Lycan Colony: Collector's Edition – Visual Vengeance (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 2006
Director: Rob Roy
Writer: Rob Roy
Cast: Karl Bertelmann, Sean Burgoyne, Kadrolsha Ona Carole, Libby Collins, Bill Finley, Paul Henry, Kristi Lynn, Steve Pascucci, Jacob Roy, Ryan O Roy, Bill Sykes, Gretchen Weisiger, Sophia Wong

Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 88 Minutes 9 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"A disgraced, alcoholic surgeon moves with his family to a small town in New Hampshire. Unknown to them, the entire town is populated with werewolves, some good and others very evil. They soon find themselves thrust into an ancient, mystical battle between the wolf packs that will change their family forever. An astoundingly ambitious and riveting example of pure outsider cinema, Lycan Colony's reputation is well earned as every bizarre creative decision unfolds and you are dropped into its metaphysical alternate reality." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3/5

Lycan Colony comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.9 GB

Feature: 19.7 GB

Though the source used looks clean, Image clarity is not as strong in darker scenes, and black levels during these scenes are not convincing. That said, flesh tones and colors look correct.

Audio: 3.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clear and balanced. Range-wise ambient sounds and the soundtrack are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include Lycan Colony Visual Vengeance trailer (42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Lycan Colony original trailer (1 minute 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Lycan Colony music video (2 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a blooper reel (3 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Rob Roy (21 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Rob Roy, an audio commentary with Sam Panico of B&S About Movies and Bill Van Ryn of Drive-In Asylum, the Rifftrax version of Lycan Colony (73 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), reversible cover art, 'Stick your own' video store sticker sheet, a collectible folded mini-poster, 'New Hampshire Forest Scent' Air Freshener (limited to the first pressing), a four-page booklet with an essay titled The Bark and the Bite of Lycan Colony written by Sam Panico, and a limited-edition slipcover (first pressing only).

Summary:

The narrative revolves around a family that has recently moved to a small rural town that is infested with werewolves.

The horror genre has a staple of monsters that have been featured prominently over the years. Case in point: the werewolf, a monster that first rose to prominence in 1941 when Lon Chaney Jr. portrayed Larry Talbot, aka The Wolf Man. Flash forward to 2006 and Rob Roy’s Lycan Colony, a film that is unlike any werewolf that has come before or since.

Horror cinema is known for its big openings, which set the tone and lay the foundation for the events that follow. Unfortunately, Lycan Colony does not do either of these things. Its opening setup focuses on a dysfunctional family who have recently moved to town, and outside of some family drama, nothing really happens. That said, even when the werewolves finally appear, these moments are never really scary; in fact, they are the opposite.

From a production standpoint, Lycan Colony comes up short in every way. The lethargic-paced narrative feels twice as long as it actually is, the visuals are pedestrian, and the special effects look awful, especially the werewolf fangs. Also, the one-note performances do not do this Lycan Colony any favors. Throughout cinema’s history, there have been countless bad films that somehow succeeded despite their shortcomings. Unfortunately, Lycan Colony is not one of these films; it is lacking something that all so bad they're good films have; those films are actually a lot of fun despite their shortcomings.

Lycan Colony gets a first-rate release from Visual Vengeance that comes with the best possible audio/video presentation and an assortment of extras, notably the Rifftrax version of Lycan Colony.

Written by Michael Den Boer