D-Tox (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Deleted Scenes Featurette-Wrap Reel Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	91:48
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (54:16)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jim Gillespie
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Sylvester Stallone Tom Berenger Charles S. Dutton Sean Patrick Flanery Dina Meyer Robert Patrick Robert Prosky Courtney B. Vance Polly Walker Jeffrey Wright Kris Kristofferson
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	John Powell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/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 for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, they're "cops" afterall.
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, this time it's Pepsi's turn
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The plot revolves around FBI Agent Jake Malloy (Sylvester Stallone) who is tracking a serial killer exclusively targeting cops. On witnessing a personally-affecting crime scene, Jake hits the bottle, and his life spirals out of control. His partner Chuck (Charles S. Dutton) enlists him in a new detox centre (hence the title) established especially for cops. Unfortunately for Jake and the other patients, the weather closes in and they become completely isolated. Then the body count starts to rise...

    To mention any more would give the story away, but suffice it to say, as with any given slasher flick, the body count is quite high. Half the fun in this type of movie is guessing who gets bumped off next, and who is responsible. This film hides the identity of the killer very well until the reveal just prior to the final battle. For me this reveal was a little too early, as it lessens the tension considerably as soon as the identity of the killer is known. This is made up for a little, however, when the final fight scene is played out.

    The performances here are actually very good. Stallone is quite believable as a man hurting from his loss, and Kris Kristofferson is also very good as the no nonsense detox doctor. The supporting characters are ably played by Robert Patrick (with the worst haircut I have ever seen - I will never look at Agent Doggett the same way again) as a gung-ho SWAT man, Polly Walker as the resident psych, and Tom Berenger as the centre's handyman, among others. The dialogue is also good - being quite restrained and believable. Not that any of that is overly important for a slasher film, but it does give D-Tox an added class that some other recent slasher films have been lacking. The suspense is also very good for a slasher, and for me this film ranks above both the I Know movies, and only slightly behind Urban Legend. The tension that is built is also a very different type of tension, relying mostly on the isolation of the setting (making a good correlation with the isolation that Malloy feels), and the conditions, instead of the typical "jump" moments that most modern slasher films have employed. This is a good, fun, movie that really deserved better than what it got. Fans of the slasher genre should definitely check it out. Forget about Stallone, forget about the age of the characters (slashers don't usually have an average cast age of over forty), and concentrate on the type of film this is and there is plenty of fun to be had.

Video

    Presented in the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    This transfer is extremely sharp, but does not sacrifice any watchability for it. The detail present is excellent, and the image is almost never affected by grain. The only times that the grain rises and the sharpness decreases are during "flash-back" sequences, and very much seems to be an intentional artistic choice to give the image a more "dream-like" quality - and it is quite effective at that. Shadow detail is also very good. While there are occasions when the darkness becomes impenetrable, for the most part important detail is quite easy to make out. This is very noticeable as much of the movie takes place in the gloom. There was no low-level noise detected.

    Colours, where present, are very good, being nicely warm and vibrant in the city environments, and more muted once the winter wilderness is reached. I say where present, as much of the movie takes place at night, in a snow-storm, in a grey concrete building - not exactly the ideal conditions for brilliant colour reproduction.

    There were no instances of compression artefacts during this transfer at all, while aliasing was almost non-existent being restricted to only a few very minor instances such as on the buildings at 2:59 to 3:04, and the blinds at 9:15. Film artefacts were rare but still present, which is somewhat annoying for such a recent movie. They are mostly small and pass by without drawing attention to themselves, but during day-time outdoor scenes in the snow-storm the black flecks stand out in a very jarring manner, such as the sequence from 33:37 to 33:40.

    The subtitles are nicely paced and easy to read, quite closely following the dialogue.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change occurring at 54:16 during Chapter 12. The change is not too badly placed, not really disrupting the flow of the movie. It is noticeable however due to the momentary cessation of the audio.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The solitary audio track on this disc is an English dialogue track in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 Kbps).

    Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand, even when Stallone babbles quickly in his customary mumble. There are a few occasions when a small amount of hiss can be heard in the dialogue, but this appears to be entirely due to the use of location audio which is preferable to the loss of audio sync often caused by ADR work.

    The score is provided by John Powell who delivers very good tension-inducing music. The style is a combination of traditional scoring and more modern scoring, and works very effectively. This is one of the better "slasher" scores produced, and is not relied on to produce the jumps itself, instead effectively backing the on-screen action.

    The surround channels are aggressively and extensively used. The use of split-surround sound is very good, and is often used to effectively place the viewer in the position of the camera. The use of the surround channels does not stop when the action dies down either, mostly providing a good level of ambient noise. There are occasions when the surround channels go quiet, but they are infrequent.

    The subwoofer is extensively used in the movie, mostly to back up the driving score, but also for a few effects sequence. The bass extension for some music cues is extremely impressive.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Deleted Scenes (12:48)

Wrap Reel (3:46)

Trailer (1:48)

    The video quality is brilliant. The only problems are small and infrequent.

    The audio quality is equally good. This is an extremely high quality disc.

    The extras are thin on the ground, but the deleted scenes at least are quite interesting.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall