Sick Boy (Blu-ray) (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror / Thriller	Trailer-x 4 for other films
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	79:57
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Tim T. Cunningham
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Skye McCole Bartusiak Marc Donato Debbie Rochon Cas Rooney Greg Dorchak Pierre Kennel Teresa Valenza
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Matt Linder

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD High Resolution Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080i
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Lucy (Sky McCole Bartusiak) has just lost another job and is fighting with her fiancé Chris (Marc Donato). By chance she picks up a babysitting job in the house of Dr. Helen Gordon (Debbie Rochon). She is told that the child has a serious medical condition and is locked in a room downstairs. Dr. Gordon gives Lucy an audio monitor linked to the boy’s room and instructs Lucy never, ever to go down stairs. If she hears anything on the monitor Lucy is to ring Dr. Gordon immediately. Of course, things do not go according to plan.

     Sick Boy, made on a tiny budget of approximately $50,000, was written and directed by Tim T. Cunningham, a visual effects supervisor who has worked on a range of films including X-Men: First Class (2011) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Sick Boy’s opening credits give away part of the conclusion, so this film is not a mystery; we know that something bad is going to happen although we are unsure of who is involved. But this opening montage is effective because the film then goes into a slow, gradual build up for about 45 minutes before the mayhem commences. This allows Sick Boy to create its escalating tension and also to develop the personality of Lucy. Indeed, almost the complete film is told from the viewpoint of Lucy so it is just as well that Sky McCole Bartusiak is natural and believable as she appears in basically all scenes. We know she will go down stairs (otherwise there would be no movie) but her actions have a realistic motivation and make sense in terms of the plot.

     Sick Boy takes its time, and is certainly nothing new, the conclusion fairly predictable. The last 25 minutes are, however, well put together with some nice scares and the gory make-up is effective. The film may be somewhat too slow paced for gore and horror freaks, but for those who like a bit of realism in the plotting, plus some shocks, Sick Boy is by no means the worst horror film going around.

Video

     Sick Boy is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original ratio, in 1080i using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     This is low budget filmmaking with digital cameras and it shows. Close-ups are detailed enough, but wider shots are quite soft and show digital noise. The colours are often quite unnatural, some garish, and a lot of scenes have a yellowish tinge. The scenes of Lucy and Chris talking in bed all have a blue look. The colours do affect the skin tones, which do not look natural, although blacks are good and shadow detail not too bad.

     Marks were absent, however, there was some ghosting with movement.

    There are no subtitles.

     The print is OK but the colours can be unnatural.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is an English DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 at 2046 Kbps.

    Dialogue is always clear and centred. The surrounds were not used aggressively, except for the musical score that was electronic and loud. There was some use of the surrounds for effects, such as the audio monitor hiss, which was quite effective. The sub-woofer was also not overused, but supported the music and some effects.

     The score by Matt Linder was quite loud in the mix. It was quite creepy if a bit obvious. There was also some songs by Troy Buchanan and Earth At Night.

     I did not notice any lip synchronisation issues.

     The audio is good, perfectly adequate for the film.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailers

     Trailers for Another American Crime (1:19), Gnaw (1:40), Spiderhole (1:55), and Neverlost (2:23) can be selected from the main menu.

     The Region A US Blu-ray has an extra German audio track, and no extras. The UK release is not due until 6/5/2013. There is no reason to go past the local release.

     Sick Boy may be too slow paced for gore and horror freaks, but for those who like a bit of realism in the plotting, plus some shocks, Sick Boy is by no means the worst horror film going around.

     The video is not one to show off the advantages of Blu-ray, the audio is fine. There are no relevant extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall