The Breed Blu-ray

The Breed

 (2006)

Horror | Thriller



Five college kids are forced to match wits with mysterious, hostile residents when they fly to a "deserted" island for a party weekend. With the discovery of a mauled, bloodied and shredded body, the group quickly realizes they are not alone. A race against time becomes an intense battle for survival between Man and Beast, and only one species will survive.

For more details about The Breed on Blu-ray, see The Breed Blu-ray Review

The Breed Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Presented in 1080p utilizing the VC-1 codec (at an average bitrate of 20Mbps), The Breed offers a surprisingly proficient transfer. I was continually impressed with the level of detail throughout the feature, whether dealing with up-close facial shots, or the wide/distance shots that typically exhibit a reduction in fine-object detail. In fact, considering the lack of a Hollywood budget, and the relative difficulty in working with animals during shooting, I was shocked there weren’t at least a couple scenes that appeared slightly out of focus (a limited budget usually means the director and cinematographer don’t have the luxury of multiple takes for the same scene). Aside from the impressive level of detail, I found the low-light interior shots a bit underwhelming. During those scenes, detail in the foreground remained excellent, while detail in the background exhibited a lack of contrast and a severe drop in shadow detail. There are several examples of this problem throughout the film, but it’s especially noticeable around the 9 minute mark when the group of vacationers first enter the cabin. Up until that point, the outdoor shots that occurred during the daytime looked splendid, so it was a little jarring to see the picture take a noticeable turn for the worst.

Although the transfer is lacking in one area, I still feel the strengths merit a decent video rating. I never detected the presence of digital artifacting, edge enhancement, color bleeding, or motion blurring, and the color spectrum used for the film is pleasingly natural. There is some occasional grain (mostly during dark sequences), but it was never obtrusive and shouldn't present a concern to most viewers.

The Breed Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


If you consider the fact that your not watching a sweeping epic with a 200 million budget, then there’s not much to complain about on this Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. The filmmaker’s demonstrate a mastery for the art of audience jitters, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly hear a rabid dog make a snarling entrance from the back of your soundstage to latch onto the neck of an unsuspecting victim. The thrills may be cheap entries from a decades-old playbook, but they’re still handled nicely in the sound spectrum and it’s those moments of near-perfect spatial separation that lead me to believe there’s more talent behind this film than what we see onscreen. In addition to the robust nature of the effects, the dialogue is crisp and the volume balance between the tension-building orchestra music alongside the other audio elements is appropriately balanced. There really isn’t much to complain about from an audio standpoint, and the only reason I gave the audio a rating of 4 is due to the lack of a big-budget proficiency in the music, sound recording, and effects. Next to other low budget horror film, this would be a 5 for audio, but next to the wealth of high-definition audio offerings on Blu-ray, this is merely a slightly above-average experience.

The Breed Blu-ray, News and Updates

• First Look Announces The Breed for Blu-ray - June 24, 2008

The Breed Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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