Plot: What’s it about?
A night like any other night in an isolated tavern, a mixture of locals and those passing through, all with their own plans for the evening. The bartender (Clu Gulager) serves up drinks and monitors the tabs of his clients, while the waitresses look forward to quitting time. The beer man (Judah Friedlander) is in the house making his drop offs, while a loudmouth (Balthazar Getty) has plans to hustle some pool. The loudmouth has help in the form of his wheelchair bound brother (Josh Zuckerman) and he could make a good haul, since his mark for the night is a famous actor (Jason Mewes). As her son wears headphones to block out the sound, a mother sells her body to the tavern’s owner. A motivational speaker (Henry Rollins) is even in the tavern tonight, though his play for one of the waitresses is foiled when his wedding ring drops from his wallet. As these patrons and workers go about their business, a man bursts through the door, covered in blood and informs them that some monsters are on the way and death is almost certain. He announces that he will be the reason they survive, but what lurks in the night and will those inside the tavern live to see the sun rise?
The concept behind Project Greenlight is pretty cool, offer someone a chance to make their vision into a movie backed by some impressive names. But the first two seasons yielded rather lackluster results, especially the awful Stolen Summer. But the actual television series has been fun all three seasons, but this third season proved to the best yet. If you haven’t seen the third season, then you probably won’t fully appreciate Feast. Even so, the movie itself is at least passable, which makes it Project Greenlight’s finest output to date. I liked the offbeat characters and as always, I am a sucker for the plots where a bunch of folks are holed up, with some kind of vicious beasts outside the walls. The characters are mostly stereotypes, but are usually fun to watch, though the dialogue is very inconsistent. Henry Rollins is hilarious as a motivational speaker, while Jason Mewes has a memorable part and on the whole, the cast is enjoyable. Not as enjoyable as the buckets of blood and slime on showcase however, as the red and green liquids run and run. The creature effects also come across well, with some well crafted, though quite derivative monsters. The movie tries too hard to be a clever B movie however, with too much humor and that takes away from the positive elements. Even so, Feast was a brisk and fun hour and a half, so for horror fans, this disc is well worth a rental.
Video: How does it look?
Feast is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The print is very clean and shows minimal signs of wear, while compression is flawless, no defects to report in the least. The colors range from vivid to dank and all stops in between, but no matter what the shade is, all of the hues look solid here, no errors at all. No issues with the contrast either, as black levels come off as sharp and refined throughout. All in all, this is a more than solid visual presentation.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio here is also very good, with a lot of immersive moments and when the action picks up, so does this Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The surrounds are open for business throughout, with a lot of fast paced, audio dynamic action scenes, as well as some good ambient presence, ranging from subtle to more impact based stuff. So yes, your system will be given a nice workout, but even when the material focuses on atmosphere and smaller touches, this soundtrack keeps up and delivers a great audio experience. The music also sounds well presented, while dialogue is smooth and never hard to understand.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The audio commentary track has director John Gulager joined by two producers, two writers, and the special effects technician. As you’d expect from a session with so many participants, the track is a little jumbled and unfocused. But those involved do play off each other well, so you’ll find more than a few worthwhile moments in this session. This disc also includes deleted scenes, some outtakes, and a couple of brief behind the scenes featurettes.
