Blood and Chocolate Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray release of "Blood and Chocolate" presents a 2.35:1 widescreen 1080p/MPEG-2 transfer, promising a nuanced experience with its visual aesthetics. The film is shot with an artful approach that sets it apart from typical genre entries. The source material is notably solid, featuring deep blacks and smooth contrast without signs of excessive processing. However, the picture quality noticeably fluctuates between brightly lit and darker scenes. Bright scenes exhibit good color reproduction and a satisfactory depth and sharpness, accentuating the textural details in locations around Bucharest. The film's visual style is somewhat grainy, enhancing its cinematic feel, although the filtering in nighttime scenes is both apparent and somewhat intrusive.

Unfortunately, the darker scenes often falter, losing depth and vibrancy—shadow details are poor, and blacks tend to engulf surrounding details, impairing overall visibility. Despite the overall appeal of the color palette, which includes deep browns, crimsons, and blue-greens, fleshtones frequently err on the side of a deep orange tint, consistent across various lighting conditions. While daylight scenes maintain a fair sense of depth and texture, nighttime sequences suffer from an overly smooth appearance that detracts from their impact. This transfer delivers a fair representation of the filmmakers' intent with minimal noise intrusion, but it lacks the punch needed to truly impress seasoned viewers. Overall, it provides an adequate visual presentation, albeit without achieving the clarity or sharpness of top-tier high-definition transfers.

The audio presentation for "Blood and Chocolate" on Blu-ray, featuring an uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround track (48kHz/16-bit/4.6 Mbps), offers a mixed experience. The track is generally serviceable but fails to achieve the seamlessness and clarity associated with top-tier lossless soundtracks. The primary use of surround speakers to support musical cues is commendable, although the effect is somewhat inconsistent. For instance, a dance club scene in chapter two impressively fills the soundstage with a deep, immersive ambiance. However, this level of engagement dissipates through the rest of the film. The audio design appears hampered by budget limitations, with city environments failing to deliver a potent atmospheric presence.

From a technical standpoint, the dialogue often feels looped in post-production, creating occasional imbalances where louder sound effects and ethereal pop-dance tracks overpower spoken lines. Despite these flaws, the dynamic range of the audio track adds depth and presence, particularly in bass-heavy scenes. Action sequences, including werewolf attacks, benefit from relatively robust surround engagement but revert to frontal channels during quieter moments, highlighting the overall inconsistency in audio mixing. Notably, light rainfall in chapter ten effectively envelops the soundstage, showcasing the potential of what could have been achieved throughout.

In conclusion, "Blood and Chocolate" offers a functional but unremarkable PCM 5.1 track. It covers the essentials, including clear dialogue reproduction and a healthy dynamic range, without any major technical issues such as hiss or dropouts. However, it falls short of delivering a truly atmospheric or immersive audio experience, making it a basic offering that aligns with the film’s budgetary constraints rather than elevating the overall auditory experience.

The Blu-ray of "Blood and Chocolate" includes a limited selection of extras. The primary feature is a screen-specific audio commentary by Director Katja von Garnier and Actor Olivier Martinez. While the commentary provides some insights into shooting locales, special effects, and the integration of wolf eyes in human characters, it suffers from frequent silences and a sluggish pace. Martinez contributes minimally, often with trivial remarks. Additionally, fifteen deleted scenes are included; these focus on character development, offering no added action or gore, and are presented in low-quality 480p. Previews for other Sony films round out the extras, though there is a notable absence of a trailer for "Blood and Chocolate."

Extras included in this disc:

• Audio Commentary: Director Katja von Garnier and Actor Olivier Martinez discuss the film.
• Deleted Scenes: Fifteen scenes focused on character development, presented in 480p.
• Trailers: Previews for "The Messengers," "Ghost Rider," "The Covenant," "The Grudge 2," "Catch and Release," and "Stomp the Yard."

"Blood and Chocolate" attempts to breathe new life into the werewolf genre, finding its own niche between high school romances and darker mythological tales. Set in present-day Bucharest, the story centers on Vivian (Agnes Bruckner), a werewolf caught between her predestined pack life and her attraction to human artist Aiden (Hugh Dancy). The tensions in the pack, especially due to the violations of their laws by Gabriel's (Olivier Martinez) son Rafe (Bryan Dick), add to the intricate dynamics within the storyline. As Vivian grapples with her love for Aiden and the obligation to marry pack leader Gabriel, the film delves into themes of identity, belonging, and forbidden romance.

While visually compelling, with lush photography and a fluid directorial style from Katja von Garnier, "Blood and Chocolate" falls short in several key areas. The narrative often feels disjointed and underdeveloped, with character motivations and development not sufficiently explored. This results in a lack of emotional connection between the viewers and the protagonists. Special effects, particularly in the werewolf transformations, show potential but seem unfinished, failing to impress. Although some chase scenes provide excitement, the overall story coherence suffers from an overemphasis on atmosphere at the expense of a cohesive plot.

Despite its thematic ambitions and moments of visual allure, "Blood and Chocolate" remains an underwhelming entry in the werewolf genre. The performances are competent yet lack the depth needed to fully engage audiences. While parallels with "Twilight" are evident in its portrayal of star-crossed lovers from different worlds, this film lacks the emotional resonance and narrative strength that made "Twilight" a phenomenon. Ultimately, "Blood and Chocolate" may intrigue fans of the genre with its premise, but it struggles to leave a lasting impact beyond its polished surface.

The Blu-ray release of "Blood and Chocolate" is a mixed offering that displays both strengths and weaknesses with technical proficiency but fails to fully engage its audience. The film itself is characterized by dull characters, middling performances, and a transparent plot. However, it features passable special effects and commendable production values. This might appeal to fans of the genre, particularly those who enjoyed "Twilight" or the original book by Annette Curtis Klause.

Visually, "Blood and Chocolate" stands out with a rich, atmospheric look, which is a welcome change from the often overly self-referential style of contemporary horror films. The Blu-ray transfer captures this visual aesthetic reasonably well, although it is ultimately mediocre and not remarkable. The uncompressed soundtrack is slightly better executed, delivering a more immersive aural experience. Unfortunately, the selection of special features on the disc is sparse and largely disposable, adding little value to the overall package.

In conclusion, "Blood and Chocolate" is an average film that doesn’t quite rise above its genre peers. While it offers some technical competency behind the camera and might be appealing for specific tastes, particularly those gravitating towards werewolf-themed narratives, it lacks the depth and engagement found in superior films of the same genre. The Blu-ray release mirrors this sentiment – competent but unremarkable – making it a worthwhile rental rather than a purchase.