Bluebeard - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Bluebeard

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
It used to be that in the world of Asian cinema Hong Kong had the handle on all movies Asian. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bennie the Jet, John Woo, the list goes on. If it came out of the east and was good, it almost always originated from Hong Kong. Nowadays Hong Kong cinema has really petered off and the majority of film stars have shifted to mainland Chinese produced films, which usually just end up being a propaganda for the Chinese government. The bulk of the new and exciting stuff is coming from South Korea or Thailand. In fact a lot of the Korean stuff has been making waves among the horror and thriller crowd with film like The Man from Nowhere, Mother, A Dirty Carnival and countless others. So naturally I was intrigued when I saw Bluebeard’s trailer about a serial killer with a twist.

When most people think about a twist their mind usually goes to M. Knight Shamalamadingdong and his overuse of that cliched way of telling a story, but Bluebeard uses an interesting dreamlike state along with a set of double twists that is both compelling and very frustrating at the same time. The movie is inventive and cliched. Intriguing and predictable, and even a bit naughty as well. The story revolves around the premise of a serial killer loose inside of the city of Gangnam (now I can’t get “Gangnam Style” out of my head) with women being chopped up into pieces and those pieces being recovered in the river, under a bridge etc. Private practitioner, Dr. Seung-Hoon (Jin woong Jo) thinks he’s stumbled upon the killer when the father of his landlord (never named, but played by Goo Shin) mumbles out under anesthesia who to dismember and hide body parts. Terrified of the prospect of living over a murderer, Dr. Seung-Hoon starts looking closer at his landlords. The little family owns a butcher shop, so they have the perfect tools and cover to hide the body and blood, but the good Dr. can’t seem to find EXACTLY the proof he needs.

Things get a bit dicey when the son of the old man, Sung-geun (Dae-Myung Kim), tries to befriend Dr. Seung-Hoon, and the poor man can’t figure out if he’s next or not. When strange things start happening with his ex-wife appearing and then disappearing, the Dr. starts going a bit nuts. He SWEARS he’s found the head of a victim in the butcher shop’s deep freeze, but he’s so terrified at what he might find that he refuses to tear it open. Even though he’s having nightmares of seeing faces within the bag. As his nightmare closes in on him, the audience is s till wondering if the Dr. is really privy to a murdering family of serial killers, or whether this is all an illusion inside of his own head that we’re just seeing through his eyes.

Bluebeard is a strangely enticing film, and the first act or two really has you on the edge of your seat. The surreal nature of the Dr.’s nightmares keeps you wondering just who the villain is, but it’s the third act that starts to suck some of the life out of the film. We get to that third act and instead of just revealing the killer, it’s all just explained and OVER explained to death over about 20 minutes. By that time you’re thinking “oh wow, this just pulled the rug out from under the story in a rather blasé manner”, but then there’s a twist within a twist that is even more unsatisfying. Bringing the story back on track with the serial killer angle, but still not answering questions of who killed who BESIDES the wife. It’s a little confusing and feels a bit too much like M. Knight Shamalamadingdong twists, rather than something unique and exciting.

All around I have to give props to the actors. Jin-woong is fantastic as the Dr. with a secret, and Dae-Myung is so deliciously creepy AND likable at the same time that you’re left wondering the whole movie whether he’s the killer or not. The movie itself has a few extra actors filling out minor rolls, but this is really a two man show with the Dr. and Sung-geun facing off as the crazed medical practitioner unraveling as he goes further and further down the rabbit hole.




Rating:

Not Rated By the MPAA




Video:

Once again I can’t find out ANY information on the cameras used for the shoot, but I don’t think it would be off base to theorize that it is a completely digital affair. The film is graded with a light blue/green coloring with some hints of yellow thrown in (typical of horror movies these days), but the overall levels of detail and clarity are quite stunning. Most of the movie is shot in brightly lit areas which results in quite a lot of visible fine detail, and some great use of contrast to show a very pretty looking image. The dark and shadowy bits are about the only thing to draw this down from a 4.5/5 rated picture due to the occasional banding that rears its ugly head. It’s not wildly OFTEN, but when the banding does show up, it is certainly rather noticeable (usually on slightly out of focus items I noticed).







Audio:

Well Go USA has been really great lately with putting DTS:X (and sometimes Atmos) tracks on there recent releases, and Bluebeard has a wonderfully aggressive horror track that really makes good use of the entire sound stage. Dialog is strong and clean, with the heavily accentuated score bringing in some really unique and cool musical bits. Some of them are a bit over the top and weird, but they add to the ambiance of the surrealistic mental horror. Surrounds are used quite a bit with the sounds of scraping knives, screaming women, and the screech of tires (here and there), making it one of the better Well Go USA tracks that I’ve heard for quite some time. LFE is brutally punishing, and adds more than enough weight to the oppressive feeling track, and is certainly nuanced enough to not be a blockbuster “boom fest”.






Extras:

• Trailer

Final Score: ​

Bluebeard has its moments, but I have to say that I saw the first twist coming about a mile away. It’s not SUPER obvious, but much like when I watched The Sixth Sense, I had this nagging suspicion that I knew how the twist would take form from early in the film. The movie tends to go off on odd tangents, with the Dr. having a strange relationship with his medical assistant, as well as the introduction of his wife half way through the film send the movie off on a few wild tangents that distract from the main theory of him living over a family of serial killers. That fracturing keeps the story from being as cohesive and satisfying as it could, especially with the double twists that were seen from way too far away. Well Go USA gives us a very satisfactory video encode and a phenomenal DTS:X track to enjoy in the technical specifications, but there’s really no extras at all (besides the obligatory trailer) to have fun with. It’s a solid enough thriller in the rental category, and definitely worth watching if you enjoy Asian thrillers. It’s not something I’m going to go out and buy day one, but there’s enough fun for a solid watch.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jin-woong Jo, Goo Shin, Dae-Myung Kim
Directed by: Soo-youn Lee
Written by: Soo-youn Lee
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1 AVC
Audio: Korean: DTS:X, Korean DD 2.0
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 117 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 15th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Entertaining Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Never heard of this movie but after reading the review and watching the trailer, I am going to add it to my watch list.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hmmm... nice review Mike. Interesting info... has me curious!

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. Seems interesting enough to watch at least once.

 

[Michael Scott]

knowing your tastes ASERE, I think you'll enjoy it for a rental at least.