Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"The Eclipse" tells the story of Michael Farr, a teacher raising his two kids alone since his wife died two years earlier. Lately he has been seeing and hearing strange things late at night in his house. He isn't sure if he is simply having terrifying nightmares or if his house is haunted. Each year, the seaside town where Michael lives hosts an international literary festival, attracting writers from all over the world. Michael works as a volunteer for the festival and is assigned the attractive Lena Morelle, an author of books about ghosts and the supernatural, to look after. They become friendly and he eagerly tells her of his experiences. For the first time he has met someone who can accept the reality of what has been happening to him. However, Lena's attention is pulled elsewhere. She has come to the festival at the bidding of world-renowned novelist Nicholas Holden, with whom she had a brief affair the previous year. He has fallen in love with Lena and is going through a turbulent time, eager to leave his wife to be with her. But all Lena is trying to do is extricate herself from this mess and just get through the next few days. As the festival progresses, the trajectories of these three people draw them into a life-altering collision.

It is rare that we see such an effective and chilling ghost story go unnoticed. I had never heard of this film before receiving it for review but it delivers the goods for a subtle and nuanced ghost story. The performances are excellent and the riveting pace and tension of the film definitely keep you locked in the whole time. I love how the production didn’t feel the need to be flashy and kept a great atmosphere going throughout. Fans of solid chills should definitely seek this one out.

The Blu-ray presentation delivers a gorgeous HD transfer that is sourced from a Red One 4K camera. Detail is impressive and fine object detail is exemplary. Depth and definition are rock solid but at times the darker sequences can look a tad washed out. I did notice some minor aliasing which is probably a byproduct of the scaling used to deliver the 4K capture to a 2K source. The DTS lossless soundtrack is all about mood and ambiance and does a great job with the material. You won’t find a lot of dynamics here but spatial cues and subtle nuance are definitely on display.

Extras are a bit sparse on this one and include a short making of feature and a behind the scenes look from HDNet.

I love it when you get a complete surprise from a film. This is a great film with outstanding performances and a very effective production. Highly recommended.