Plot: What’s it about?
As technology advances and we need more space for things like bowling alleys, office buildings, and of course shopping malls, we often have to destroy old buildings and areas to gain that needed space. Whenever this happens it isn’t all that unusual to uncover some strange things, like buried items and even unmarked graves. When a construction crew is demolishing an old spooky house to make room for a new mall, that’s exactly what occurs and they find some unmarked graves. A professor and her students are brought in to document the four graves, learn what they can, and protect the construction company from potential lawsuits. So the arrive with the full gear, cameras, tools, and everything else they need to do what they do best. As they uncover more and more about the people within the graves, they discover a horrible truth. The people in the ground and the Blood Coven and soon enough, their spirits begin to possess the students, which means Lilith LeFay is back and badder than ever. Can anyone stop this supernatural force that has been released?
Witchouse: Blood Coven is one of the first Lunar Editions to be released by Full Moon, along with NoAngels.com and Voodoo Academy. With these discs, Full Moon makes a leap into the upper tier of DVD and if this level of excellence continues, there’s nowhere to go but further upward. This disc sports an anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, and a slew of high quality supplements. Not just some scraps tossed on either, these extras are terrific and offer hours of value materials. Full Moon’s discs haven’t always had the best reputation, but I have a feeling that will soon change if they keep making discs like this one. The film itself is a must see for horror fans, especially those who love the Full Moon approach to cinema. The creatures are well made, but don’t come off as scary as they should, though that isn’t really a minus if you ask me. The blood, magic, and other special effects all come across well and never seem that cheesy, which surprised me somewhat to be honest. The low budget shines through at times, but this still turns out to be a fun movie. I highly recommend this disc to Full Moon and horror fans looking for a new fix, and with all the goodies you’ll find, the price is more than justified.
This film was directed and edited by J.R. Bookwalter, who is no stranger to the realm of strange, low budget horror film creation. I haven’t seen all of Bookwalter’s movies, but this is by far the best one of the films I’ve seen. I happen to like this style of film of course, so I am biased, but I think supernatural/horror fans will find a lot to like with this one. Bookwalter creates some terrific atmosphere in this film and though the more tense sequences come off the best, even the mundane ones have a nice texture to them. The final sequences have unreal spookiness and atmosphere though, and make the movie worth checking out by themselves. If you want to see more of Bookwalter’s movies I recommend Humanoids From Atlantis, Zombie Cops, The Sandman, Galaxy Of Dinosaurs, and Skinned Alive. The ensemble cast used here is very good, though not the type of good that would win awards or anything. I was most impressed with Elizabeth Hobgood and Ariauna Albright (Urban Legend, Witchouse), but most of the cast turns in nice performances. The cast also includes Andrew Prine (Chisum, Gettysburg), Nicholas Lanier (I Know What You Screamed Last Semester), Kaycee Shank, and many others.
Video: How does it look?
Witchouse: Blood Coven is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This is an excellent transfer and one which I feel is Full Moon’s finest visual work to this point. I was worried because this movie has some very smoky and dusty scenes, but the transfer comes through with no problems at all. The detail is very high on this presentation and even the most complex, tricky shots emerge in fine form here. Colors look bright when they need to and also become more natural when that’s called for, but in all cases there is never any smearing or bleeding to speak of. The contrast is razor sharp at all times, with excellent shadow depth and no loss of detail in the least, even in the trickiest of sequences. I also found no instances of pixillation or shimmering, which means the authoring here was skillfully done. This is a large step in the right direction for Full Moon, let’s hope they continue this level of visual quality.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 track handles everything with ease, from the softest whisper to the loudest hard rock music present. The soundstage is the most active when the soundtrack is booming, but you’ll also note some activity when the supernatural sequences roll in. The surround use is well placed and never seems forced, which is always a good thing. The effects and music remain distinct though and never overshadow each other, which is also vital to the clarity of the mix. Last, but certainly not least is the dialogue, which also comes across in perfect fashion. No volume issues arise I could detect and all in all, this is a very nice audio track. A note to Full Moon though, some subtitles are always welcome!
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc is loaded with bonus materials, including access to the screenplay and a photo gallery via a DVD ROM drive. But lots of supplements for the normal players have also been jammed onto this disc, like the audio commentary track featuring the director J.R. Bookwalter and some cast members. This is an informative track, but also has some humor injected at times which means the track never becomes boring or slow. There is little silent spaces and if you like this movie, then you’ll want to check out this track. Speaking of Bookwalter, a number of specific bonus features were included that involve him, such as a trailer reel with optional commentary, a profile, an introduction to the film, and a retrospective featurette on his career. Very cool stuff and worth a look, to be sure. Two other featurettes also make this disc, one which offers a tour of some sets and locations, while the other reveals some secrets behind the making of this film. The making of featurette runs almost thirty minutes in duration and contains interviews, behind the scenes footage, make up shots, and even some footage from the sound creation room. Not a second is spent on fluff and this piece is far superior when compared to the usual VideoZones offered on Full Moon discs. A blooper/outtake reel, two music videos, cast biographies, and some trailers round out this awesome disc. Producer Devin Hamilton has done a superb job on this disc, and I think a few of the majors could learn a little from looking at this release.
