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Stranger Within (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (16th February 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** Dark. Twisted. Thrilling. After a traumatic ordeal, acclaimed actress Emily Moore (Warren) and her psychiatrist husband, Robert (Baldwin) escape on a relaxing holiday to a gorgeous remote Mediterranean island. But on the first night at the house, a young woman (Butler) arrives, with blood on her hands and hysterical from the death of her boyfriend in a hiking accident. Robert offers to take in and help the young girl, but her suggestive behaviour makes Emily wonder if she might be a threat to their marriage… or her life. Who is she?
Video
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have released the thriller "The Stranger Within" onto DVD in the United Kingdom using the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is PAL, and looks very nice indeed. The film spent much of its shoot in the Balearic Islands, Mallorca to be precise, and with that, comes the beautiful sun kissed Spanish environments. The mansion the majority of the film takes place in, and the close-by beach, look great, with the colours exactly how one should expect. Skin tones are also accurate, and the occasional dark scenes show deep black levels (such as the opening). Detail is strong throughout, especially in facial close-ups, and backgrounds show surprising clarity for the format, with the Spanish stone work looking immaculate. A couple of Estella Warren's dresses are prime candidates for aliasing, such as the shiny, detailed dress she wears down to the beach, but thankfully, no aliasing shows up here. The only issue I had with the transfer, was with one instance of 'blink and you miss it' banding at 44:37. The feature runs 86:49.
Audio
The following tracks are available: - English Dolby Digital 5.1 - French Dolby Digital 5.1 - German Dolby Digital 5.1 - Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 - Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 For my viewing, I obviously opted for the original English Dolby Digital 5.1 language track. As far as DTV thrillers go, it's not a bad track, but it's never going to set the world alight. The score is made up of tense piano music, but it sounds textbook, and nothing new. It does make good use of the surrounds though, as do the various weather effects - from wind swirling round the sound stage, to the occasional thunder clap that blasts through the LFE. The volume levels are generally consistent, but there are a couple of moments towards the more frantic last act, where the score can overpower the dialogue slightly. There are no signs of damage to the track such as drop outs or scratches, and I noticed no background hiss. Optional subtitles are available in Arabic, Dutch, English, English HoH, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Turkish.
Extras
None.
Overall
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