Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Station" or "Blutgletscher")

 

directed by Marvin Kren
Austria 2013

 

The alpine Climate Research Base is manned by three scientists - bitchy Birte (Hille Beseler, THE COUNTERFEITERS), spineless Harald (Felix Römer), and diplomatic Falk (Peter Knaack) - slovenly technician Janek (Gerhard Liebmann, LOURDES), and a dog Tinnitus aka Tinni (Santos), and they are about to make a shocking discovery. For unknown reasons (hmm!), the glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. When the glacier starts sloughing off a blood red substance into the water, the local animals start to behave strangely. After Tinni is attacked by what Janek believes is a rabid fox, he warns the science team off the upcoming public relations visit by Climate Minister Bodicek (Brigitte Kren, IMPORT/EXPORT). When Janek sees the fox itself and realizes it has mandibles, the team is skeptic of the idea of a rabid mutant fox running around until they discover for themselves a fox/woodlouse crossbreed. Even as Birte conjectures that the blood red substance in the ice is a cell container that mixes the DNA of its host with the other creatures it has consumed, the team are thinking "science history" rather than grave danger. Against the team's ruling, Janek goes to head off the minister's party - which includes his ex Tanja (Edita Malovcic, THE BONE MAN) - but they have already encountered danger in the form of a literal mosquito hawk. The two parties soon find themselves under siege in the flimsily constructed research station and finding out what happens when a human is bitten by one of the mutations. From Marvin Kren, director of SIEGE OF THE DEAD, BLOOD GLACIER (aka THE STATION) is a slicker and more serious sophomore effort. It doesn't quite hit all the right notes, but it does demonstrate the director's maturation. Without the quirkiness of Kren's first film, it's a rather straightforward, if well-made, monster flick in which the comic asides feel misplaced and the ending twist is more chuckle-worthy than touching.

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 27 September 2013 (Austria)

Reviews                                                     More Reviews                                            DVD Reviews

DVD Review: StudioCanal - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

Distribution

StudioCanal

Region 2 - PAL

Runtime 1:33:15 (4% PAL speedup)
Video

2.37:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.96 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

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

Bitrate

Audio German Dolby Digital 5.1; German Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: StudioCanal

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.37:1

Edition Details:
• Creature Design Gallery
• Trailer (16:9; 1:36)

DVD Release Date: 27 January 2014
Amaray

Chapters 8

 

Comments

Although the menu screens and onscreen title used the title THE STATION, StudioCanal's cover artwork uses the more direct translation BLOOD GLACIER. The anamorphic image - lensed in HD with an Arri Alexa - is given a rather high bitrate dual-layer encode (a luxury for a low-budget creature feature, especially when the disc is barebones) that sports good detail in the close-ups and reasonably so in medium and long shots (less so in the frenetic monster scenes which seem a concession to the fashionable shaky-cam style). Audio is offered up in German 5.1 and 2.0 stereo mixes that both get the job done (the surround mix is preferable, of course). The optional English subtitles have one or two errors but nothing distracting. The only extras are a creature design photo gallery and the film's trailer.

The film is also available on Blu-ray and DVD in Germany from Koch Media (although it is not known currently if it is English-friendly).

  - Eric Cotenas

 


DVD Menus
 

 


Screen Captures


Subtitle sample

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 


 


DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

Distribution

StudioCanal

Region 2 - PAL

 

 




Search DVDBeaver
S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!