After a governor issues an executive order to arrest the children of undocumented immigrants, the newly detained youth are offered an opportunity to have their charges dropped by volunteering to provide care to the elderly. Once inside the eldercare facility, the volunteers discover the governor and the facility’s supervisor have cooked up a horrifyingly depraved conspiracy that endangers the young and the old in this twisted thriller-comedy.
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Video Quality
American Carnage arrives on Blu-Ray with a detailed 1080p presentation in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio that looks incredible in high definition. Color saturation is great with the natural color palette presenting the deeper nuances of the hues. In some instances you have neon lighting or the visual splendor of nature popping off the screen, while other areas of the palette are more antiseptic to fit the narrative. Skin tones are natural to the lighting conditions, although a lot of exposed skin begins to be covered in makeup as the story moves along. The clarity throughout is top notch with subtle textures in the setting and costumes coming through perfectly. Black levels are pretty deep and do not fall victim to any noticeable digital noise or errors of the sort. This is always helpful in horror projects as you get to ratchet up the tension more effectively. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has delivered an excellent high definition presentation here.
Audio Quality
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is extremely effective, and it does not falter when it comes to executing this story. This film largely plays out like a scrappy, satiric comedy before getting into the more unsettling horror aspects as the narrative evolves. This track does not push your system to the limits, but the kinetic moments kick in when they need to. Whenever an unsettling scenario is right around the corner, the track really digs deep. The soundscape on display here is nuanced with the sounds of patients moving around the facility emanating from numerous directions. Dialogue comes through clearly with none of the information lost to the music or the sound effects. The movie uses environmental sounds to great effect, and the track retains strong detail even in the more chaotic developments. This track does everything it needs to do. There are English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Writer-Director Diego Hallivis, Writer-Producer Julio Hallivis, and Producer Andrés Rosende provide a fun commentary track packed with details about the origins of the project, the pros and cons of shooting in Spain, finding clips for the opening montage, the ensemble cast, the makeshift shooting locations, the subtle blending of VFX that you might not imagine, the moments they omitted from the film and more.
- Behind The Scenes of American Carnage: A pretty solid three part, 34-minute documentary featurette is provided here in which the cast and creative team take you through the creation of this feature including the story, the performances in the film, injecting social themes into a horror narrative, the different facets of the characters, latinx representation on screen and more.
- Deleted Scenes: Two unused scenes totaling two-and-a-half minutes are provided here featuring more partying in the pool and the Big Mac character rapping about his experiences.
Final Thoughts
American Carnage attempts to strike the delicate balance between razor-sharp social satire and chilling horror in a way that has become exponentially more popular since Get Out received all of the money and a Best Picture nomination. While this film understandably does not reach those lofty heights, it is a hell of a lot of fun. The film lulls you in with a bitingly humorous and infuriating opening act before transitioning into something more viscerally unsettling, even if it is a bit over the top. The satire is delivered more with a sledgehammer than a scalpel, but a confident approach to the material and the talented ensemble make this one an entertaining watch overall. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a strong A/V presentation and a few decent supplemental features. If you are in the mood for a progressive horror satire with a likable cast and a decent number of creepy moments, give this one a chance. Recommended
American Carnage is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.