It Comes At Night (Blu-ray) (2017)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Audio Commentary Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	2017
Running Time	91:34
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Trey Edward Shults
Studio Distributor	A24 Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Joel Edgerton Christopher Abbott Carmen Ejogo Kelvin Harrison Jr Riley Keogh
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$24.95	Music	Brian McOmber

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	Varies
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	Varies	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Once again, a marketing campaign in the US misrepresents a film resulting in it getting bad audience reactions despite good reviews. All too often this seems to occur in the US market as it seems to have with this film. If you read the audience reviews on IMDB for this film the vast majority give it 1 out of ten and complain about its lack of scares and action. The truth is this is NOT a horror film in the modern sense, although it was marketed as one. It is a psychological thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world which uses some techniques of the horror genre to produce an interesting film.

    After an unexplained apocalypse, Paul (Joel Edgerton) and his family are living in a remote house deep in the woods. They live in fear of some sort of virus which once it infects someone results in their death after much suffering. The house in owned by his father-in-law, Bud (David Pendleton) who has contracted the virus. The film kicks off with Paul and his son, Travis (Kelvin Harrison Jr) and his wife, Sarah (Carmen Ejogo) trying to get the old man outside whilst wearing gas masks and gloves to avoid contracting the disease themselves. Once outside, Paul shoots Bud in the head and then burns the body, assisted by his son and Bud's grandson, Travis. Needless to say, this is fairly traumatic for all involved including the audience. To try and avoid contact with the virus the family mostly stay inside and have boarded up all the entrances and windows except one which they keep locked from the inside and then have another door inside that locked as well, creating a buffer between them and the outside world. They are well armed and reasonably well provided for with food and water.

    Into this relatively controlled situation comes a new challenge. One night while they are asleep, someone breaks through their first door waking Paul and his family up. After a battle, the intruder is subdued and then dragged outside and tied to a tree, to work out if he is infected or not. The man, who says his name is Will (Christopher Abbott) tells Paul a story about how he has a family waiting 50 miles away while he looks for a better place for them to live. Paul must decide how to deal with the situation which will impact on all their futures. Will has a wife, Kim (Riley Keogh) and a young son called Andrew. Will Paul and Will be able to trust each other and what will be the outcome either way? What psychological effects will the situation have on either family as they try to survive?

    This is a very effective thriller that uses some ideas usually found in horror films such as dark, enigmatic music, shadowy corridors and closed doors combined with cinematic tricks such as changing aspect ratios to increase the tension. The aspect ratio varied between 2.39:1, 2.55:1 and 3.00:1, scene by scene, which helped to focus the audiences attention. The acting is universally strong across the cast including from Kelvin Harrison Jr who is really the focal point of the film. The writer/director is Trey Edward Shults and this is only his second feature film. It was a low budget production, shot on digital cameras in the woods near Woodstock in the US. The scoreby Brian McOmber is excellent, using various effects to ratchet up the tension and drive the film. The only other film I have seen that is something like this was another low budget film from a few years ago, Z for Zachariah. It should be noted that the "It" of the title refers to fear itself rather than anything specific. Joel Edgerton also served as Executive Producer.

    Those who enjoy intelligent and interesting psychological thrillers or post-apocalyptic films will get something out of watching this. Horror fans should probably rewatch one of the Saw films.

Video

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Audio

Audio Ratings Summary

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Menu

    The menu features music and minor motion.

Human Nature : Creating "It Comes at Night" (29:35)

    This is a general making of featurette covering the writer/director's inspiration, getting Edgerton involved, the production and more. Probably a bit too long for the amount of content.

Audio Commentary - Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults and Actor Kelvin Harrison Jr

    This film is available around the world in the same format except that the Audio Descriptive track seems to be local only.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is excellent.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall