Monster Brawl (Blu-ray) (2011) |
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Monster Brawl (Blu-ray) (2011) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Action Comedy |
Featurette-Making Of-Beyond the Grave (23:23) Featurette-Tales from the Hart: Outtakes (6:36) Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Gryphon releases x 4 |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2011 | ||
| Running Time | 89:24 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Jesse Thomas Cook |
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Studio
Distributor |
Gryphon Entertainment | Starring |
Dave Foley Art Hindle Jimmy Hart Kevin Nash Robert Maillet Jason David Brown |
| Case | Standard Blu-ray | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Todor Kobakov |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080p | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, after the end credits | ||
This is the simple concept: erect a wrestling ring in a grave yard and provide eight cult or mythical ghouls / monsters (Cyclops, Swamp Gut, Frankenstein, Werewolf, Zombie Man, Witch B****, Lady Vampire and The Mummy) to participate in one-on-one WWF type contests to the death in the ring. Do it as a TV presentation with loud, silly commentators (Dave Foley and Art Hindle), a real life wrestling identity, Jimmy Hart as himself, making announcements surrounded by two bikini clad women and the “Monster Brawl” logo on screen.
Co-writer / director / editor Jessie Thomas Cook clearly had a thing for World Champion Wrestling and Universal movie monsters but the result is a film with a one-joke concept stretched absurdly thin. That it works at all is really a tribute to the exuberant, totally over the top filmmaking, although the actual matches are a bit repetitive and ponderous as it would have been impossible for the performers to achieve much given the various cumbersome prosthetic suits they wore. However, the ring contests are opened up by short preliminary segments that give some background about each monster, some out of the ring action, a portentous voice-over narration by an unseen Lance Henriksen and some decent and gruesome blood and gore make up effects.
The humour in Monster Brawl becomes more the concept than the dialogue or action, the script has more holes than old Swiss cheese and the acting indifferent; however if the concept appeals Monster Brawl is silly and over the top fun.
Monster Brawl is presented in the original ratio of 2.35:1 in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.
The print looks great. It is sharp with fine detail, blacks and shadow detail are very good, which was just as well as the contests take place at night. Colours have that unnatural digital glossiness, which works well in the context of the film.
I did not see any marks or artefacts except for deliberate scratches and marks in the title sequences.
There are no subtitles.
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Audio is an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track.
Dialogue is mostly clear and easy to understand, except for some lines by ex-wrestler Kevin Nash. The audio was nicely enveloping with music constantly in the rears and surrounds plus appropriate effects, such as thunder, and some directional effects. The sub-woofer added some low end to the music, thunder, monster footsteps and the wrestling thumps.
The score by Todor Kobakov was appropriate and effective and was supported by a couple of heavy metal songs by Monster Truck.
Lip synchronisation seemed fine.
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Trailers for Area 407 (1:03), A Little Bit of Zombie (2:10), Bleeding House (1:38) and Cabin of the Dead (1:55).
This is a “making of” featurette consisting of video diary type on-set footage with voiceover narration by writer / director Jessie Thomas Cook. Topics covered are pre-production, building the set, locations, the cast, gore and special effects and the crew. This is humorous, entertaining and shows how this type of thing should be done.
Ad-libs, goofs and pseudo- interviews with Jimmy Hart.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region A US release of Monster Brawl has the featurette, outtakes and trailer, but also includes an audio commentary with the director and producers which would give it the edge.
Monster Brawl is a one-joke concept stretched very thin, but those who like the idea of World Champion Wrestling with cult monsters should have a bit of fun.
The video and audio are good. The “making of” featurette is an excellent extra, but we miss out on the commentary available on the US release.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |