DVD Corner

Paramount Scares Volume 1 4K UHD Review

Paramount Scares Volume 1 hits shelves just in time for Halloween.

To celebrate the spooky season, Paramount has put out a brand new 4K box set containing 5 horror films- “Smile,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Pet Sematary,” “Crawl,” and the mystery title which was sadly already spoiled prior to release “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.” If you’re a horror aficionado, you’ve likely already seen all of these films, but allow me to break them down for you with my personal opinions.

In 2022’s chilling “Smile,” psychiatrist Dr. Rose Cotter finds herself being haunted by a smiling entity after witnessing a horrific suicide of a patient. She appears to be cursed and, worse than that, she may suffer the same fate as her patient. Can she figure out a way to save her life? This is the newest film in this set and one that is sure to spawn a new horror franchise. While it certainly owes a lot to “The Ring,” writer/director Parker Finn’s “Smile” is a bold original that intelligently addresses topical and important subject matters about mental health, anxiety, and trauma. It’s also just fun to see Sosie Bacon follow in her father’s footsteps and star in a horror film.

1968’s “Rosemary’s Baby” is easily the best film in this set. Writer/director Roman Polanski’s horror tale revolves around a married couple (Rosemary and Guy) that move into a NY apartment building where strange things start to occur, to put it mildly. After Rosemary becomes pregnant, the horrors only multiply as Rosemary discovers what has been happening around her and what is really happening to her. The combination of superb performances by Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, and Ruth Gordon and the chilling slow-burn story that really pays off in the end makes this an enduring classic.

1989’s “Pet Sematary” hasn’t aged particularly well. There’s some suspect acting, it’s weirdly campy, the scene transitions are funky, and the script leaves out a lot of elements that needed to be expanded upon. I’m one of those weirdos who actually prefers the 2019 remake. With all of that said, this Mary Lambert directed Stephen King adaptation about the doomed Creed family moving into a house next to a pet cemetery and Indian burial ground has its moments. Church, Gage (Miko Hughes) and Jud (Fred Gwyn) are clear highlights and there are some unequivocally creepy moments to be sure.

Director Alexandre Aja’s “Crawl” is a simple story of a daughter trying to find her father amid a Category 5 Hurricane sweeping through Florida. Upon arriving at her flooded family home, she finds her father trapped in the crawl space, but that’s not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that alligators are lurking about. From start to finish, this is a no frills, all thrills kind of movie. It’s claustrophobic, intense, and full of alligator action. The movie even has a heartfelt father-daughter storyline at the center. Are there puzzling character actions and plot conveniences? Absolutely, but they never hamper the movie as a whole.

Director Tim Burton stepped into the world of musical theater by adapting Stephen Sondheim’s stage musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.” In this bloody, grim, and dark musical,  exiled Benjamin Barker (who later goes by Sweeney Todd) returns to London to seek revenge against a Judge who ruined his life, allegedly drove his wife to death, and ruined his daughter’s life. Todd returns to his barber business but soon finds himself collaborating with meat pie maker Nellie Lovett for a new business venture. Todd kills customers and she uses their corpses to make new meat pies. While the musical itself is a fan favorite (especially the Angela Lansbury stage version), this CGI heavy big screen take is more style over substance. While there are fine performances (namely Helena Bonham Carter), the choice to cast non professional singers was also a misstep.

Note: The big box set contains all 5 films each with their own individual case and slipcover. That’s right, no clunky sleeves for all the discs! My only complaint with this beautifully put together box set is that it contains only 1 title that is new to 4K with “Sweeney Todd” (2 if you include “Rosemary’s Baby” which was released earlier this month). It would have been nice to see “Paranormal Activity” or a Friday The 13th sequel make its 4K debut but maybe Paramount is saving that for Volume 2?

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 2160p for “Pet Sematary,” 2.39:1 2160p for “Crawl,” 2.00:1 2160p for “Smile,” 1.85:1 2160p for ”Rosemary’s Baby,” and 1.78:1 2160p for “Sweeney Todd.” How do they look? “Pet Sematary,” “Crawl,” and “Smile” all look crystal clear but the big question here is how do “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Sweeney Todd” look? The ‘Rosemary’ transfer maintains the film grain which also providing noticeably sharper colors (and lighting). I’m happy to report that ‘Sweeney’ gets an impressively glossy transfer. Fans will undoubtedly be pleased by this upgrade.

Audio Tracks: 5.1 DTS-HD MA for “Pet Sematary,” 7.1 DTS-HD MA for “Crawl,” Dolby Atmos for “Smile,” Dolby TrueHD Mono for “Rosemary’s Baby,” and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 for “Sweeney Todd.” “Smile” and “Pet Sematary” get dynamic and effective tracks. “Crawl” sounds splendid across the board (especially the storms and gator thrashings). ‘Rosemary’ may not have a fancy audio track, but this one works wonders. The musical numbers positively soar on Sweeney’s 5.1 track.

Extras:
* A new special issue of Fangoria Magazine with new and archival articles on each of the 5 films.
* 7 stickers.
* Logo pin.
* Pet Sematary- 1. Blu-ray copy. 2. Digital copy. 3. Commentary by director Mary Lambert. 4. “Pet Sematary: Fear and Remembrance” featurette in which the cast and crew of the remake talk about the original. 5. “Pet Sematary: Revisitation”- An interview with Mary Lambert. 6. Storyboards intro by Mary Lambert, storyboards, behind the scenes and marketing still galleries. 7. On the Blu-ray- “Stephen King Territory,” “The Characters” and “Filming The Horror” featurettes.
* Crawl- 1. Digital copy. 2. Three deleted/extended scenes. 3. Alternate opening motion comic and intro to alternate opening. 4. “Beneath Crawl”- A detailed behind-the-scenes featurette. 5. “Category 5 Gators: The VFX Of Crawl” featurette. 6. “Alligator Attacks”- A montage of alligator action.
* Smile- 1. Digital copy. 2. Commentary by director Parker Finn. 3. Two deleted scenes with optional commentary by Parker Finn. 4. “Laura Hasn’t Slept”- The short film that “Smile” is based on. Intro by Parker Finn is included. 5. “Flies On The Wall: Inside The Score” featurette.
* Rosemary’s Baby- 1. Blu-ray copy. 2. Digital copy. 3. On The Blu-ray- Theatrical trailer, 50th anniversary Redband trailer, “Rosemary’s Baby- A Retrospective” and “Mia And Roman” (23 minutes of set footage of Roman Polanski and Mia Farrow).
* Sweeney Todd 1. Digital Copy. 2. Blu-ray Copy. 3. On The Blu-ray (Archival Extras)- Theatrical trailer, photo gallery, making of featurette, a 2007 press conference, a Moviefone segment with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, “The Razor’s Refrain” (music over stills),”A Bloody Business” (special effects featurette), “Designs For A Demon Barber” (costume and production design featurette), “Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition” (all about Grand Guignol), “Sweeney’s London” (a featurette on London at the time the film is set), “Musical Mayhem: Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd” (an interview with Sondheim), “Sweeney Todd Is Alive: The Real History Of The Demon Barber” and “Burton + Depp + Carter= Todd” (covers everything from the London production to singing practice).

October 24, 2023 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 4K UHD Review | Crawl, horror, Horror Movies, Paramount Scares Volume 1 4K UHD Review, Pet Sematary, Rosemary's Baby, Smile, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street