Communion (Umbrella) (1989) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Audio Commentary Outtakes Featurette-Behind The Scenes Storyboards Gallery-Photo Featurette-Alien implant removal Trailer-x2
Rating
Year Of Production	1989
Running Time	100:15
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (38:59)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Philippe Mora
Studio Distributor	Pheasantry Films Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Christopher Walken Lindsay Crouse Frances Sternhagen Andreas Katsulas Terri Hanauer Joel Carlson John Dennis Johnston Dee Dee Rescher Aileen Fitzpatrick R.J. Miller
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Eric Clapton Allan Zavod

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Moderately successful pulp horror novelist Whitley Strieber (at the time best know for the books that were adapted into the cult movies Wolfen and The Hunger) became a household name in 1987 when he released the allegedly auto-biographical Communion, in which he claimed to have been regularly abducted by aliens and experimented upon since he was a child. To some this made him a laughing stock, to others a hero of sorts. Madman or not, Strieber sold a staggering number of copies of Communion and in the process defined the enduring modern image of extra terrestrial life, the "Grey" alien (and let's not forget that he also introduced us to the "anal probe", for which lazy comedians the world over owe a great debt). Strieber's claims were, arguably, the spark that ignited the paranormal fad of the 1990s (though there's no arguing that The X-Files was the fuel behind the fire).

    Australian director Philippe Mora collaborated extensively with Whitley Strieber to produce the film version of Communion, which also incorporated numerous aspect of Strieber's follow-up Transformation. The movie sank at the box office, despite following the original book by only two years (though it found a solid appreciation on video). The reason why will be immediately apparent to most viewers. Communion is weird.

    Christopher Walken, in a career-defining role, plays Strieber as an easy-going everyman who wrestles with his grip on sanity as he comes to terms with the fact he has been chosen for monitoring by extra terrestrials.

    The film opens with a fairly conventional narrative as it introduces Strieber's situation, along with a mountain of textbook supernatural thriller scenes, before moving to a disjointed format that presents a series of loosely-related defining events in Strieber's life. The strain on Strieber's family life is examined as it builds to the point his wife (under-played by Lindsay Crouse) sends him to a psychiatrist who specializes in abductees adn he joins a support group for abductees. The film steadily becomes ever more surreal as it progresses, culminating in an infamous dance sequence (that Walken himself spoofs in the music video for Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice). The progression is hypnotic, though the disjointed narrative format jarrs the effect all too often.

    Being a docu-drama exploration of an ongoing experience, the film never reaches any real conclusion nor explanation for the events it depicts, which will frustrate any viewers looking for a more conventional story. Be warned that Mora has explicitly left it up to be viewer to decide how to take Strieber's claims and form their own conclusions about the trip that the movie takes them on.

    Communion has aged surprisingly well, effects and all, and is surprisingly unhindered by its budgetary limitations. Highly recommended for anyone with so much as a passing fancy in the paranormal.

Video

    The film is presented with NTSC video in its theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced (unlike previous Region 4 releases of the film).

    The video generally looks very good (again, unlike previous Region 4 releases of the film). The image is clear and quite sharp. The colours are slightly pale in comparison to most modern features, but look good for material of this age. There is a very good level of shadow detail.

    A mild level of film artefacts are present throughout, though the transfer is pretty clean in comparison to those found on most films of this age. Mild pulldown judder is noticeable in some of the pans throughout the film, though it is generally quite smooth for an NTSC transfer.

    This is an RSDL disc, with a layer change between scenes at 38:59. The layer change was not noticeable on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The film features an English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kbps) audio track, which is a modest improvement on the 2.0 track of the previous Region 4 edition.

    The audio is clean and fairly clear. The audio appears to be well synchronised to the video, save for a few obvious overdubs.

    The film features a cheesy guitar theme and a few other wails from Eric Clapton, albeit from his lazy drug-washed period. This is supplemented from some mood synth chords by Allan Zavod to make a fitting, though painfully 80s, score.

    The surround usage is fairly basic, though that's hardly a surprise given the age of the film. The surrounds provide good effect throughout the dreamy flashback and abduction sequences, particularly the dance sequence, but are pretty much silent otherwise. Likewise for the subwoofer, which is largely unnoticeable throughout.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    A good number of extras are available form the bland static menus on the disc.

Audio Commentary with Philip Mora and William J. Birnes

    Director Philippe Mora and William J. Birnes (editor of UFO Magazine) dish out a conspiracy-laden commentary for the film. At times it sounds like the pair are trying a little too hard to sell the film's claim to be a true story, although they do provide spirited discussion for and against the authenticity of the story.

Theatrical Trailers

    Two theatrical trailers for the film.

Outtakes With Director's Commentary (14:20)

    Director Philippe Mora talks his way through an assortment of deleted and extended scenes, providing context for the scenes and reasons as to why they were trimmed form the film. Interesting stuff.

Excerpt From "According to Occam's Razor" (1:51)

    A brief excerpt of footage from another of Philippe Mora's films, a documentary purporting to show the removal of an alien implant from a patient. Slightly gooey, but not nearly as exciting as the premise sounds.

Behind the Scenes/Promotional Footage (5:46)

    Interview footage with Christopher Walken as well as on-set footage of production.

Stills Gallery

    60-odd production storyboards and a reasonable number of stills from both the film itself and on set during production. Much more interesting than your average stills gallery.

    Communion has been released numerous times in Region 4. The first Region 4 edition was dismal enough to rank a place in our Hall of Shame (for both its woeful transfer and numerous missing extras). Thankfully this edition is a massive improvement on what has come before in Region 4. This is by far the best version yet, although it is identical to the Region 1 edition that has been floating about for years (right down to NTSC formatting) save for Umbrella logos at the start of the disc. Regardless, sci-fi fans in Region 4 owe a degree of gratitude to Umbrella Entertainment for doing the right thing now that they have secured the rights for the film.

    Given the terrible track record that Communion has had on DVD, I approached this disc with great trepidation only to be pleasantly surprised. The video is very good. The audio is a little basic (though that's no surprise given the age of the film), but is clean and pretty clean. The extras are solid. The movie itself is as strange as it ever was, which in my book is a good thing.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall