On DVD: Jack Ketchum's The Lost

 

 

Featuring Melissa Joan Hart, Caroline Rhea, Lindsay Sloane, Martin Mull

 

Anchor Bay previously released The Girl Next Door, another film based on a novel by Jack Ketchum.  I didn't expect to like that film but I really did so I was excited for this second film based on Ketchum's work.

 

The Movie

 

Executing a film of this sort on a miniscule budget can be a real challenge.  The biggest issue can come from the actors.  With no budget the filmmaker is forced to take on newbies or B level actors at best and that can destroy a character study if the actors can't truly create their characters and bring a level of depth to their roles that might not even be written into the script.  The acting in The Girl Next Door wasn't Oscar caliber by any means but the actors did create their characters and the representations of emotion and madness came through well.  Unfortunately for The Lost the actors all ham it up pretty heavy, making the film feel silly rather visceral and disturbing.

 

The worst offenders are Ray and the grizzled near retirement cop.  These two are near caricatures of the characters they are playing.  When the cop takes a drink of booze you'd think he just swallowed some acid and Ray, when he goes nuts he seems to be channeling Jim Carrey as The Riddler from Batman and Robin.

 

In the film Ray and his girlfriend and buddy are hanging out and Ray thinks it would be fun to kill two young girls camping in the woods.  Now there's no set up to define why Ray wants so badly to just kill someone, there's no background from him prior to the shooting to make us see where he's coming from.  He kills them and gets away with it.  The rest of the story picks up four years later with ray falling further and further into madness and a cop desperate to prove Ray's involvement in the murder before retirement.

 

Eventually Ray goes completely insane which leads to a climax that I will admit is pretty gritty and disturbing.  The problem is that not much of what comes prior to the climax is engaging enough to make the finale have more impact.

 

4/10

 

The Video

 

The widescreen presentation looks quite good for the most part with solid detail and vivid colors.  darker scenes do get a bit murky and feature some grain here and there.

 

8/10

 

The Audio

 

The surround presentation features a surprising amount of directional audio from various parts of the 5.1 soundstage but the balance is a little off.  I found myself rid8ing the volume a number of times during the film, turning it up for dialogue and down for excessively loud gunshots.

 

6/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

I like the artwork for this film it's eye catching and it visually brings to life the energy and feeling that this film wants so desperately to create.  The single disc comes in a standard amaray case with a slipcover.

 

There's a commentary from the authors fo the novel which does offer a bit of behind the scenes information about this film and makes me feel like the book is way better than this film.  There's an audition reel which should have defined why the casting process should not have stopped with these actors and some outtakes.

 

5/10

  

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

The Review

The Movie 4/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 6/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 5/10

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

 

-Stephen Lackey