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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

directed by Mark Stouffer
USA 2009

 

Andrew (Devon Sawa, FINAL DESTINATION) has been having nightmares about The Catcher, an alien creature that collects human beings for display in a space museum. His biker friends (including Heather [Fernanda Romero] who may only be interested in his case for her thesis) take him to the desert to soak in its positive energy. Things get off to a bad start when they pass through a nuclear bombing site and come across a mutilated corpse (not to mention one of their number is an extremely abusive, misogynistic douchebag who manhandles his girlfriend and says things like "If you knew anything about bitches, you'd still have your girl" which makes me wonder if the film was co-produced by the Lifetime network) and pretty soon they run into The Catcher (your typical bug-eyed, drooling, growling alien, cheesy but well-realize by the effects team in close-up but not so much in CGI form) who sees them all as ideal specimens. The creature, some good gore, and a smattering of nudity, however, cannot make up for the bad script which has one guy shout "My brother was killed by drugs and alcohol" when two of the bikers start getting high leading to a laughably contrived way of stranding everyone in the desert. Mid-film, Andrew relates an incredibly detailed story about his Air Force uncle's encounter with the creature (which seems to have told the man everything about itself and its future plans) and naturally the others are less than pleased that he neglected to mention this before. Things progress in a stalk-and-slash fashion with the monster in a raincoat and hat a la I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER picking them off one by one as air force jets observe without attempting to help. The action picks up once they start baiting the monster but then the film leaves several loose ends as if hoping for a sequel.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 13 April 2010 (USA)

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DVD Review: MTI Home Video (screener) - Region 0 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

MTI Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

Runtime 1:20:36
Video

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.23 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles None
Features Release Information:
Studio: MTI Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 1:28)

DVD Release Date: April 13th, 2010

Chapters 1

 

Comments

NOTE: The limitations of the screener copy may not directly reflect the final consumer DVD. (Ed.)

The product listings cite 5.1 audio and Spanish subtitles as well as Spanish subtitles but the screener features a trailer, the film with no chapters, and a 2.0 stereo mix. "For Promotional Use Only" pops up occasionally throughout the screener.

The digital video (possibly HD) image is interlaced and the stereo mix has nicely mixed effects and music but the dialogue is not always clear. Either there is a problem with the screener's downmix or some of the film's dialogue was never ADR'd resulting in a few instances of either unclear or totally inaudible dialogue (including in one close-up) which is surprising as despite the utterly cardboard characters and the acceptable Sci-Fi Channel-type CGI, the photography is slick and monster itself is cheesy but well-realized (in close-up). Perhaps the final disc is an improved presentation.

 - Eric Cotenas

 



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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

 

Distribution

MTI Home Video

Region 0 - NTSC

 




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