Rabbit Fall-Season 1 & 2 (2007)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	325:39 (Case: 322)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Luke Hutton Rob W. King Thomas Hale Alan Goluboff
Studio Distributor	E1 Entertainment Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Andrea Menard Kevin Jubinville Peter Kelly Gaudreault Patrick Bird
Case	Amaray-Opaque-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	Ross Nykiforuk

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Canada has been producing some interesting television lately such as the Stargate shows, Sanctuary and Battlestar Galactica. This series from Saskatchewan is not in the same big budget league as those other shows; however, it certainly has a lot to offer in the Crime/Mystery/Supernatural thriller genre. People who enjoy shows like Medium would certainly get something out of this.

    The show was produced in 2007/08 and two seasons were made totalling 14 short episodes (23 minutes or so each). This two disc set from Beyond Home Entertainment includes all 14 episodes. There was some talk of a third season however I am not sure where you would go from the conclusion of Season 2. This series is really one continuous story rather than individual mysteries although the first few episodes make you think otherwise.

     The basic premise of the show is big city policewoman, Const. Tara Wheaton (Andrea Menard), being reassigned to a small town due to an undisclosed indiscretion. There she joins the three person station in the town of Rabbit Fall, Saskatchewan. The other two cops are Staff Sergeant Stanton Martinski, the boss, and Const. Bob Venton, a self-serving asshole. Rabbit Fall has a history of young girls disappearing and as Tara enters the town she thinks she sees someone watching her by the side of the road. Soon after her arrival the bodies start to drop with a mixture of murders, cannibalism and strange suicides by both locals and tourists. Other characters who play parts in the story include Oliver Frenette, a paranormal investigator, Harley McPherson, a local who rents out cabins in the wilderness, Gabrielle, a local barmaid, and Simon Blackhorse, the local Medicine Man. Local Indian folklore and legends seem to be involved in the murders. As Tara investigates she begins to realise that all is not well in the town of Rabbit Fall.

    This low budget show has pretty much an all Canadian cast and was partially funded by the government of Saskatchewan. The show is moody and atmospheric, which adds to the intrigue and mysterious nature of the plot. The acting is quite good from a cast that is pretty well unknown, certainly here in Australia. The first season does not really stand on its own. The production quality improves in Season 2 as does the writing although the set up in Season 1 is required to drive Season 2. You may feel confused during Season 1 and it almost feels like the writers were not sure where they were going with the story until the start of Season 2. The individual episodes seem a little too short as each one has start and end credits and previously on sections cutting into the 23 minutes. The music by Ross Nykiforuk is a definite strength of this show, significantly adding to its creepiness and mysterious nature.

    I enjoyed watching this series due to its intriguing and the different premise and setting. Well worth a look for Supernatural Thriller/Mystery fans.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which seems to be the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was not overly sharp and is affected quite a lot by motion blur and some light graininess. Shadow detail is poor in the first series, driven by what seems to be only natural lighting on indoor scenes. In the second series the lighting improves providing more visibility. There is also some MPEG macro-blocking at times.

    The colour was good with no major issues to report.

    Other artefacts include some minor aliasing and some odd picture break-up/pixelization between scenes. This occurs in a number of episodes on both discs.

    There are no subtitle streams which is a pain because they would have been much appreciated. There are however burnt-in subtitles for Indian dialogue.

    There are no obvious layer changes.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is decent.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was decent but some lines were indistinct and the lack of subtitles was felt. I believe this would have been less of an issue with a higher bitrate.

    The music was excellent and filled the soundstage despite the low technical specification of the audio track.

    The surround speakers were used for music with ProLogic engaged and  the subwoofer added bass to the music and tension effects.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu features music but was still. It allows for episode selection only.

    This series does not seem to have been released on DVD anywhere else in the world. This edition is coded for all regions.

    The video quality is average but watchable.

    The audio quality is decent.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall