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HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4

#1
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12/9/07 at 5:12pm
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Blu-ray Disc Review




   

MASTERS OF HORROR
SEASON 1: VOLUME 1-4

Distributor: Starz/Anchor Bay Entertainment
Original Release: 2005-2006
Length: 755 min over four discs
Genre: Horror
Film Rating: Unrated

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Colour/B&W: Colour

BD Specifications:
Resolution: 1080i
Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
Disc Size: BD-50

Audio:
  • English Uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

    Subtitles: None




Release Date: AVAILABLE NOW


Rating: /

Scare Factor: /


December 4, 2007, marked the release date of the Showtime series Masters of Horror: Season 1 collection on Blu-ray. The four separate volumes of one hour episodes by famous horror directors have been slowing trickling out since October 16th. Each disc has been packed with three episodes with the exception of the fourth volume that features four. One of those four, Imprint, was actually banned by Showcase for being too offensive because of its disturbing content. Having reviewed the DVD here, I can say that I understand why. Compared to the rest of the episodes in this series it’s in a league of its own.

This collection is available on DVD as an episode per disc or two different boxed collections: one split in two volumes and the other as a whole including a bonus disc. These discs are loaded with special features and are not carried over to this Blu-ray collection. There is nothing new to these Blu-ray discs in terms of content. The advantage of purchasing these discs for the DVD owners is the upgraded image and sound quality. For those of you new to this series, if special features aren’t as important to you, the Blu-ray discs are your best option.

Below are the director’s episodes contained in each volume. Some are linked to the DVD reviews found here on the forum for a synopsis of the title as well as a list of special features.

VOLUME 1
  • Cigarette Burns – John Carpenter
  • Dreams in the Witch-House – Stuart Gordon
  • The Fair Haired Child – William Malone

    VOLUME 2

  • Jenifer – Dario Argento
  • Sick Girl – Lucky McKee
  • Deer Woman – John Landis

    VOLUME 3

  • Incident On and Off A Mountain Road – Don Coscarelli
  • Dance of the Dead – Tobe Hooper
  • Pick Me Up – Larry Cohen

    VOLUME 4

  • Imprint - Takashi Miike
  • Homecoming - Joe Dante
  • Haeckel’s Tale - John McNaughton
  • Chocolate - Mick Garris


    VIDEO QUALITY: 4/5

    Shot with 1080i cameras, the 1080i Blu-ray discs feature the captured clarity of these episodes and are dramatically improved when comparing them directly to any previously released DVD. While each episode has its own stylistic approach to telling the story, the image quality is fairly consistent across the board. At this point there wouldn’t be much point to discuss each episode on a detailed basis, but it’s worth noting each episode is tweaked in their own regard; from the cool night blues and deep blacks in Incident On and Off A Mountain Road; the warmth displayed in the interiors of Sick Girl; to the neutral image of Deer Woman, Chocolate and Imprint; all are very different yet very much alike. Those looking for an improvement over DVD will notice colours are slightly more saturated and noise-free, contrast is slightly better and almost, if not all compression artefacts are eliminated. I’ve criticized Anchor Bay in the past for having noisy images due to less than stellar compression. These HD discs released by Starz appear to be solid across the board delivering all the detail necessary to make your blood curl. The aspect ratio is 1.78:1.


    AUDIO QUALITY: 3/5

    Every episode is delivered with an uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround option (16bit/48kHz) as well as a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1. Having listened to almost all Masters of Horror soundtracks on DVD, I chose to listen to the PCM option. The sound mix, of course, doesn’t change. The resolution is increased substantially making it the preferred option. I’ve always liked the beginning of the theme song to each episode: the piano rings delicately as the bright red blood drips on the white cloth only. It’s disturbed and shaken by heavy distortion and sounds like an intro to a cool hardcore metal song (unfortunately the rest of the song sounds like ‘80s synth). This never sounded better.

    Each episode has a mixture of surround content. In the end, most surround enthusiasts want to know how much surround sound they expect to hear. This series, by no regard, is an award winner in this department. Most episodes are front-heavy and have some surround activity during the most energetic moments on screen. There are a few ambient cues during quiet moments and it adds to the subtlety of the soundtrack. Not one of these episodes try to be a stand-out in sound design, but rather offer a good soundtrack for a TV program that is effective enough to pop a few surprises in the scare factory. Dialogue tends to be good, but not great. It’s a bit forward and not always spatially integrated with the rest of the channels. Often it sounds too much like ADR (and the goal should be to hide that). LFE can have a bit of a kick to it (especially if you’ve been kicked by the Deer Woman) adding to a subtle but effective low end in addition to what is already present in the front main channels.

