Dead Sexy (2000) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Thriller |
Filmographies-Cast Theatrical Trailer |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
Running Time | 85:37 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Robert Angelo |
Studio
Distributor |
Mainline Releasing Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Shannon Tweed Enos. John |
Case | Soft Brackley-Transp | ||
RPI | $36.95 | Music | Nicholas Rivera |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Screen, not known whether Pan & Scan or Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | Unknown | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English German Dutch Arabic Bulgarian Czech Danish Finnish Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Norwegian Polish Swedish Turkish |
Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
There is a concept in mathematics that deals, very roughly, with numbers greater than infinity. They refer to infinity as aleph_0, thus the first transfinite is aleph_0 + 1. Based on this I am going to introduce a new review concept: I will call the letters of the alphabet alpha, thus alpha_0 are letters beyond the alphabet and we are going to need them them when talking about this film. It goes far beyond b grade, right through the alphabet and past to b_0 grade. The storyline is c_0 grade, loosely tacking together a number of d_0 grade sex scenes.
I really fail to see any purpose for this type of film. The storyline is just as bad as the worst ramblings that are used in true pornography and yet the sex scenes would not interest those looking for 'real' pornography. It really combines the worst of both genres.
Beside the main star, Shannon Tweed (former Playboy Playmate of the Year), this film contains what are obviously a number of starlets willing to expose themselves in an effort to get into a film. Acting ability was obviously not considered during casting. Other concerns were obviously topmost in the caster's mind.
The storyline is a direct take-off of Basic Instinct, with the male and female roles reversed. A new detective in town, Kate McBain (Shannon Tweed), is assigned to a case with some rather sexist male detectives. Their first case looks like a suicide to the other detectives but McBain believes otherwise and links a number of similar cases together to show that there is a serial killer out there. While investigating the murders, she falls in love with the main suspect and is convinced of his innocence despite the evidence. The story twists and turns as it, in a rather blatant fashion, attempts to cast just about everyone in the film as the murderer and leave you wondering if they have the right man. The ending is painfully obvious and contains no surprises. At no stage do they let the storyline get in the road of a half-baked sex scene, I think the record was 10 minutes of dialogue before we entered the bedroom yet again.
The sharpness was disappointing throughout the film. Have a look at the shot at 6:18, top half view of the star (clothed), and you see the lack of detail and general softness of the transfer. Shadow detail is all right and the blacks are black. There is a fair amount of low level noise present. Look at the door at 42:48 for an example. There also appeared to be some very subtle brightness variations, a subtle strobing example being at 42:48.
The colours were not too bad. A little washed out in places, but the skin tones were accurate depending on the lighting.
There is a minor amount of pixelization in the background caused by the grain that is present, and some rare occurrences of posterization such as at 6:18 on McBain's face. There was no aliasing or wobble present but the film master had a fair sprinkling of white specks present. Some of the camera pans were very jerky, particularly those that were in slow motion. The pan at 65:49 is a particularly clear example.
The subtitles were clear and reasonably accurate.
There is no second layer, so there is no layer change.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Any problems with the dialogue cannot be blamed on the disc. There were no problems with the audio sync.
The music is exactly what you would expect with this type of film; banal and totally unremarkable.
I flipped on surround decoding and the music was the only thing that presented itself through the surrounds.
Other than one section where some disco type music with a bass beat was playing, the subwoofer was silent.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
A static, silent scene from the film.
Two bios only; Shannon Tweed and John Enos. Text pages listing other films that they have been in.
Present at 1.33:1 and running for 1:42, the trailer matches the film (this is not high praise), and is accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack with the surround flag set.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version misses out on:
The Region 1 version misses out on:
Nothing here that would encourage a R1 purchase, leaving us with a R4 winner by default.
If you want a good drama, there are an infinite number of better films out there, and the same applies if you are looking for a good pornographic film. There is nothing here to please anyone.
The video is passable.
The audio is a bare minimum.
There are zip extras.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Skyworth 1050p progressive scan, using RGB output |
Display | Sony 1252Q CRT Projector, 254cm custom built 1.0 gain screen. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. |
Amplification | Sony STR-DB1070 |
Speakers | B&W DM305 (mains); CC3 (centre); S100 (surrounds); custom Adire Audio Tempest with Redgum plate amp (subwoofer) |