Review Detail
8.9 2 10
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
8.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Nice double feature of two Horror flicks. Rabid (Cujo) had arguably the better budget, better cast, and better source material (S King). King’s feature films, however, have a sorry tradition of sinking faster than Davy Jones metal locker, and Cujo was no exception. These are trimmed to an hour each, with mixed results.
Video - 1920 X 1080p MPEG-4. Noticed one or two messy transitions with Rabid. Closing Time, less so. There well could have been several problems, but the second film was a low-budget slasher with corresponding cheapie production values.
Audio - 2 Channel AC3, 128 Kbps. No subs (ha ha, yeah, would have been little more than Woof Woof and Eeeeee). As with the video comments, problems are more noticeable with Rabid. Fades are quick to the point of abrupt (eg: 7.35). Again, more forgiveable on the second feature.
Narrative - Rabid suffers far more than Closing Time. Dee Wallace’s character: Is she sleeping with her husband, her brother, her nephew, her son? No, it’s a musician, apparently. That whole marital affair cheatin’ business is cut to the point of confusion, and really ought to have been jettisoned altogether. Ditto the food poisoning subplot. Both seem useless and could be removed. The plot hurtles along, barely making any sense.
Not so, hooray, with Closing Time (Intruder), an unapologetic dead teenager flick. Ain’t no confusing plot here. Set 'em up - chop 'em up!
Enjoyment - Two films on one mp4 file. No chapter breaks? C’mon. At least put a break between the two films. Strikes me as an oversight.
For me, Rabid is grating, dumb, and seemed to go on forever. Part of the problem is that, Cujo is a film that suffers airs. A cheap horror premise with big studio gloss and pretensions. Typical of King’s output at that time, almost every single character is a piece of shit. Cheatin’ wife, her asinine trombone blowing bedmate, trailer trash mechanics, the whiney little boy. As Metallica would howl, “Kill ‘Em All,” and get it over with. Dog included. Maniac did a nice job with the ending, however. Stick around.
Closing Time, hells bells yeah! Terrific, bass heavy music score. Lots of inventive ways of killing. Even some attempts at artsy photography which is appreciated. Sequence where the killer is distorted, funhouse-mirror style is cool. And the zoom montage of the running, checkout girl. Love that grocery store, too. It’s huge, but stocked by an insane person. One aisle has laundry detergent, next to spray starch, then to bottled water. Unlike Rabid, this film is funny and has more authentic soul. As a genre slasher, the second film is way better!
This is difficult to rate, since the first part of this set is weaker, and less enjoyable than the closer.
Chances are, I’ll rewatch Closing Time more than once. Closing Time is the keeper on this two-fer.
Video - 1920 X 1080p MPEG-4. Noticed one or two messy transitions with Rabid. Closing Time, less so. There well could have been several problems, but the second film was a low-budget slasher with corresponding cheapie production values.
Audio - 2 Channel AC3, 128 Kbps. No subs (ha ha, yeah, would have been little more than Woof Woof and Eeeeee). As with the video comments, problems are more noticeable with Rabid. Fades are quick to the point of abrupt (eg: 7.35). Again, more forgiveable on the second feature.
Narrative - Rabid suffers far more than Closing Time. Dee Wallace’s character: Is she sleeping with her husband, her brother, her nephew, her son? No, it’s a musician, apparently. That whole marital affair cheatin’ business is cut to the point of confusion, and really ought to have been jettisoned altogether. Ditto the food poisoning subplot. Both seem useless and could be removed. The plot hurtles along, barely making any sense.
Not so, hooray, with Closing Time (Intruder), an unapologetic dead teenager flick. Ain’t no confusing plot here. Set 'em up - chop 'em up!
Enjoyment - Two films on one mp4 file. No chapter breaks? C’mon. At least put a break between the two films. Strikes me as an oversight.
For me, Rabid is grating, dumb, and seemed to go on forever. Part of the problem is that, Cujo is a film that suffers airs. A cheap horror premise with big studio gloss and pretensions. Typical of King’s output at that time, almost every single character is a piece of shit. Cheatin’ wife, her asinine trombone blowing bedmate, trailer trash mechanics, the whiney little boy. As Metallica would howl, “Kill ‘Em All,” and get it over with. Dog included. Maniac did a nice job with the ending, however. Stick around.
Closing Time, hells bells yeah! Terrific, bass heavy music score. Lots of inventive ways of killing. Even some attempts at artsy photography which is appreciated. Sequence where the killer is distorted, funhouse-mirror style is cool. And the zoom montage of the running, checkout girl. Love that grocery store, too. It’s huge, but stocked by an insane person. One aisle has laundry detergent, next to spray starch, then to bottled water. Unlike Rabid, this film is funny and has more authentic soul. As a genre slasher, the second film is way better!
This is difficult to rate, since the first part of this set is weaker, and less enjoyable than the closer.
Chances are, I’ll rewatch Closing Time more than once. Closing Time is the keeper on this two-fer.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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