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Monday, May 2, 2016

Backtrack Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Allie Schembra
Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (Best Actor, The Pianist, 2002) and Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) star in the spine-chilling thriller, Backtrack, arrived on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD April 26 from Lionsgate. From the acclaimed writer-director, Michael Petroni (The Book Thief), the suspenseful film keeps audiences on the edge of their seats as the shocking story unfolds. The Backtrack home entertainment release includes a behind-the-scenes featurette looking at the development of this psychological thriller. Psychologist Peter Bower's life is thrown into turmoil when he discovers that the patients he has been seeing are ghosts. Risking his own sanity, Peter delves into his past to uncover a terrifying secret which only he can put right.



Film (3 out of 5 stars)
Peter Bower is a psychologist who has some strange patients. After losing his daughter, he and his wife move to a new home, and Peter takes on some patients who were referred to him by friend and mentor, Duncan. As he meets with these patients, he realizes that the man with the memory problems may not have amnesia, the woman who tries to commit suicide but can’t, has something stopping her, and the young girl, Elizabeth Valentine, who just shows up in his office has a secret she’s not talking about.

Bower discusses his patients with Duncan and begins looking into them further. He searches the Internet for these people and finds that they all have something in common. This coincidence leads him back to his hometown and to his father’s house where he begins remembering events from his childhood. As he searches out the answers, Peter finds that his patients have more in common with him that he thought.

If that seems vague, it’s because it is. While spoiled pretty early in the movie, I didn’t want to be the one to spoil it. Adrien Brody does a good job as psychologist, Peter Bower. He was tortured, concerned, and confused all at the same time. The story was good, even if a little predictable. Sam Neill always does a good job in his roles, no matter how minor they are. The ensemble cast played well together, and the moments where they shared the scene was well done and creepy.
Video (3 out of 5 stars)
The 1080p high definition 16x9 wide-screen (2.40:1 aspect ratio) Blu-ray presentation was good. Much of the movie takes place at night or in dark locations, but I could still everything clearly. The picture was sharp and colors were accurate. The movement of the actors flowed well and there were no visible issues.
Audio (2 out of 5 stars)
English 5.1 DTS-HD master audio was really quiet and uneven. The actors seemed like they were whispering the whole time and the few parts where something jumped at you were exceptionally loud because the volume was turned up really high because I couldn't hear the dialogue. If needed, and you just might, subtitles are available in English SDH and Spanish.
Extras (1 out of 5 stars)
I was really disappointed with the features included in the Blu-ray. While I did enjoy the behind the scenes featurette, it was the only special feature.
  • The Psychology of Backtrack Featurette – This is a short featurette on the making of the movie. With cast and crew interviews, the viewer gets a (brief) bit of background on the movie.
  • Also from Lionsgate
  • Bookmarks

Summary (2 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Backtrack, while predictable, was an entertaining movie that I’ll be sure to watch again. It is creepy and weird, but interesting, and I know I’ll catch subtle hints during each successive viewing. It’s not going to win any major awards, but it’s still good and a solid addition to any one’s movie collection.

Order your copy today!

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