The Nightmare Before Christmas

1993, US, Directed by Henry Selick
Colour, Running Time: 76 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Disney; Video: 1080p 24fps 1.66:1 (2D)/1.78:1 (3D), Audio: Dolby TrueHD

Jack Skellington is an influential force in Halloween Town: the inhabitants look up to him to orchestrate the arrangements of each Halloween night, the primary purpose being to annually frighten the residents of the human world above and then spend the rest of the year preparing the following festival. But from Jack’s point of view the whole routine is becoming meaningless. As with most reasonably intelligent individuals he’s beginning to question the point of it all and yearns for something to break the mould. One night wandering through an unexplored part of the woods he stumbles across a doorway to Christmas Town. Exploring the place his enthusiasm is re-ignited as he decides to take over the Christmas celebrations of the human world and add his own personal spin on things. Authorising the kidnapping of ‘Sandy Claws’ to keep the big man out of the way, Jack utilises the help of Halloween Town’s infinitely macabre residents to prepare some new ways of celebrating. But being a little misguided Jack manages to make a bit of a mess of things when he angers humanity with his strange gifts (severed heads, snakes, etc.), putting his own life in peril in the process.

Derived from a story and accompanying sketches produced by Burton several years previous, Disney (the film was eventually released under their more ‘adult’ subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures) bravely permitted the project to be realised using stop motion animation, an incredibly time consuming and arduous technique that involves meticulously moving hand crafted models frame by frame, each shot usually accommodating either 1/12th or 1/24th of a second depending on the level of sophistication required. It’s worth remembering that CGI was in its relative infancy at the time and the first fully computer animated feature (Toy Story) was still a couple of years away so at this point traditional 2D (generally drawn) was the method of choice for the majority of full length animated films. To take on a feature project using the laborious stop motion process was close to madness but thankfully it’s something that appears to have paid off over the years, both critically and commercially - the movie’s subsequent success easily returned profits on the original investment of (approximately) eighteen million dollars.

The magnitude of this technical achievement, however, would have been nothing were it not for the abundance of incredibly imaginative ideas on display: every single shot oozes dark beauty both in the designs and character movements. Each hand-created model, from ornaments and buildings to trees and entire towns, is almost a work of art in its own right, the pinnacle being the characters themselves: accurately reflecting Burton’s original sketches these statuettes are brought to life so exquisitely they could fool you into thinking they’re autonomous entities in their own right. Jack Skellington himself makes a charismatic lead, someone with both entertaining personality and the deeper flaws that almost bring about his downfall as he desperately tries to understand and emulate a cultural tradition that he’s completely unfamiliar with. Though the results of his actions bring about despair upon humankind he’s not specifically an evil person, more so misguided and misunderstood (and from a different cultural background), hence there is a complexity there not as common as it should be in feature films, both live-action and animated. His stubborn attempts to bring meaning to his own life through recreating the Christmas spirit are counter-balanced by Sally, someone who can see clearly what’s going wrong but can’t quite get her point across. Of course she has her own problems in the form of scientist and captor, the gorgeously realised Dr Finkelstein. The efforts of the artists don’t stop at the primary characters though - even bit parts (especially the fantastic human children) are great to watch, ensuring there are things going on that you’ll be noticing afresh for viewings to come.

Danny Elfman must have loved this project, composing a near constant score as well as writing the lyrics throughout and providing the singing voice for Jack. Not being a fan of musicals I admittedly didn’t warm to the soundtrack until after perhaps two or three viewings; nowadays it’s impossible to imagine this film sounding any other way. Of course Burton himself didn’t actually direct this film - his name over the title reflects the fact that it’s based on his story, visuals and concepts. While he stood in as producer (along with, at that point, regular collaborator Denise Di Novi) Henry Selick was offered directorial duties, something that requires a certain degree of awareness outside of the norm due to the extremely slow nature of filming. It may be fair to say that Selick’s contribution was initially less acknowledged than it should have been, what with Burton’s creative shadow somewhat obscuring recognition of the lesser known man’s presence. What’s almost as bad is the fact that he then went on to direct James and the Giant Peach, a Roald Dahl story that Burton obviously had not created, and the producers added Dahl’s name above the title! The talented guy just doesn’t seem to be destined for fame somehow, though more recently the exquisite Coraline should have rectified that. Aside from the fact that Nightmare Before Christmas has very little competition as far as stop motion feature films are concerned, it’s nevertheless an amazing film both artistically and technically, one that revels in visual beauty from the opening seconds onwards and a moment of real creative integrity for Hollywood, something that‘s way too uncommon in a world where cinema has been hijacked by business people.

