Why So Blu?

You’ll Like My Mother (Blu-ray Review)

Run Francesca! Run for your life! Oscar® winner Patty Duke stars in the tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller, You’ll Like My Mother. On May 10, 2016, Scream Factory presents the thriller for the first time on Blu-ray with an all-new HD film transfer, and complete with extras including new interviews with actors Richard Thomas and Sian Barbara Allen.  Rosemary Murphy (To Kill A Mockingbird), Richard Thomas (The Waltons), and Sian Barbara Allen (who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance) also star in this “intriguing, tautly directed thriller [that delivers] a high level of terror and tension” (TV Guide)!

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Film 

Why did they fear Francesca’s baby? When her husband is killed in Vietnam, Francesca Kinsolving finds herself alone… and pregnant. She makes her way to Minnesota in order to meet her late husband’s mother, certain that she’ll be greeted with open arms. But Francesca soon discovers that there may be more to the Kinsolving family than she ever imagined… and that this simple family reunion is only the beginning of a waking nightmare.

You’ll Like My Mother is a slow burning exercise in horror thrills and suspense.  It plays and mystery and character development to encompass all it is.  The film is very minimal, yet goes to some interesting places while being surrounded by terrific performances.  The direction on the film is very fine-lined, while not anything incredibly artistic, there is a sort of prestige with the way the film looks and plays out.

Patty Duke takes lead here, sparring off with her supposed mother in law, trapped in a house during a snowstorm and very pregnant.  Duke has a role and character seemingly reminiscent of Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby.  Desperately needing help, not knowing who to trust and all too trapped.  A young Richard Thomas also stars in the film.  Being a fan of The Americans, it was pretty neat to see him at a drastically younger age as I’m not familiar with any of his early work.  Sian Barbara Allen is a bit of a scene stealer and the most interesting performance in the whole thing.  She was even nominated for a Golden Globe for this.

I like what You’ll Like My Mother is setting out to do, its execution just can’t pull it around to being an all-timer.  Its a little too slow and doesn’t have a masterful vision behind the scenes.  Its not too far off from looking like a made-for-TV movie.  Its really close in aesthetic and low-key feel.  I find the movie interesting enough and was a solid watch, but I’m not sure its for everyone.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Clarity/Detail:  You’ll Like My Mother comes with a very nice transfer, with that standard Scream Factory look to it.  The image is pretty well detailed, with surface and clothing texture looking very good.  The print is very clean and has a bit of a soft touch to it, but it still is crisp enough.

Depth:  Spacing and the like is decent.  There are some shots that do impress.  Movements are cinematic and for the most part smooth.

Black Levels:  Blacks are deep and rich.  No crushing witnessed and shading is pretty impressive.

Color Reproduction:  Colors are bold and pretty rich.  Its nothing vibrant, but they feel full and deep.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural in appearance and maintain that look throughout the feature runtime.  Close-ups provide best look at detail with medium shots being okay.

Noise/Artifacts:  Some dirt/specs and grain.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English

Dynamics:  This mono track does quite the trick for this movie.  Sound effects are pretty decently rounded into this mix with things like a baby crying or engines humming sounding quite nice.  The mix feels decently balanced with the score, effects and vocals coming through well.

Low Frequency Extension:  N/A

Surround Sound Presentation:  N/A

Dialogue Reproduction:  Dialogue is set to good volume, has a little analog feel to it but doesn’t prevent it from being clean and clear.  

Extras 

You’ll Like My Mother has additional promotional images on the reverse side of the cover.

The Mystery of Kenny and Kathleen (HD, 55:38) – Actors Sian Barbara Allen and Richard Thomas richly guide through the production of the film as well as anecdote on their careers as well.  This is incredibly informative and well spoken.

Photo Gallery (HD, 2:15)

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:21)

Summary 

You’ll Like My Mother is very 1970s paced slow-burn thriller.  So if you’re traveling back to check this one out, know that in advance, as I get that style isn’t for everyone.  Scream Factory brings it to Blu-ray looking quite terrific and sounding good as well.  There is also a great dual interview that is almost two hours in length of two cast members’ reflections.  An easy pick up for those that are fans.