Sunday, February 28, 2016

Flesh for the Inferno (2015) - DVD Review - MVD Entertainment Group

These Nuns Have a Little Bit of the Devil Hiding Under Their Habits


Flesh for the Inferno DVD cover


Released by: MVD Entertainment Group
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Production Year: 2015
Region Code: A
Running Time: 1:16:54
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: NTSC Anamorphic Widescreen
Subtitles: None Flesh for the Inferno screen shot

 THE FILM - [ 2.5 / 5 ]:

At a local Catholic school, the nuns have noticed that the priest is doing more than just leading his students in prayer. Not content to stand idly by as evil walks their halls, the Sisters decide to take action. Confronted by the nuns about his wicked ways, the priest retaliates. For defying him, the Father takes the Sisters hostage and bricks them into the walls of the school's basement. The sadistic and fatal punishment shakes the faith of the women, forcing them to renounce their holy vows in the moments before their demise. How could they continue to believe in a power that would allow them to suffer such a fate when they were merely trying to do what's right? 

Decades later, the school is now vacated and in a state of disrepair. Selected by the community as a building marked for urban renewal, a neighborhood youth group has volunteered their afternoon to come clean up the premises and prepare it for construction. However, when the motley crew accidentally uncovers the blasphemous tomb in the basement, the nuns return...and Hell follows. Trapped inside the building, the members of the youth group fight for their lives to flee the wronged nuns, who now lurk the halls as damned Sisters of perdition. All the while, the school itself starts twisting and distorting, becoming a mad nightmare that just may prove to be a gateway to a world beyond. With blood on their hands and revenge on their minds, the nuns won't stop until they have...FLESH FOR THE INFERNO!

"Flesh for the Inferno" was made in 2015 by Scorpio Film Releasing and you can learn more about them via Facebook and Twitter. It is a low budget indie film but don't let that scare you off. The film is better than most similar fare. No, you don't see the credits filled with big name cast or crew members but it is still a quality film. The film gives us some nuns who are hellbent after a deadly betrayal. This isn't a nunsploitation type film though as you won't find any voluptuous nuns busting out of their clothes. There are some pretty ladies in the film though so all is not lost. Just don't expect to see much skin. In its place we do have an assortment of blood, guts, Fulci-inspired eye gouging (via the crew commentary) and more to keep the viewers entertained. Along with a 76 minute run time, we have a film that moves along at a good pace.


I liked the way we get a little bit of information on the soon to be endangered youth shortly in to the film as they get to know one another after arriving at the derelict school. While it may not be an abundance of background on each character, it's something and in a genre of cannon fodder characters, I appreciated the effort. "Flesh for the Inferno" features some good quality practical effects as well. Early on in the film there was a bad CGI effect and I immediately said "ugh" aloud fully expecting the worst. Now the immediate practical effect didn't impress me a whole lot either but I was still reeling from the CGI. Thankfully the practical effects got better and were quite enjoyable.  
Flesh for the Inferno screen shot
AUDIO - [ 3.5 / 5 ]:

This DVD comes with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. Despite being a low budget independent film, I found the audio quality to be fairly impressive. Sound levels remain consistent throughout the film and it is fairly well balanced. I did not have any trouble hearing the dialogue as it was clear. The music and sound effects were represented well also. I particularly enjoyed the music that plays during the films title and opening credits. 

Flesh for the Inferno screen shot
VIDEO - [ 3.5 / 5 ]:

"Flesh for the Inferno" comes to DVD thanks to MVD Entertainment Group. The film is in the NTSC format with a 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio. The video quality is very good however it was processed to give it a film-like appearance with occasional white specks and some digital noise to appear like film grain. This is not to the degree of "Planet Terror" though, instead being very slight. At least one special lens was used as well, which is mentioned in the crew commentary, that helped to diffuse the picture. So while it still looks like a recently made movie, it does have a vague feeling of an older film. Color-wise, they look good and at times remind me of what the color of most 70's films look like as in slightly drab. At other times, as in the case of Claudette's outfit, 
some colors are quite strong. Skin tones and the black levels looked alright as well.  

Flesh for the Inferno screen shot
SPECIAL FEATURES - [ 2.5 / 5 ]:

Crew Commentary - The participants for this track are director/editor Richard Griffin, writer Michael Varrati, assistant director Mark Hutchinson and producer Ted Marr. One of the first things mentioned is that the film was shot at the brisk pace of nine days. A fair amount of the conversation is scene related as the cast, characters and crew members are mentioned. Listeners are able to learn a lot about the production of the film including some talk about effects, equipment, script, and locations. This was both an informative and fun commentary. 


Cast Commentary -  Director/editor Richard Griffin is joined by stars Jamie Dufault, Anna Rizzo and Jamie Lyn Bagley. Mr. Griffin sort of serves as moderator for this track asking the stars how the became involved in the film. He is definitely the dominant voice for this track which is kind of unfortunate only because it would have been nice to hear more from the actors other than comments or replies here and there. 

Trailer (1:22)

Flesh for the Inferno screen shot
IN CONCLUSION:

A fun indie horror film with some good looking practical effects and blood. The DVD features above average audio and video and includes a pair of commentary tracks. If you are a fan of indie horror, I'd suggest giving this one a spin.

OVERALL RATING - [ 3 / 5 ]

Flesh for the Inferno screen shot