    TACTILE FUN!! /
    TACTILE TRANSDUCER ON/OFF?: ON

    For most episodes I could do without a bass shaker. Although having watched most episodes with it on, there is some enjoyment from it to be spoken of.


    SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.5/5

    As mentioned earlier, almost all features on the DVD have been dumped for this Blu-ray release. The only feature that survived the re-release is the audio commentaries.

    Volume 1 Commentaries:

  • Commentary 1: Director John Carpenter on Cigarette Burns
  • Commentary 2: Writers Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan on Cigarette Burns
  • Commentary 3: Writer/Director Stuart Gordon, actor Ezra Godden and DVD Producer Perry Martin on Dreams in the Witch House
  • Commentary 4: Writer Matt Greenberg and Director William Malone on The Fair-Haired Child

    Volume 2 Commentaries:

  • Commentary 1: Writer/Actor Steven Weber and DVD Producer Perry Martin on Jenifer
  • Commentary 2: Director Lucky McKee, Composer Jaye Barnes Luckett and actors Angela Bettis and Jesse Hlubik on Sick Girl
  • Commentary 3: Actors Brian Benben and Anthony Griffith on Deer Woman

    Volume 3 Commentaries:

  • Commentary 1: Writer/Director Don Cascarelli, Writer Stephen Romano and DVD Producer Perry Martin on Incident on and Off A Mountain Road
  • Commentary 2: Writer/Director Don Cascarelli and Author Joe R. Lansdale on Incident on and Off A Mountain Road
  • Commentary 3: Director Tobe Hooper and DVD Producer Perry Martin on Dance of the Dead
  • Commentary 4: Writer Richard Christian Matheson on Dance of the Dead
  • Commentary 5: Director Larry Cohen on Dance of the Dead

    Volume 4 Commentaries:

  • Commentary 1: Author, Musician and American Cinematheque Programmer Chris D. and Writer Wyatt Doyle of NewTexture.com on Imprint
  • Commentary 2: Writer Sam Hamm on Homecoming
  • Commentary 3: Director John McNaughton on Haeckel’s Tale
  • Commentary 4: Writer/Director Mick Garris and DVD Producer Perry Martin on Chocolate


    IN THE END...

    It’s worth a look at these four separately available discs for the Masters of Horror: Season 1. The video gets a boost in resolution and isn’t affected by the compression artefacts that marred the DVDs. The audio gets a full uncompressed 16/48 resolution for the best presentation on home theatres. While the special features were likely dropped because of space concerns (the DVDs had at least an hours worth of features for each episode), it would have been nice if these were released as two-disc sets with the features on one disc and the special features on another, even if the special features were on a DVD or a BD-25 and in SD. Maybe this will be a consideration as Starz Entertainment prepares for releasing Season 2 on Blu-ray. Cross your fingers.

    Michael Osadciw
    December 09, 2007

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#2
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12/9/07 at 7:15pm
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Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Osadciw
...almost all features on the DVD have been dumped for this Blu-ray release. The only feature that survived the re-release is theaudio commentaries.
That's pretty lame. Admittedly, I really doubt I'd upgrade to high definition for this series but dropping nearly all the extras (which were quite plentiful for a TV series) certainly isn't going to get me to change my mind.
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#3
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12/9/07 at 8:57pm
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Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4

Travis, you gotta remember that each episode had at least an hours worth of special features, sometimes more. That would make each disc have at least 6 hours worth of content...which would be impossible on the BD-50. That's why my concluding remarks mentioned the 2nd disc as an option.

Warner Bros. Blu-ray Reviewer
Anchor Bay/Starz Entertainment Blu-ray Reviewer

THX/ISF Professional Video Calibrator
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#4
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12/9/07 at 11:39pm
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Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4

thanks for the review, I love this series and these 4 volumes are a welcome addition to my shelf, I would have preffered a boxed set for say 60$ in this case but I am happy that we have them and look forward to the next releases

-Gary
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#5
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12/10/07 at 6:54am
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Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Osadciw
Travis, you gotta remember that each episode had at least an hours worth of special features, sometimes more.
That is a very good point and probably the reason why the special features aren't on there.
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Home Theater Forum  ›  Forums  ›  Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Downloads  ›  Blu-ray (and Other Hi-Def Software): Film and Documentary  ›  HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volumes 1-4