Seeing this film for years on DVD brought about a familiarity that really gave birth to unprecedented appreciation when I watched the Blu-ray Disc - the transfer (finally framed at its correct ratio) brings the film to life in a manner I simply didn’t expect. Model work is truly granted justice as every crevice now seems to be visible, while the colour is so vivid a direct comparison to the previously released DVDs makes them look like you've going back to VHS. Similarly there were sounds in the Dolby TrueHD track that I’m sure I’d never heard before, such is the clarity of the audio. The set can be picked up as standard Blu-ray, or a 2 Blu set that contains the 3D conversion on a separate disc (retaining all of the original content and 2D version on the first disc).  The 3D version is quite a joy to watch, though the results are not consistently superb - some shots have a little depth, whilst many look quite amazing with the delectable model work taking on further life of its own.  The inherent jerkiness of some of the stop motion animation doesn't lend itself well to the faster moving shots when rendered in three dimensions, but the overall result was pleasing, particularly as this conversion was undertaken a few years ago.  The ratio is also slightly cropped at 1.78:1 (no doubt the desire to use the entire frame of a widescreen set is desirable with 3D content). The standard disc is rammed with extras with Burton’s old films Vincent and Frankenweenie being retained (though not looking as good as the feature obviously). The latter has now also being turned into a stop motion feature and recent clips suggest this should be something to check out without fail. Nightmare Before Christmas is a sumptuously characterised, true gem of a film and justifiably blessed with a BD that should be owned by all film-lovers.

Sony KDL46HX853 Review

Sitting down here in the cellar with many hours to spare as twilight arrives you need a decent viewing device to spend your time enslaving yourself within other worlds, hence I recently began looking for a new television to add some modernity to the dark walls of the cellar.  Sony have always had a great name for televisions, a fact that's been eroded in the last two or three years by a series of lacklustre sets from the electronics giant. Admittedly most of the sets I've bought over the years have been manufactured by Sony, because generally I've found them to be reliable, and good performers. After reading a few positive reviews I decided to finally go for this one to replace my last set. I actually watch most films on a HC6000 Mitsubishi projector but a TV for occasional viewing of stuff is what I wanted in another room. Firstly the neatly packed TV is surprisingly light - around 19Kg for a 46" set with a speaker base is pretty good and a nice contrast to the memory of lugging a 50Kg 28" CRT set up the stairs to my bedroom! Setting it up takes 40 minutes or so and once unpacked involves bolting it to the sound base (unless you plan on attaching it to the wall - there are holes for this but you'll need to buy the bracket separately). The hardest bit here is laying it carefully face down (on something soft!) and then lifting it on to the base that you've just got ready - easier with two people but I did manage it alone. It must be said that the set looks fantastic and really stands out as a modern piece of kit in your living room (or cellar in my case) - the black glass screen looks lovely even switched off! While the slightly tilted angle serves to give it a contemporary edge as well as facilitating the viewing angle of the average sofa-seated human. I'd say it actually looks nicer in the flesh than it does in the publicity photographs you may see on line. The remote is neatly laid out and easy to use (it will also operate other equipment, such as a Sony Blu-ray player), and round the back of the set you'll find plenty of connections including several HDMI sockets, a Scart for your old video machine, audio outputs, USB, etc.

