Retribution – Severin Films (Blu-ray/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1987
Director: Guy Magar
Writers: Guy Magar, Lee Wasserman
Cast: Dennis Lipscomb, Leslie Wing, Suzanne Snyder, Jeff Pomerantz, George Murdock, Pamela Dunlap, Susan Peretz

Release Date: October 26th, 2021
Approximate Running Times: 108 Minutes 56 Seconds (U.S. Theatrical Cut), 109 Minutes 5 Seconds (Extended Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $44.95

"On the seedy side of Hollywood, an emotionally fragile painter miraculously survives a horrific suicide attempt. But when a series of grisly murders rocks the city, he discovers he may be possessed by the vengeful spirit of a murdered local hoodlum." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "now scanned in 2K from recently discovered pre-print elements."

Retribution (U.S. Theatrical Cut) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.7 GB

Feature: 29.6 GB

Retribution (Extended Cut) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 30.2 GB

Feature: 29.8 GB

The sources used for both transfers are comparable. Colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels look solid throughout and grain remains intact. Also, when compared to Code Red’s 2015 Blu-ray release, the transfers for this release are a noticeable improvement in every way.

Audio: 5/5

Both versions come with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English and both versions come with removable English SDH subtitles. Both audio mixes are in great shape, there are no issues with distortion or background hiss, dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and range wise, the score sounds robust and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release are spread over three discs.

Extras on disc one (U.S. Theatrical Cut) include stills & poster gallery (27 images), trailer #1 (1 minute 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), trailer #2 (6 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a student short film directed by Guy Magar with optional director audio commentary (1 minute 59 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with production designer Robb Wilson King titled Living In Oblivion (9 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with artist Barry Fahr titled The Art Of Getting Even (6 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with special effects artist John Eggett (7 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with composer Alan Howarth titled Settling The Score (8 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Mike Muscat titled Santa Maria, Mother Of God, Help Me! (9 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Suzanne Snyder titled Angel's Heart (6 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Leslie Wing titled Shock Therapy (8 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and an interview with screenwriter Lee Wasserman titled Writing Wrongs (12 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Extras on disc two (Extended Cut) include an audio commentary with director Guy Magar.

Other extras include a CD that contains the score, reversible cover art, a slipcover and a twenty-six page booklet with a text piece titled Introduction written by Guy Magar, an excerpt from “Kiss Me Quick Before I Shoot” written by Guy Magar, an essay titled The Supernatural Nightmare of Retribution: Alan Howarth’s Soulful Scare Score written by Randall D. Larson and a track listing for Alan Howarth’s score.

Summary:

Production value and content wise, Retribution falls somewhere in-between studio-backed horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th and SOV (shot on video) horror films like Sledgehammer and Boarding House.

Sure, there are obvious budgetary shortfalls that are clear while watching Retribution, and yet the result is a film that is far more polished than most of its contemporaries. The cinematography is easily Retribution’s greatest asset and it does a superb job driving home the more supernatural aspects of the story at hand. 

Though the special effects often crumble under the weight of this film’s meager resources. They're never the less very effective. All of the kill scenes are inventive and sufficiently gory enough that even the most jaded horror film fan should walk away satisfied.

Sometimes, when it comes to horror films, the performances are often unfairly maligned due to the lack of depth in said performances or because most characters in these types of films are one-dimensional. That said, Retribution is not the type of film that is going to wow you with its performances. And outside of this film’s leading man, Dennis Lipscomb (War Games) in the role of a tortured painter named George Miller. Despite its shortcomings the pros far outweigh the cons and Retribution ultimately succeeds because of its interesting premise.

Retribution has never looked or sounded better on home video and this release comes with a wealth of insightful extras. Retribution gets an impressive release from Severin Films that’s a candidate for one of the best releases of 2021, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer