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[BD Review] ‘Aftermath’ Fails to Pack a Punch
If you’re going to spend the post apocalypse locked in a basement, your film better be populated with some damn interesting characters. This is not the case with Aftermath, the new film by Peter Engert (The Valley of Tears), which uses 90 minutes to make no statement about humanity or invest in the depth of its characters whatsoever. It’s not a good thing when Edward Furlong is the highlight of your movie.
Aftermath is set a few days after the kick off of World War III. Nuclear bombs have scorched the earth. A resolute doctor named Hunter (C.J. Thomason – Monkey’s Paw) holes up with eight other Texans in a basement while the world goes to hell. All of the characters besides Hunter and Brad (Edward Furlong) are wholly forgettable. A few times I even forgot who a person was, which girl was which, and who was still alive. Brad is the only one who manages to bring some liveliness to the screw with his redneck temper and sudden bursts of anger towards Hunter, the president, and whoever else he deems worthy of his misplaced rage. it’s not a good performance by any means, but it’s the only that offers any kind of entertainment in Aftermath‘s impotent narrative.
The film essentially boils down to scene after scene of people bickering. Sometimes outsiders attempt to break their way into the basement, so Hunter and the crew get some much longed for gun play. I’m not sure if the outsiders are supposed to be zombies per se, but they certainly move and moan like them. Just when it seems like the film is going to shift in favor of a more zombie-apocalypse approach, it comes to a screeching halt and reverts back to quarreling in a dark basement.
There is one brief sequence that helps liven up the monotony. At one point, the survivors decide to bust out of the basement to shoot up the intruders creeping their way across the lawn. There’s some fun visuals during this shootout, with stylish use of freeze frames and zooms. The amusement doesn’t last long, however, and soon Aftermath is limping towards its conclusion.
The morose ending comes as no surprise since it’s shown during the opening minutes of the film. This prologue leaves no room for suspense or interest in the minutes leading up to the climax. Y’know, since we’ve already seen how it ends. It’s this poor decision and several others that make Aftermath a dry, boring film that feels like it wants to say something important, but fails to open its mouth. Unless you really love watching people argue for 90 or so minutes. Then have I got a movie for you!
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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