Switching on, initialisation is quick and you can be ready to go in minutes. The menus are attractive and intuitive, plus you'll find that you can connect to the internet to easily browse material there (albeit in lower resolutions).  There are many, many personalisation sliders for image and sound control, from the basics of brightness/contrast/colour through to gamma, 'reality-enhancer', noise reduction controls, etc etc. There are some pre-defined modes for those who don't want to mess, though some of them look awful. Make sure you set the audio to come through the sound base rather than the TV speakers - there's a noticeable improvement in quality and contrary to many flat screen sets, it actually sounds rather good. Of course it's no match for a proper 5.1 or 7.1 set-up but the audio quality surprised me nonetheless. One small gripe is that the more advanced side of the manual is actually on the TV itself, making it more difficult to read about settings whilst changing them - there is a basic hard copy manual to get you started, however, I can understand the ecological reasons behind the decision so I think it can be forgiven. Image quality with Blu-ray Discs is wonderful - extremely sharp, colourful, and vivid, whilst black levels are excellent (this is a LED set with local rather than edge dimming, and this blows away older LCD sets). Quite surprising though is the apparent detail of upscaled DVDs - I've never actually seen DVDs look this good and I found it a pleasure re-watching a few of my old discs as they looked better than ever. Of course one of the main selling points of this set is the fact that it's 3D capable, specifically the active shutter variety (i.e. you get a full 1080p image fired at each eye, rather than the half resolution of the passive format). It doesn't come with any spectacles (the price point of the set is already very good and I guess it helped keep the cost down if it shipped with specs) so I also picked up the TDGBR750 (I'm assuming you know that you will also need a 3D Blu-ray player - which are quite cheap nowadays - and a HDMI cable to connect the player to the set). Having watched a couple of 3D discs now I'm really impressed - you may need to give your eyes a minute or two to adjust to the effect but, once settled, the depth (depending on the film) is gripping and addictive to watch. Evident is occasional cross-talk (where one eye picks up the image intended for the other) but overall the impact is not a million miles off what you'd expect at a 3D cinema projection. In fact as soon as I'd watched one 3D Blu-ray I immediately went on line and ordered two more! It's incredible that we've got this kind of technology available in our homes these days.  There is a 2D-3D conversion mode for standard discs but, whilst there is the illusion of some depth I generally think modes such as this are a waste of time.

£1200 may seem a lot to pay for a TV but you're going to be living with it for a few years and probably getting a couple of hours viewing out of it each day on average, so I think it's worth paying when you get performance this strong. It's pretty much the best TV I've ever watched anything on, and to get a hike in quality beyond this you're probably looking at spending two or three grand on a set. Given the best balance of price versus performance, I think the KDL46HX853 is something you seriously need to consider if you're buying a new set.  It looks awesome, whether you're watching anything on it or not :)

*Update* It's worth noting that the LED control is switched off by default - switching this one (via the advanced picture menu) substantially enhances contrast and black levels. Also be aware that the settings for each input can be customised, but if the plugged-in Blu-ray player to a particular HDMI input also outputs a 3D signal then there are two batches of settings for the same input - one for 2D, one for 3D. Essentially if you've set everything up based on a 2D blu-ray disc then you will also need to customize the default settings for a 3D disc separately. You only need to do this once (i.e. not every time you switch on the equipment) and the TV chooses automatically, but thought I would point this out because altering the set-up for 3D separately is easily overlooked, but does yield significantly improved results if indulged.

Tu Nu Blu(s)...

In connection with the recent Piranha (2010) review, the wonderfully promising Second Sight Films are putting out the original on UK Blu-ray in January.  Of course the film has been available for some time in the US from the equally fantastic Shout Factory, but this will open up the film for collection in HD to whole new batch of eager fans.  It will feature an audio commentary, several featurettes, out-takes, and more.  Also on its way in 2013 from the aforementioned Shout (more specifically, their subsidiary, Scream Factory) is the supernatural horror movie Prison - I rented this out on video cassette nearly twenty years ago and remember it being pretty good, so I may be checking this surprising Blu-ray out further when it appears next year.

