I cannot believe living in the UK we got this film before the US release date which is in December.
I had the privilege of watching it last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
With the whole story happening through one school day,with it being Clint's unfortunate first day at the school, as he is temping to get money,so he can write his first horror novel . We have the usual not being nice to the new guy,with the usual stereotypes,the socially awkward teacher, the feminist man hating teacher,who carries a rape alarm with her everywhere, and the closet Gay teacher, and the Jock who is the P.E teacher.
Anyway being a small town,which is famous for its chicken products, a small batch of chicken nuggets are contaminated somehow, which has an unfortunate effect on prepubescent children, which turns them into adult eating, blood thirsty killers.
That is the film, a comedy film that is very violent and actually has real moments of tension, with the teachers having to decide to hide or to fight,with the latter being the decided option, as the children eat all there parents at pick up time at 3 PM.
I really did enjoy this film, with the ratio of comedy to violence working really well, it has real moments of humour, to some gross scenes also. With an on form Elijah Wood, who actually almost never starred in this, as his production company SpectreVision produced this film, with easily the best, and funniest character going to Rain Wilson, who is not unfamiliar to comedy, as he starred in the U.S. version of The Office.
I can heartedly recommend this film. It is funny, gory, has moments of genuine tension and is a great film to watch. Easily 3/5 stars for me.
Synopsis: After a young woman (Olivia Taylor Dudley) begins to express increasingly erratic and strange behaviors, her father (Dougray Scott) and boyfriend (John Patrick Amedori), along with a priest (Michael Peña) and two Vatican exorcists (Djimon Hounsou and Peter Andersson), come to realize that she's been taken over by an ancient satanic force.
Lionsgate details their upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release.
Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson Star in the Fresh and Original Horror-Comedy on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD December 1st. School lunches will forever be tainted after the disturbing and hilarious "Cooties" arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD December 1 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film is currently available On Demand. From the twisted minds of the writer of Insidious and co-creator of “Glee,” the film stars a witty ensemble cast including Elijah Wood ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), Rainn Wilson (TV’s “The Office”), Alison Pill (HBO’s “The Newsroom”), Jack McBrayer (TV’s “30 Rock”), Leigh Whannell ("Saw"), Nasim Pedrad (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), with Ian Brennan (TV’s “Scream Queens”), Jorge Garcia (TV’s “Hawaii Five-0”) and Kate Flannery (TV's "The Office"). Filled with unexpected laughs and unapologetic thrills, the ridiculously entertaining horror-comedy was a Sundance Film Festival premiere hit! When a cafeteria food virus turns elementary school children into little killer savages, a group of misfit teachers must band together to escape the playground carnage. The film stars Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, and Alison Pill as teachers who fight to survive the most unruly students ever on the worst Monday of their lives!
The Cooties home entertainment release includes an audio commentary with the cast and crew, two behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, an alternate ending and gag reel. The Cooties Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98 and $19.99, respectively.
The Cootietary – Audio Commentary with the Cast & Crew
*Subject to Change
Blu-ray Closed Captioned: NA DVD Closed Captioned: English Blu-ray Subtitles: English, Spanish and English SDH DVD Subtitles: English and Spanish Feature Run Time: 88 Minutes Blu-ray Format: 1080p High Definition 16x9 Widescreen (2.40:1) DVD Format: 16x9 Widescreen (2.40:1) Blu-ray Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master AudioTM DVD Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Unfortunately for those in the UK, their Blu-ray release only contains an Elijah Wood interview. The UK Blu-ray is out now.
From the twisted minds of Leigh Whannell (co-creator of "Saw" and "Insidious") and Ian Brennan (co-creator of "Glee"), "Cooties" is a horror comedy with unexpected laughs and unapologetic thrills. The film stars Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Nasim Pedrad and Jorge Garcia. Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion Directed the film. "Cooties" will come to select theaters and On Demand on September 18, 2015. When a mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the pre-adolescent children into a feral swarm of sadistic monsters, an unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives against the hideous pupils.
Released by:Lionsgate Release Date: November 24, 2009 Production Year: 1981 Region Code: All Running Time: 1:33:00 Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 / English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Video: 1080p (1.78:1 Aspect Ratio) Subtitles: English, Spanish, English SDH
THE FILM
Twenty years after a Valentine's Day tragedy, a small town prepares for its annual holiday dance. When a box of candy arrives containing an eerie warning and a blood-soaked heart, the townsfolk realize that this Valentine's Day romance is as good as dead... and so are they! "My Bloody Valentine" tells the tale of miner, Harry Warden and how two decades later, the town still remains in his grip of fear.
