When lawyer and proud family man Chris Cleek stumbles across a wild, feral woman bathing in a woodland stream near his isolated country home, he makes a decision that will dramatically change both of their lives. Capturing her, Chris chains the woman up in the fruit cellar below his house, intending to tame and civilize her. But when the task at hand proves to be more difficult than first imagined, he sets in motion a collision course for a brutal showdown between his family and the wild female force of nature…
THE WOMAN has been re-released on Blu-ray within the UK and is presented in an impressive AVC encoded 1080p 1.78:1 transfer.
The film has a rather ‘dimly lit’ look applied throughout, but this doesn’t impede on what is an overall very impressive transfer. Detail is great throughout whether it’s day, night or underground scenes. Facial details as well as clothing and hair lines look great as do the surroundings used within the movie. Facial details especially are fantastic; with beads of sweat, blood and muck all really standing out. Black levels are just as impressive, no detail is lost at all during the darker scenes with no major crushing or digital noise being produced. Daytime scenes are also impressive, showcasing some lush greenery during some of the hunting scenes towards the start of the movie. Some slight motion blur here and there but nothing too distracting.
All in all a very impressive transfer.
Two audio tracks are included on the Blu-ray release of THE WOMAN. First up is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. For the purposes of this review I will be looking at the 5.1 track.
Just as good, if not better than the video presentation, the DTS HD-Master audio 5.1 track is superb. Dialogue comes across naturally and not forced, with all speakers getting used to full effect throughout the movie which creates a very good immersing experience. The real treat here however, is during the more quieter moments with the ‘Woman’ being held captive in the underground bunker. The sounds of grunts, the pulling of chains, screams, barking dogs really jump across the track piercing your ears at every given moment. These up-close sound effects really draw you into the movie. The soundtrack to the movie is a decent match to the style and tone of the film, which never overpowers what’s happening on screen. Your sub will get a small workout here with the LFE effects, but nothing too major.
Just like the video presentation, very impressive.
* The Making of The Woman (HD, 26mins)
* Deleted Scenes (HD, 6 mins)
* Short Film ‘Mi Burro’ (HD, 7 mins)
* Music Track – Distracted by Sean Spillane
* The Film4 Fright Fest Total Film panel with Lucky McKee, Andrew van den Houten, Adam Green, Joel Lynch, Ti West and Larry Fessenden (UK Blu-ray exclusive, HD, 43 mins)
Not a bad selection of extras in all honesty, with a fairly comprehensive ‘Making Of’ which really is the meat of the extras here. The deleted scenes and short film are nice additions, with the short film being quite bizarre. The inclusion of the exclusive Film4 Fright Fest panel makes the UK Blu-ray the one to own having this over any other Blu-ray released worldwide.
I am quite the horror fan and had heard good things about THE WOMAN so I was eager to give this a watch. Once the film had ended I honestly didn’t know what to think….. I did not enjoy THE WOMAN, but I didn’t hate it either.
The movie is a slow burner until the last third where things really ramp up and it goes all out to shock and offend, but leading up to this it’s not really something you expect to happen. From the start you know it’s not going to be a pleasant ride when the feral woman is captured like a hunted animal and imprisoned in an underground bunker at what is a seemingly normal American family. What the family (mainly husband and son) then subject the woman to through the second half of the movie is simply horrible, which you soon then realise you’re watching a ‘torture porn’ movie — at least in my opinion. This was when I then started to lose a little bit of interest as I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of horror film.
As I said earlier, the movie is a fairly slow burner that seems to take ages to get to the third and final act. Without wanting to spoil anything for anyone, when the final act kicks in boy do you know about it. Everything builds up to this point and when the woman is freed, she gets her revenge — but that’s not before finding a few things out about the family’s past (sexual frustration, rape, possible incest!). The movie tries to shock, but for me I have to admit I found it quite tedious and in some places boring. As I said the final act is well worth a watch, but the movie itself for me played it too serious which let the movie down in some respects.
I think THE WOMAN is a movie that is going to divide the horror fans out there. You’re either going to like it or loathe it.
THE WOMAN has been re-released in the UK on Blu-ray by label ‘The Horror Show.tv’ in both amaray and limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook, which is limited to only 2000 pieces!
Buy the regular amaray from Amazon.co.uk
Buy the limited edition Blu-ray Steelbook from Zavvi