Piranha

2010, US, Directed by Alexandre Aja
Colour, Running Time: 88 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, EIV; Video: 2.39:1 1080p 24fps 3D, Audio: DTS HD

An earth tremor releases from beneath the ocean thousands of prehistoric piranha with a particularly ferocious carnivorous attitude towards humanity, just as Lake Victoria, situated nearby, is entering into its party season as hundreds of promiscuous American teens with great bodies consume alcohol and abandon all respect for peace (and themselves). Aja's second remake of a classic seventies American B movie (the first being the rather brutal Hills Have Eyes), Piranha has its tongue in cheek and is spattered with homage to exploitation cinema - both in its contemporary form and the glory days - from the outset, including Richard Dreyfuss murmuring the tune he sung in Jaws (before being stripped of all flesh in the prologue), a cameo from Hostel director Eli Roth, and mountains of extreme (but fun) gore interspersed, surprisingly, with copious nudity. The film is not subtle, nor is it original, nor does remotely attempt to apologise for any of this. It does apparently boast remarkably high production values considering it's aiming itself firmly at the primordial instincts of its intended audience, with a great look, underwater sequences, soundly executed action set pieces, lots of digital and prosthetic effects (not all of which are entirely convincing, but that doesn't seem to matter in the context), some decent actors (amongst them, Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd and Elizabeth Shue - notice I haven't included Kelly Brook in that list!), and of course the fact that it was shot/mastered in 3D, which isn't cheap. There is a touch of anchoring the narrative on a main man, this being TV star Steven R. McQueen as Jake (here reminding me a little of the uptight Lee Montgomery character in Mutant), the nerdy boy who's inevitably going to become some sort of unlikely hero by the close credits. Despite this the film spends as much time as possible on everything else, namely fish ripping people apart and hordes of chiselled human bodies with little or no clothes covering them. And, boy, do these people deserve what they get! I am a bit sick of remakes nowadays but this one cooks up loads of enjoyment, from thrills to laughs, and I think you'd have to be in a pretty miserable mood not to have a nice time.

The Blu-ray serves up every conceivable viewing option, from conventional 2D, anaglyph 3D and Real 3D, the latter requiring appropriate 3D equipment of course (this being a 3D TV/projector, a 3D Blu-ray player, and a v1.4 HDMI cable). The anaglyph version can be viewed on conventional Blu-ray equipment, but it's really not worth it - whilst there is a 3D effect evident, the technical nature of the process (i.e. red'blue cardboard glasses, of which EIV have kindly supplied several pairs!) renders the natural colour scheme of the film a complete mess. I've viewed the 2D version in its entirety and the visuals look wonderful from start to finish, of particular note being the unbelievably vivid colours and immense detail. Having now acquired the aforementioned 3D equipment I've finally got the opportunity to watch the 'proper' 3D version. Thankfully the aforementioned vivid nature of the 2D presentation is retained, but the added third dimension really makes this dazzle! There is the odd flaw (for example, cross-talk, where one eye mistakenly picks up the image intended for the other eye, plus some fast moving material that's difficult to perceive properly) but generally this is a powerful experience, enhancing the somewhat limited essence of the source material. Two English audio tracks offer surround DTS-HD Master Audio to lift you out of your chair if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 set-up, or two channel Dolby Digital, which sounds unexpectedly good on a reasonable sounding TVset (I've listened to each track on a decent surround kit and a TV respectively). A stupendous showcase for Blu-ray overall, and a film that's not taking itself entirely seriously in its efforts to roll you along its kinetic rollercoaster ride. Hell, looking at the poster attached, even the German's seemed to get it!

Upcoming...

Nucleus Films (UK) have surprisingly got Night of the Bloody Apes through uncut for the first time ever in England - maybe the BBFC have finally realised this ridiculous ex-nasty is unlikely to mess with the minds of today's youth, given the fact that society's already gone to pot and all that...  Presented in anamorphic widescreen with either English or Spanish audio options (plus subtitles), the DVD also features a few trailers for other Nucleus material, trailers for this film, a still gallery, and a clip of 'feminist' Patricia MacCormack from their Nasty's Guide (not sure why this self-righteous narcissist has to keep tarnishing our genre with her existence, and even less sure why people pay her for it!).  I've got the Something Weird disc (doubled with Feast of Flesh); I may have considered the Nucleus version for the Spanish audio track alone, if it were not for the presence of MacCormack...  Anyway, this is otherwise quite welcome as the full stop to this rather bad film's notoriety in the UK.  DVD released yesterday.

