The Captive (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror / Thriller	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	77:02 (Case: 82)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Luke Massey
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Joseph Morgan Matt Ryan William Troughton
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Jonathan Fletcher

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, after end credits

     Royal Marine Commando A.J. Budd (Joseph Morgan) awakes in the bedroom of a house with no knowledge of how he got there. He dresses and goes downstairs; there is food on the table and as Budd sits to eat he is attacked by an alien ape like creature which he is forced to kill. Confused and alarmed, Budd finds that he is trapped in the house; he cannot force any of the doors or windows open, nor can he shatter the window glass. Next morning, and every morning after that, the scenario is repeated; food is provided by unseen hands and Budd is attacked and forced to kill to protect himself. And each day the body of his assailant afterwards disappears.

     Budd tries to explore the house to look for a way out. Behind a false wall he discovers steps down to a basement; in the basement is a trunk and a diary belonging to another soldier named Edward Sterling (Matt Ryan). It seems that Sterling had been trapped in this same house before Budd, fighting and killing the daily attacker for over 25 years. While Sterling’s diary provides Budd with some information, including how to kill the attackers, his story also adds to Budd’s depression and madness as the days turn into years. Is there a way out, other than death or madness?

     The Captive (also called Warhorse or Armistice) is a very low budget film with three actors and two locations from co-writer / director / cinematographer / co-editor Luke Massey, whose first feature it is. The plotting is of necessity repetitive, with the same things occurring each day, but Massey has done a good job with enough variations, and clues, to provide a film that is intriguing and gripping, rather than boring. Massey has also made some interesting choices in the way the film looks; unusually for a “haunted house” horror story the film is shot in the 2.35:1 widescreen format which opens up the house rather than making it claustrophobic. In addition, the house itself is not dark and gloomy but bright and airy with lots of windows letting in the light (although the windows are opaque so no views of the outside world are shown). The flashback sequences of Sterling in the house have had most of the colours removed, ending up almost black and white, and it is noticeable that as Budd descends into bouts of madness the colour in his sequences is also gradually removed.

     The Captive also benefits from an impressive sound design by Mark Kendrick, with ticking clocks and dripping water adding to the tension, and an excellent physical performance by Joseph Morgan (who appeared in a rather bigger budget film in Immortals (2011) as the isolation, uncertainty and continuing violence take their toll on his sanity. The Captive is low budget, but it makes a positive of one main location and small cast to deliver an interesting and inventive film.

Video

     The Captive is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is not one to show off your system. Some sequences are sharp and well detailed, but others are shot in front of the opaque windows resulting in a lot of glare and softness in the frame. Contrast and brightness also vary, sometimes deliberately, as with the occasional exterior sequence. However, blacks are fine and shadow detail acceptable.

     At times the film looked quite grainy with noise reduction, but generally was fine. Otherwise artefacts and marks are absent.

     There are no subtitles.

     The DVD cover indicates the film is coded Region 2 and 4. In fact it is only Region 4.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The DVD cover indicates that the film has 5.1 audio which is incorrect: the audio is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track at 224 Kbps.

     That said, the audio we get is perfectly acceptable. It is surround encoded and the rears delivered appropriate effects such as the ticking of the clock and water dripping as well as the music. Dialogue, such as it was, was clear and understandable. The sub-woofer was not used.

     The music by Jonathan Fletcher, utilising mostly piano with occasional strings, was excellent, greatly adding to the uncertainty and atmosphere of the film.

     Lip synchronisation fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     Zero extras.

     The Region 2 UK version of The Captive is identical to ours. There is no current listing of a Region 1 US release.

     The Captive makes a virtue of a tiny budget to deliver a gripping and unusual psychological horror film that features an intriguing premise, an impressive sound and an excellent physical performance by Joseph Morgan. It could have been boring, but turns out to be anything but!

     The video and audio are acceptable. There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall