Editorials
[Special Feature] 2011: The Rise Of VOD!
Super, Trespass, Melancholia, Quarantine 2: Terminal, Black Death, We Are What We Are, Red State, Kidnapped, Rammbock: Berlin Undead, Phase 7 (Fase 7), Hobo With A Shotgun, The Shrine, Burke & Hare, Cold Fish, Atrocious, The Last Circus, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil , Outcast, The Pack (La Meute), The Human Centipede Part 2: Full Sequence, Chillerama.
What do those films have in common? They’re horror films (or films with enough intensity, gumption and violence for tertiary association) that incorporated Video On Demand into their distribution models in a major way this year.
That means there’s a lot going on here – and it affects you. Hit the jump to check it out and contribute your opinions in the comments. 
While Blu-ray is still my preferred method of home viewing (streaming and downloads still don’t come close in terms of quality), it’s becoming apparent that it’s more of a collector’s format. DVD isn’t dead, but the sales are in decline. Brick and mortar stores like Blockbuster are dropping like flies. Movie theaters are still somewhat healthy, but the theatrical experience isn’t. If exhibitors don’t enact some serious quality control measures (against poor projection, texting, talking, commercials etc…) then it could shift from “slowly dropping” to “circling the drain” in a matter of a few years.
What can’t be disputed is that, in terms of the distribution of entertainment, the internet will increase its role every year and will continue to dominate in terms of new revenue streams. Like the universe, it keeps expanding. For better (greater access to information, more convenient distribution) or worse (low quality/piracy).
Just look at that list above. It’s kind of staggering. Most of these films aren’t in the hands of the cavalier. It’s not just people deciding to toss their product wherever they can – it’s been decided that (for a particular type of title, at least) the best way of ensuring and maximizing a return on investment is to include this new delivery method in your distribution plan. Not all of them eschewed theatrical releases, some VOD windows were placed before public exhibition (an increasingly popular move), day and date with public exhibition, or after public exhibition. In most higher profile cases, it was the combination of a limited theatrical window with a concurrent VOD release that did the trick. Most of you don’t have access to a theater showing Melancholia, but you do have an internet router.
Even big studio, non-horror titles are dipping their toes in the water. Universal flirted with releasing Tower Heist as a $60 dollar premium in-home experience before angry theater chains leveraged against it. And Sony – the corporation that invented Blu-ray – is releasing Moneyball as a digital download almost four weeks ahead of their DVD/Blu units. In fact, Sony has tried this with several releases like and has seen a 24% gain in digital sales profit than day-and-date releases from similar films – without a significant erosion in the consumption of their physical discs.
But one day, relatively soon, the sales of those physical discs will likely erode almost to the point of exterminating those formats. It’s the way of the future. In fact many of you probably have stopped buying/renting physical discs.
The only real problem with this is it’s currently a battle between quality and convenience. Convenience will ultimately forge the path – but that doesn’t mean we can’t insist on extracting quality from the paths that convenience. Don’t fear the future, but please empower yourself as a consumer within it.
Demand that VOD streams improve in audio/visual quality. You paid for that nice 1080p TV – don’t settle for a 720p stream in the wrong aspect ratio. The infrastructure for VOD and Digital Downloads (streaming speeds too slow, hard drive sizes too small, “The Cloud” barely working) doesn’t support great quality yet – but if you never ask for it, you’re never going to get it.
Consider this – an “HD” movie on iTunes is 3-5GB to download. A Blu-ray can store 25-50GB. While much of that space is taken up by varying audio options and occasionally special features, that’s a fairly large drop-off – even when taking into account that the proper encode can render file size somewhat less important. I’d be willing to wager that the sources for your streaming options are about the same size. That’s a lot of information that you already paid to receive (your fancy TV, your Blu player that streams, your Apple TV, your DirectTV bill, your Netflix subscription, Ultraviolet etc…) that you’re not getting.
Demand proper presentation. Netflix, Cable providers and other outlets will often change a film’s aspect ratio. Research the proper dimensions of the film and demand it be shown the way the filmmaker intended. Also – be picky about DNR. Movies aren’t supposed to look waxy. If The Shining looks like an NFL game you’re either watching a heavily DNR’d version or your TV is stuck on the ‘sports’ setting. Either way, you’re doing it wrong.
Demand special features (iTunes has been getting better about including these – but not good enough). Really, demand whatever you need and want.
How do you demand these things? With your voice and, more importantly, your wallet. If you don’t think you’re getting the quality you deserve from your provider – ask for it. If you don’t get it (and you won’t right away) stick to your Blus for a bit and don’t pay them until they’re selling what you want to buy.*
Isn’t it more work to keep an eye out for this stuff? Yes it is. At least initially. But let’s not become a society that favors convenience over quality. You’re going to have to live in the future, but it’s your responsibility to make sure it’s legit. Video On Demand indeed. Make sure your demands are met.
*And resist the temptation to steal. It hurts the filmmakers more than you know, especially the smaller, riskier ones. Just be patient. It’s a small price to pay for making sure technology explodes at your fingertips the way you want it to.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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