Unseen, The

Released by: Scorpion Releasing
Released on: August 20, 2013.
Director: Danny Steinman
Cast: Barbara Bach, Sydney Lassick Stephen Furst, Leila Goldini, Karen Lamm
Year: 1981
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The Movie:

Directed by Danny Steinman in 1980, The Unseen stars Barbara Bach as a reporter named Jennifer Fast who travels with her two friends, Karen (Karen Lamm) and Vicki (Lois Young) to a small town where they hope to spend the night in a hotel and then get to work covering a local festival. It turns out the hotel that they've come to visit is no longer in operation, it's now a museum but the museum operator, a man named Ernest Keller (Sydney Lassick), helps them out. While all of the hotels in the area are booked solid because of the local events, he offers them lodging at a remote farmhouse that owns with this wife. The three ladies agree, and off they go.

Things seem fine at first but soon enough they meet Ernest's sister, Virginia (Leila Goldini), a meek woman who seems to get upset very easily for some reason. Once they've settled in to enjoy their stay, the come to learn that there's more to the Keller's residence than meets the eye and that the thing (Stephen Furst) in the basement is no product of their imagination.

This one takes a while to get going but by the time we hit the half way mark, there's a strange sense of perversion beginning to shape up and the last half of the picture more than makes up for its slow start. The cinematography in the movie is top notch and the camerawork here not only captures some of the charm offered up by the quaint, small town locations but also (and more importantly), the creepiness of the massive old farmhouse where the bulk of the picture winds up taking place.

The movie does borrow a little bit from Hitchcock's Psycho but stretches out enough on its own to make it worth checking out. It's not a gore fest and it's low on bloodshed but makes up for that with a rather intense finale that is more interested in unnerving viewers than grossing them out. While there is some (unintentional?) comedic value in seeing Animal House's Flounder looking more like Sloth from The Goonies than anything else, the concept behind his rampage is twisted enough to work. Sydney Lassick is perpetually sweaty and sleazy and weird and his relationship with Goldini as his sister is predictably twisted. Bach is good as the female lead, keeping her cool for most of the movie and then freaking out appropriately as it becomes more and more obvious that the situation she's found herself in is horrible.

Though it's a little bit on the predictable side and its twists aren't particularly difficult to figure out, The Unseen is perverted enough to hold its own. A good cast, an interesting premise and a few memorably twisted set pieces help to hold our attention while the technical polish ensures that the movie works.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Scorpion gives The Unseen a nice looking 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that is clean, crisp and colorful while still grainy enough to look like film. Some minor specks are present throughout but there isn't any seriously nasty print damage to note while detail and color reproduction look good. Detail is generally pretty strong, this movie was shot with a good eye and solid lighting and that pays off in the visuals department. All in all, the movie looks quite good here.

The levels on the English language Dolby Digital Mono track are a bit low but if you turn the volume up, the mix is fine. Dialogue is clean and clear and there aren't any issues with hiss or distortion. The score sounds good as do the effects. The track shows its age in that it's a little limited in range, but that's not a flaw, just an observation. No complaints here. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided.

There are plenty of extras on the disc, starting with a commentary track with actor Stephen Furst and producer Anthony Unger that was previously recorded for the older Code Red DVD release from a few years ago and which was moderated by Lee Christian. This is a pretty interesting talk that is a solid mix of scene specific trivia and information about The Unseen as well as some fairly fascinating stories about their respective careers. There are occasional moments of humor to help keep things fairly light but Christian more or less keeps them on topic for the duration.

Also carried over from that Code Red disc are interviews with actors Doug Barr (seven minutes) and Stephen Furst (nine minutes) as well as with special effects technicians Craig Reardon (thirty eight minutes) and Tom Burman (twenty five minutes). The disc also includes a new twenty-five minute interview with the film's producer, Anthony Unger, conducted by Katarina Leigh Waters. The interviews cover some of the same ground as the commentary does but have enough to differentiate them from that talk to make them worth checking out, particularly in regards to Burman and Reardon discussing the makeup and effects work.

Rounding out the extras are a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Scorpion Releasing titles, a still gallery menus and chapter selection. As this release is part of the Katarina's Nightmare Theater line, you've got the option of watching the movie play with an intro and outro from Waters in which she offers up some thoughts and trivia on the picture.

The Final Word:

The slow build up might put some off but The Unseen holds up well as a twisted early eighties horror picture made by a capable director with an interesting cast. Scorpion's DVD reissues is a good one, offering the movie up in very nice shape and with a pretty healthy smattering of supplements as well.