Plus One (2013)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Trailer-Eagle Entertainment trailers x 4
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	92:08
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Dennis Iliadis
Studio Distributor	Eagle Entertainment	Starring	Rhys Wakefield Ashley Hinshaw Logan Miller Natalie Hall Suzanne Dengel Colleen Dengel
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Nathan Larson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     It is the loudest, wildest party of the decade! David (Rhys Wakefield) has had a falling out with his girlfriend Jill (Ashley Hinshaw) and goes to the party to try to apologise to her and get her back while his friend Teddy (Logan Miller) only wants to meet the girl of his fantasies and get laid. And it looks as if his luck is in when he gets an offer he cannot refuse from the delectable Melanie (Natalie Hall). Also at the party is the beautiful but reserved Allison (Suzanne Dengel / Colleen Dengel). But something strange is happening: an extra-terrestrial phenomenon creates different time zones within which duplicates of the party guests exist, and repeat earlier events. As David, Jill, Teddy, Melanie and Allison interact with their doppelgangers, it becomes evident that the repeating time zone is catching up and it will only be a matter of time until the two zones co-exist. And that is likely to be disastrous.

     Plus One (alternatively + 1) starts with a fascinating premise and although the execution is not always all it could be the result is an intriguing and interesting film; the DVD cover states the film is “Project X meets Donnie Darko” which while not necessarily correct gives a general idea of the film’s mix of genres. Director Dennis Iliadis has horror credentials on his CV with The Last House on the Left (2009) but the horror (and violence) in Plus One occurs only in the last third of the film. Before that the film is a combination of the usual stupid / drunken / sexual party antics and romance as David tries to apologise to Jill, although the mystery elements are introduced early and recur in different ways until the reveal part way through.

     The attempt to blend together a wild party with its drunken, broad comedy elements with an extra-terrestrial mystery / thriller / horror / romance results in a very uneven tone. Some scenes work better than others: the dual Teddy and Melanie bedroom scenes are a hoot and nicely played, the dual David / Jill scenes, where David tries to turn the time lapse to his advantage less so mostly because David is really a jerk, so the resolution of their arc is not that satisfying! The first Jill had by far the best responses! Most of the other plot arcs were not resolved, which is not necessarily a bad thing!

     The concept behind Plus One has appeared in at least two other short films of the same name (2009 and 2013). This feature length Plus One is uneven but looks great with its play of light and darkness courtesy of cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr (The Master (2012),A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)). The film does try to do something a bit different and perhaps, more than anything else, it is a story about friendship, romance, coming of age and second chances.

Video

     Sadly, Plus One is another film presented in a cropped aspect ratio of 1.78:1 instead of the original 2.35:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     Other than the incorrect ratio, this is a very good print. Detail is crisp and blacks are inky and shadow detail fantastic, which is important as basically all of the film takes place at night or in interiors. Otherwise colours are very nice and natural, brightness and contrast consistent and skin tones fine.

     I did not notice any artefacts or marks.

     There are no subtitles.

     One mark from the overall score deducted in accordance with site policy due to the incorrect aspect ratio.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     Audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448 Kbps.

     Dialogue is clean and the surrounds did provide music and party noise but for a film set at a wild party I expected the audio to be more enveloping than it is and to me it sounded very front oriented. The subwoofer added bass to the music, the extra-terrestrial asteroid and other effects.

     There was a lot of driving rock music songs at the party while the film score by Nathan Larson was surprisingly effective at supporting the quieter, reflective moments.

     Lip synchronisation fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Trailers

     Trailers for A Good Marriage (1:47), Goodbye World (1:46), The Trials of Cate McCall (1:53) and Love of My Life (0:45) play on start-up. They cannot be selected from the menu.

     The US Region 1 DVD of Plus One is in the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio and includes a decent range of extras including an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, interviews, auditions and a photo gallery. A clear win to Region 1.

     Plus One is a wild party mixed with supernatural / horror / romance / mystery elements. It is ambitious, intriguing and uneven but is certainly different and worth a look.

     The video is good, but in the wrong aspect ratio, the audio a bit disappointing. The US Region 1 DVD is in the correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio and includes a decent range of extras including an audio commentary. Given the interesting premise of the film, some elucidation from the filmmakers of their ideas would have been a definite plus, but alas they are missing from our release.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall