claustrophobic.

Black Levels: There are scenes of minor crush here and there but not as distracting as it would seem.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is rich and vibrant, both indoors and outdoors, and in some of the fantasy sequences.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones look great on our main characters.

Noise/Artifacts: There are a few small instances of noise here and there, but it’s all inherent to the source. For a DVD, it does look above average.

 

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French

Dynamics: The Room seems like a quiet type of film but that is not case. It’s a very active film and there is plenty of dynamic sound to go around. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 sound brings the madness to our couple and fills their lives with confusion and dread. I can only imagine what a lossless soundtrack would have sounded like. It is what is, and it is great for a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

Low Frequency Extension: The LFE subwoofer channel brings the rumble and it is tight, without distortion or rattle.

Surround Sound Presentation: There’s plenty of activity in the rear channels, as many objects get thrown about back there.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are strong and clear.

 

Extras

There are no extras on this DVD.

 

Summary

The Room was a fantastic little romp with several scenes of sheer madness and an ending that will mess you up! The DVD has average video and near reference sound (for a DVD). The bummer is that there are no special features, which would have only enhanced the experience. Overall, The Room is highly recommended!

 

 

The images used above within the review are not actual DVD screenshots. They are for illustrative purposes only.

 

 

The Room is now available on DVD!

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