Bloody Mallory (2002)
By: Devon Bertsch on July 11, 2006.
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| Lionsgate (USA). Region 1, NTSC. 1.85:1 (16:9 enhanced). French DD 5.1, English DD 5.1. English, Spanish Subtitles. 94 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Julien Magnat
Starring: Olivia Bonamy,
Adrià Collado, Jeffrey Ribier, Valentina
Vargas, Laurent Spielvogel
Screenplay: Stéphane
Kazandjian, Julien Magnat
Country: France |
What is it with France? For years, the only interesting
horror films coming from there were the works of
Jean Rollin. There was the odd transgression, like Baby Blood or La Revanche
des Mortes Vivantes (The Revenge
of the Living Dead Girls), but as a whole,
France was not a horror hotbed. Lately however,
we're getting things like Promenons-Nous
Dans les Bois (Deep In The Woods),
the bloody good Haute Tension,
and now Bloody Mallory.
Bloody Mallory opens with the
titular character slaying her husband on their
wedding night because she's discovered he's
a demon. Angry about the change this life-altering
event brings into her paradigm, Mallory becomes
the leader of a Nick Fury (she even smokes cigars)
type commando squad that combats evil. When the
Pope is kidnapped, it's up to Mallory and
her crew to save him. This is definitely a case
of style over substance, but the style here is
entertaining.
Bloody Mallory is really more
of an action movie with horror elements, but I
didn't mind that. It's kind of like
France's answer to Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, WaSanGo (Volcano
High), John Carpenter's Vampires,
and Lola Rennt (even if that's
mostly about the lead's hair colour) all
rolled into one. I also saw similarities to another
French actioner, Dobermann, but
the film I've decided the best comparison
is really the crazed Acción Mutante.
Bloody Mallory sports a nice
sense of the comedic, like giving a priest the
humorous homonym name of Father Carras. Most of
the FX and makeup are quite good, but some lesser
CGI hurts the visuals in the latter half. Overall,
the film is wild, fun ride, but that's to
be expected from a movie with the tagline 'Fuck
evil.' |
| Video |
| Bloody Mallory is presented at
1.85:1 in a 16x9-enhanced print. There is some slight
grain, but the image is sharp, has vibrant colours,
and looks really good. The image does soften a bit
in some of the odd lighting in the second half of
the film, but that is probably intentional. |
| Audio |
| There are two audio tracks, both in 5.1 mixes.
The first is the original French language track,
which is a good, strong mix. The dialogue remained
clear and crisp, and the sound FX were all well
done. The English track is just fucking terrible
from the snippets I listened to. The dubbing was
often poorly recorded, and the acting was even poorer.
Optional subs are available in English or Spanish. |
| Extra Features |
| A bit light in the extras, the disc only includes
some Lions Gate Films' trailers and a roughly
17 minute making of. The making of is in French
with optional subs. Most of it is the usual behind
the scenes stuff, but I was interested in the
FX aspects presented. |
| The Verdict |
| I'll always enjoy any film where the Pope
gets the Spanish Inquisition, and Bloody
Mallory is a lot of fun in many other areas
too. The DVD may not have a lot of bonus material,
but it is a quality presentation of a good film. |
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