DVD review: VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 91 minutes, audio commentary, alternate endings, featurettes, interviews, behind-the-scenes montage

VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital EX

Subtitles: Spanish subs, English close captioning

STUDIO: Magnet Releasing/ Merrick Entertainment/ Mandalay Vision/ Circle Of Confusion/ Forest Park Pictures/ Magnolia Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: 5-17-2011

An unexplained blackout plunges Detroit into darkness and the people who are in the dark are taken away by shadows (leaving only their clothes behind). The people left behind keep in the light with any source of light to protect them from the shadows. Three people converge at a bar where a young boy is holed up. They must plan a way of escaping the city and get to Detroit.

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET is a chiller- a moody horror piece. It doesn't explain why things are happening or what the shadows are. The characters wonder and provide theories as the fear mounts. It is a an effective and engaging mood piece, but I feel the movie fizzles out at the end like ending it with something you would see in an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. The story feels like something Stephen King could write.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The alternate endings are just alternate edits of the ending in the film, but I do like the sinister music in the final alternate ending better than the song they use.

REVEALING THE VANISHING ON 7TH STREET and CREATING THE MOOD ON 7TH STREET are promotional featurettes along with the promo fluff piece HDNet: A LOOK AT VANISHING ON 7TH STREET. The best extra are the FANGORIA interviews with director Brad Anderson and actor Jacob Latimore. The Behind the Scenes montage is just that and can be skipped. Also on the disc are the original theatrical trailer and an audio commentary for the film with director Brad Anderson.

FINAL ANALYSIS: VANISHING ON 7TH STREET is a chilling horror film despite fizzling out at the end.

this DVD review is (c)5-19-2011 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com