Butterfly Effect 3, The: Revelations (2009)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Horror/Sci-Fi	Main Menu Audio Trailer-Mary & Max
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	86:37
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (41:40)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Seth Grossman
Studio Distributor	After Dark Icon Entertainment	Starring	Chris Carmack Rachel Miner Melissa Jones Kevin Yon Lynch R. Travis Sarah Habel Mia Serafino Hugh Maguire
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Adam Balazs

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The original The Butterfly Effect was a surprise hit for Ashton Kutcher, back in the dark old days of 2004 when he was trying to transition from TV to the big screen. The addition of a significantly darker Director's Cut ensured the DVD found even greater success and it retains a moderate cult following. Of course, this kind of success inevitably leads to a slew of unnecessary sequels. Thankfully, in this case, without the original characters or actors (anyone familiar with the material would appreciate that carring over the original characters would be a mistake of Highlander proportions). Rather than carrying over characters or plot, the sequels each tell a different story involving the same concept of time travel, whereby a person is able to go back into their past and change their actions, resulting in a "butterfly effect" of changes in the present that they return to. The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations presents a rather effective serial-killer themed whodunnit.

    Sam Reide (Chris Carmack) is a young man who has honed his ability to time travel with the aid of a family friend, a physics professor named Goldburg (Kevin Yon). Sam makes a living by hiring out his services to the local police, pretending to be a psychic when he is in actual fact travelling back in time to witness crimes as they happen. He is particularly careful not to alter anything in his own life, having learned the dangers of his ability when travelling back to save his sister Jenna (Rachel Miner) from a house fire only to accidentally kill his parents in the process (ain't karma a b****).

    When the sister of his high school sweetheart comes to him begging for help in solving the mystery of the murder of her sister, Sam reluctantly agrees to help. Alas, his efforts appear to turn a one-off murder into string of serial killings and substantially lower his station in life. Sam feels he has no choice but to keep tripping back in time to solve the murders, only his continued efforts seem to worsen the situation and make him the prime suspect.

    The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations was produced by the backers of the After Dark horror festival, and received a brief US theatrical run in the festival's 2008 tour (something that the straight-to-DVD The Butterfly Effect 2 never had the luxury of). In every regard, this is a better movie than would reasonably be expected from a low-budget sequel to a cult flick. The acting is solid, the mystery is involving and the production values are excellent (despite the film's particularly low budget). The gore factor is a little over-the-top, although brief enough for the squeamish to turn away without missing anything. There are a few plot holes (name me a time travel flick devoid of any if you can!), though they are covered reasonably well, and a couple of clumsy points in the story, but nothing that really spoils the enjoyment of this solid B-grade thriller. Since there is no direct continuity with either previous film, The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations can readily be picked up by anyone who hasn't seen either of the previous films. This one is highly recommended to horror/thriller fans.

Video

    The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The video quality is excellent. The image is clear and quite sharp, with only a fine level of film grain visible in the picture. There is an excellent level of shadow detail and the many dark scenes look about as good as you will see on DVD. The colour palette is bold and consistent throughout.

    There are no compression-related artefacts in the image. The film-to-video tansfer shows no sign of any film artefacts.

    English subtitles are provided. They appear to be accurate and well timed.

    This is a RSDL disc with a layer change occuring discretely at 41:40.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The film features an English 5.1 DTS track (1.5Kbps) and an English 5.1 Dolby Digital track (448 Kbps).

    The audio mix is clean and rather dynamic. The dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The audio and video appear to be well synchronised throughout the film.

    The film features a mix of orchestral score and alt-rock that is pretty much standard for this type of fare. It is entirely forgettable, though supports the film well enough.

    The surrounds are used fairly aggressively and create a good atmosphere. The subwoofer usage is a little over the top, but nonetheless rather impressive, particularly on the DTS track.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Mary and Max Trailer

    The sole "extra" on this disc is a trailer for the Claymation Australian film Mary and Max, which plays when the disc starts (though can be skipped) and can also be played from the disc menu. Definitely an odd choice to pair with a horror/sci-fi mystery, but an amusing trailer.

    The US Region 1 release of The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations misses out on the excellent DTS track featured on the Region 4 release. It does, however, include Spanish subtitles and a series of fairly inconsequential webisodes about the gal who won "Miss Horrorfest" in the first year of the After Dark Horror Festival and her involvement in this film, in which she has a rather minor role (albeit one that shows an awful lot of her off, if you get my drift). Personally, I think the Region 4 release makes for a better proposition when the two are weighed up.

    A surprisingly enjoyable mystery/thriller, that hides its miniscule budget well. Well worth at least a rent, if not a purchase, for genre fans.

    The video and audio transfers are excellent, though the disc is devoid of genuine extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall