Otis

Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: 10/7/2008
Director: Tony Krantz
Cast: Bostin Christopher, Ashley Johnson, Daniel Stern
Year: 2008
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

A quote from Bloody Disgusting on the front of the packaging for the SD release of Raw Feed's film stated 'It's Juno for the horror set.' A curious comparison to be sure as Juno was a tale of an unwed teenage mother and her dilemma that might have been interesting had it not gotten mired under its own hipster dialogue. Otis is about as far removed from that film as you can get - all they really have in common is some dark humor. That said, the quote is missing from the packaging on this Blu-ray release, though sadly that's not the only thing missing. But more on that later. On to the movie…

The picture follows a three hundred pound loser named Otis Broth (played by newcomer Bostin Christopher) who makes his living as a pizza delivery guy. He's also a pedophile and a serial killer, which spells bad news for cute little Riley Lawson (Ashley Johnson), a teenage girl who catches Otis' leering eye. He abducts her and takes her back to house his where he chains her up in a room and watches her through his video camera surveillance system. What does Otis want? He wants her to go to the prom with her. Not the real prom, mind you, the one he's setting up in his house. Otis didn't do well with girls in school, that much is obvious, and he wants to make up for that now by playing the football star to Riley's cheerleader. He also insists that Riley and everyone else involved call her Kim.

Riley's parents, Will (Daniel Stern) and Kate (Illeana Douglas) freak out as is to be expected in such a case, and even her bratty younger brother Reed (Jared Kusnitz) is obviously upset. After Otis calls them and asks their permission to take 'Kim' to the prom, they call in the Feds lead by a man named Agent Hotchkiss (Jere Burns) who is more interested in bragging about himself and playing with his laser pointer than in actually solving the case. When a visit from Otis' brother Mort (Kevin Pollack) gives poor Riley a chance to escape, she takes it and then, of course, it all hits the fan…

An at times brilliant send up of films like Hostel and Saw with nods to revenge films and slasher pictures, Otis is a seriously twisted film that makes us laugh when we should be squirming. It forces demented humor into situations that are, in reality, not in the least bit funny and it pulls no punches along the way in terms of gore or disturbing content. There are some pretty grisly moments in the picture but the script and characters are so well written that we really can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, even if we might feel a little guilty for doing so immediately afterwards.

For every high note that the Erik Jendreson's script hits, the cast are right there with it. As good as Stern, Douglas, Pollack and Burns are, the real stare of the show is Bostin Christopher appearing here in his feature film debut (unless you count a very brief cameo in Unbreakable). He's eerie and all too familiar, and you can't help walking away from the film feeling like you knew someone a little too much like him during your high school days and wondering what they might be up to now.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Otis arrives on Blu-ray in a 1080p VC-1 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. There's a little bit of background noise on the image and some shimmering here and there but there aren't any problems with print damage or compression artifacts. Color reproduction and skin tones look nice and accurate and there's a pretty decent level of detail present in the foreground and the background of the picture at any given time. Overall, despite some intentional softness in the scene where Otis has his lady friend tied to the bed (to give the film a twisted romantic look), this transfer is pretty good. It doesn't pop off the screen the way some HD content does but there's a noticeable upgrade here in terms of detail and color reproduction over the film's SD counterpart.

Audio options are supplied in English language Dolby Digital 5.1 48 kHz 640 kbps Surround Sound and English 48 kHz Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Sound. Optional dubbed tracks are available in Spanish and Portuguese language 2.0 Stereo tracks with optional subtitles provided in Portuguese, Chinese, French and Spanish. English closed captioning is also available. No problems here, the standard definition 5.1 track is quite good with nice balance and a decent amount of punch from the lower end when it's called for. But the TrueHD smokes it in terms of clarity and quality, particularly when it comes to the sound effects and the score. Dialogue stays clear and the score sounds decent enough. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion and overall the movie sounds just fine.

The standard definition DVD release of Otis that came out earlier in 2008 had a commentary, an alternate ending, a featurette, a bonus scene and some trailers. Unfortunately, none of that is carried over for the film's Blu-ray debut - all that's here are language, subtitle and chapter selection sub-menus.

The Final Word:

Otis is a very dark comedy and it's twisted enough that it might be off putting to some viewers who don't see the humor in the situations portrayed. That said, it's a refreshingly original blend of horror and comedy and those with a taste for twisted humor should get a sick kick out of this one. WB/Raw Feed's Blu-ray release looks and sounds just fine but the missing extras is a shame as the extra content on the SD release was actually quite enjoyable.