Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon re-entry over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear there and half of Mexico was quarantined as an "Infected Zone". Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain "the creatures"... Our story begins when a US journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

The Blu-ray presentation is an interesting mix of quality with some close ups showing a striking amount of fine detail while longer shots look on the softer side. The film was shot with HD video cameras so there is a somewhat lacking quality to the wider shots and darker photography. Nighttimes sequences are a bit heavy in terms of grain structure and detail isn’t nearly as pronounced as the brighter sequences. Color rendition is good though and overall dimensionality is strong. The 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix definitely has its moments with some nice dynamics from the opening action sequence and great surround use through most of the rest of the film. While this film does have some action moments, most of it is pretty subdued and relies on ambiance and dialogue. The sound design excels at moodiness and the occasional directivity displayed in the surround soundstage.

Magnolia has included a digital copy of the film for your portable device and a decent supplemental package on the Blu-ray. You get a feature commentary along with some deleted scenes and a few behind the scenes features that include interviews. Some trailers are also included.

This is more of a character piece than an all out horror or sci-fi flick but it still produces a solid viewing experience with solid special effects and performances. Definitely worth a rent!!