I first saw this film many years ago on VHS and I was not a fan. It was similar to many slashers of the time except that it was fairly tame. We had plenty of other slashers where the killer was carving up victim after victim, sometimes in gruesome detail. But here, not so much. Many cutaways deprived the depraved of what they were so rightfully owed, the money shot, the blood, the gore. Here we had a gas mask wearing killer wielding a pickaxe as his weapon of choice, so you would expect some wicked carnage. I was largely let down and never watched the film again. Then in late 2009 when this Blu-ray was released, a friend suggested I watch it. After hearing how a lot of gore that had been previously cut from the film was restored, I said I would give it another chance. I never knew the film was cut, or rather gutted by the MPAA so many years ago. I bought this Blu-ray and after watching it, I was amazed. It was like watching the film for the first time. It was terrific. It quickly became one of my most watched Blu-rays and one of my favorite slashers. Yes, the restored footage made that much of a difference. Granted, had I watched it again once I was older, I may have had more of an appreciation for the film. But I didn't, so we'll never know. Some may not like the added footage due to its quality, but I'll cover that in the Video section.
AUDIO:
This Blu-ray includes two English audio tracks, Dolby Digital 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The Dolby Digital 2.0 track does a fairly good job. It has a nice overall balance of dialogue, sound effects and score. It is my track of choice. The DTS-HD MA track is okay but I found the sound level of the dialog to be too low and overwhelmed at times. You find yourself asking, what they did say, a few times throughout the film. Most of the sound comes from the center and front speakers with the surrounds not adding much to the overall ambiance of the film.
VIDEO:
"My Bloody Valentine" made its high definition debut thanks to Lionsgate. The film is presented in 1080p with a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. Viewers have two options of how they would like to view the film, the theatrical version or the extended version, which has the deleted bits added back in. If you opt for the extended version, which you should, the quality of the reinstated footage is not HD. It is more like VHS quality. However I did not mind the quality one bit. Some people have complained how terrible it looks next to the rest of the film. I can only guess that maybe they hadn't seen the film before, because I would hope that fans would be happy and thankful to see the film the way it was intended. Like I said earlier, it is like watching a new film. For the bulk of the film that is in high definition, the picture quality is terrific. Colors look great as do skin tones. Black levels look very good as well. There is a very fine layer of grain and I did not notice any issues with it or any other problems. There is a significant amount of fine detail to be found in this release. I doubt many thought this film could look so good. But it does. I have no complaints about the video quality in this release. The only negative thing is that the added footage is of inferior quality. But it's not fair to hold that against the Blu-ray or Lionsgate.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Along with the following extras, this release features a Chapter Selection Screen, English, English SDH and Spanish Subtitles as well as a Bookmarks feature.
Bloodlust: My Bloody Valentine and the Rise of the Slasher Film (20:36) - This featurette starts off with Adam Rockoff, Author of "Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film." He gives a rundown of several slasher films. Next we hear from the Director of "My Bloody Valentine", George Mihalka who discusses how the film came to be. Some members of the cast and crew talk about the film as well. Then we hear from members of the cast and crew from the "My Bloody Valentine" remake as they talk about their film and how it looks in 3D.
Deleted Scenes - This is the other option of seeing the footage that was reinserted back into the film. This is still of some value if you prefer the extended version as these deleted scenes can be played with director, cast and crew introductions.
Bloodlines: An Interactive Horror Film History - This extra is in a text format. You are given many options of different horror sub-genres and categories such as sequels, where you have a few screens of text with information on the different subjects. It is something interesting to look at and you might learn about a film you would like to see.
Theatrical Trailer (2:10)
Also From Lionsgate (1:06)
IN CONCLUSION:
I absolutely love this Blu-ray release just for the film itself with what they did by giving us the option to see it in all of its glory. If there was one thing I could have as an extra it would be a commentary track with the cast or crew of the film that could give some insight in to the process of making the film or stories pertaining to the scenes. I know this Blu-ray release can be hard to find for some but if you can locate a copy for a reasonable price and you're a slasher fan, I'd buy it. This is the sort of release many fans wish for when it comes to other films that were cut to attain an R rating. Oh and I also like the end credits song. It's kinda catchy and can get stuck in your head.
