Broceliande (2002/BCI Eclipse/DTS DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: B Extras: C- Film: C
Doug
Headline’s Broceliande (2002) is a
French answer to the usual Hollywood creature film, but like so many that have
tried to work since the later 1980s, starts as a potential Horror film, then
gets confused and becomes a bad action film.
This comes in part from those trying and failing miserably to turn James
Cameron’s Aliens (1986) into a
formula to make money, but forget that he film still had suspense, terror and a
script.
Once
again, someone has awakened a killer from centuries ago by tampering with
something “best left alone” and yes, it is a female, this one named Chloe. The origin of the killer is Celtic but that
is among the many things that are just never convincing in this 90 minutes
exercise in how not to do such a film.
At times, it was like a bad rip-off of the 1974 – 5 Kolchak: The Night Stalker series (The Knightly Murders episode in particular, which is a masterwork
as compared to this) with an awkward touch of Indiana Jones. The only thing they did not have were hats.
We never
see the killer at first, but that never builds one iota of mystery and in the
end, the creature/killer/whatever it is disappoints with misguided make-up and
costume effects. They don’t last long,
but the film itself seems much longer.
Except for the novelty of not being from Hollywood, it is no better than
the usual genre spiel that we have seen done much better, leaving it a curio
for diehard fans only.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is a little soft and colors are
sometimes muted, but the compositions but Director of Photography Guillaume
Schiffman is awkward in its use of the scope frame more often than not. However, the DTS 5,1 mix is not only better than
the Dolby Digital 5.1 ands 2.0 mixes, but is the best sound mix BCI has issued
in any format of any program they have issued to date with a decent soundfield,
well-recorded sound effects and warmth missing from so many new films. Extras include deleted prologue, trailer and
a making of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
