In NOCEBO, a fashion designer (Eva Green) suffers from a mysterious illness that confounds her doctors and frustrates her husband (Mark Strong) – until help arrives in the form of a Filipino nanny (Chai Fonacier) who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.

For thoughts on Nocebo, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

The film debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original aspect ratio that delivers a really lovely viewing experience. The movie has a natural palette that pops off the screen in certain sequences, but all locations offer a fine amount of detail and clarity. Detail is a little less crisp in some of the darkest moments, but this is far from a major issue throughout. The movie uses darkness to accentuate tension, and the transfer aids in this by providing deep black levels that do not crush. Elements of the production design hold up well in the shadows and retain their depth with only slight banding. There is no damage or digital noise that causes major issues in this transfer. RLJE Entertainment has provided a really strong visual presentation for this one.

Audio Quality

Nocebo comes to Blu-Ray with a thorough DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The soundscape is quite effective in its precision, even if thrills and chills are more deliberately placed throughout compared to some films from the horror landscape. Surround channels get some good activity with the house ambiance during any lead up to a potential surprise. Dialogue and sound effects are balanced with the score where nothing gets overshadowed in the track. The movie does not provide the most dynamic workout, but environmental sounds provide a very unsettling, immersive atmosphere for the story. The low end of the track provides some decent texture when you start feeling the hair on the back of your neck raise up. There are optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc.

Final Thoughts

Nocebo is a decently unnerving nightmare which traffics in familiar themes of class dynamics, revenge and paranoia to suitable effect. Eva Green puts forth a fully committed performance that is unconcerned with outside judgment, but it is newcomer to English-language fare Chai Fonacier who steals the show. The film is paced well and offers up a finale that really leaves a mark. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. This one is worth a viewing from horror fans. Recommended

Nocebo 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: RLJE 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.