Night of the Demon

1980, US, Directed by James Wasson
Colour, Running Time: 92 minutes
Review Source: DVD, R1, Code Red; Video: 1.33:1, Audio: Mono

Notorious probably mostly because it made the infamous 'banned' list in Britain back in the early 80s, Night of the Demon has over the years become a symbol of the bad film as amusement. So, does the 'brainchild' of Jim Ball (who appears to have done absolutely nothing before or since, at least in the film world) deserve such an... accolade, or should it have been forgotten the moment they lost the original negatives. One of the few films to take on the legend of the bigfoot, or sasquatch (the big ape-like creature we've only ever seen footprints or blurry photographs of), the story is told in retrospect by a heavily bandaged professor in a hospital who recounts his trip into the backwoods with a bunch of college students in an effort to get to the bottom of the mystery, where several people have been found mutilated in various ways. Of course the fools find that the legends are gruesomely true, and not only that but the big hairy mutha has a taste for the human female (go find one of your own kind!). Climaxing at a woodland cabin the last few teens begin to wish they'd spent their holidays at summer camp being slaughtered by Jason, as the place is attacked by the monster and their blood becomes decoration across the rotten wooden walls.

Eschewing any kind of careful thought from the outset, the film (with a story that somewhat foreshadows elements of The Blair Witch Project) portrays an odd series of flashbacks within a flashback, many of which couldn't possibly have been witnessed to the circumstantial degree which they're retold by the know-it-all young professor. The frequent deaths are, however, rather entertaining (though I'm sure Mary Whitehouse's grandchildren and The Daily Star would beg to differ), one of my favourites being the camping guy who gets picked up in his sleeping bag and swung round the beast's head five or six times before flying through the air to end up impaled on a branch. Then there are the wondering pair of girl guides who are forced to get up close and personal with one another. Oh and there's the scene in the van with the lovers, one of whom ends up a bloody mess on the windscreen while the woman sits there unproductively screaming her head off. The list goes on, and I think it's all this crazy disregard for human life that has kept the film alive over the years. I honestly don't think this mad shit could ever corrupt anybody! Hence looking back at the BBFC's decision in the 80s (and in the 90s - it was eventually released then quite heavily cut) arouses some measure of bewilderment (though this is likely due to some of the really nasty stuff that has gotten past the board in more recent years). One thing I will say though is that, despite the monster here often being derided I actually think it's rather effective. Yes, the hairless chest on an otherwise hirsute ape-man is rather odd, but the uncanny neanderthal appearance is I would say pretty nightmarish, and I think the show-stopping finale in the cabin evinces an aura of terror and doom, the wonderfully deranged sound design playing a part here. So, far from demonstration material at the London Film School, it's something you're unlikely to become too bored watching.

I think the bigfoot legend has been something that's lurked around my own imagination for a long time, probably because of the effective take on it in The Six Million Dollar Man back in the 70s, where the creature (which turns out to be a robot) scared the pants off me as a child. Therefore I was intrigued when I saw a few clips of Night of the Demon in my late teens, and later picked up a dupe cassette of the film (it was not readily available at the time due to the ban). There has since been a legitimate sell-through VHS tape and subsequent DVD of this film released by Vipco in the UK, but you may as well forget about those. Code Red put out their own disc in the US in 2011. Unable to locate a film source they turned to a videotape master struck by VCI (there is some overlaying text betraying this fact at the beginning of the film but thankfully this soon disappears). Code Red apologise for the quality but it's not too bad, though detail-wise it is average in the grand scheme of things. They came under flak, however, due to the overbearing appearance of Maria Kanellis, some ex-wrestling star who's decided she wants to blemish the horror world with her presence. I do agree that this (consisting of an introduction and, yetch, a generic music video!) is completely unnecessary but I don't really understand why such a move should give birth to the hostility that it does. It's the same as the Arrow syndrome, where so called 'fans' scream bloody murder because they don't like the cover art or something, despite Arrow providing four cover options for your choice! Personally I'm glad just to have these films available at all (though preferably on Blu-ray, something which would for once have been pointless in this case). Sound is Dolby Digital-ly encoded mono, and extras of more relevance include several trailers. Code Red seem to court controversy (and I do think some of this could be avoided), which is sort of odd considering their discs then go on to fetch rather a lot of money once they go out of print, but they've put out some interesting releases for the collections of genuine enthusiasts. This being one of them.