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[BD Review] ‘Odd Thomas’ Should Have Been a TV Pilot
Sometimes the movie is better than the book. Sometimes it isn’t. Odd Thomas, based on the Dean Koontz novel, attempts to transfer a seemingly interesting story from page to screen. Written and directed by Stephen Sommer, starring Anton Yelchin (Charley from the Fright Night remake) and Willem Dafoe, the movie, unfortunately, has a few things working against it.
The main distracting element of Odd Thomas is the excessive use of voiceover. Normally, this will work fine for a first person novel (which it originally is). This also works in small amounts in film. Where Odd Thomas fails is that the film more or less could be followed without the excessive narration. Yes, the original work has this point of view, but translating that to film simply works against a developing plot. There is no time to pay attention to what is happening on the screen when Odd is constantly talking. It makes it feel like less of a film, and more of an extended TV pilot.
The best I could equate the TV feel of Odd Thomas to would be (the short-lived) Reaper meets the Amazon Zombieland pilot. Even with the simplicity of the Odd character – yes, that’s his real name – being a short order cook who sees dead people, who has a girlfriend named Stormy Llewellyn, and a police chief friend played by Willem Dafoe – it just doesn’t have the weight (with these few likeable (enough) characters to continue week-to-week; it can barely hold just over 90 minutes. Nevertheless, I felt as though the villainous plot was simply a first “big bad” to set up continuation of the basic premise presented. I kept waiting for it to end and we could pick up the story next week. Interestingly enough, Odd Thomas IS a series. There are multiple books about the character and his shenanigans, but I simply do not believe there is potential there for it to be a celebrated TV program.
Odd Thomas has incredibly fun effects, though. Odd sees a plethora of bodachs – “predators who feed on pain and portend mass destruction” (think a supped up version of Gravelings from Dead Like Me having babies with Harry Potter’s Dementors) throughout the movie. Personally, I found these to be effective – and I am usually not a fan of excessive CGI use. Along with good effects, the acting on part of all actors was great.
Though the movie deviates from the norm, what we are left with is an interesting story with good effects, and acting that sadly becomes progressively boring due overly long-winded and annoying voice overs. It’s a shame they didn’t just make a pilot.
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
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