The Convent – Synapse Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2000
Director: Mike Mendez
Writer: Chaton Anderson
Cast: Joanna Canton, Richard Trapp, Dax Miller, Renée Graham, Liam Kyle Sullivan, Megahn Perry, Jim Golden, Chaton Anderson, Adrienne Barbeau, Kelly Mantle, Oakley Stevenson, Larrs Jackson, Coolio, Bill Moseley, Jennifer Buttell, Allison Dunbar, Elle Alexander

Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 79 Minutes 36 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"In 1960, a young woman named Christine enters St. Francis Boarding School for Girls and lays waste to the resident nuns. Four decades later, a group of college students head to the long-abandoned building late one night to tag it with their fraternity letters, little knowing that rumors of the place being haunted are terrifyingly true. Stir in a couple of disapproving cops and a band of unlikely Satanists, and the table is set for a feast of demonic infestation and bloodshed that only the grown-up Christine (Adrienne Barbeau, The Fog, Swamp Thing) can possibly stop." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD, Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "4K remaster of the uncut version supervised and approved by director Mike Mendez."

The Convent comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 58.2 GB

Feature: 53.2 GB

The source looks excellent; it's another exceptional encode from Fidelity in Motion. Flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

The Convent comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 29 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB 

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds excellent; dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a still gallery with music from the film playing in the background, promotional trailer #1 (1 minute 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), promotional trailer #2 (1 minute 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), deleted scene (31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), gore outtakes (5 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), electronic press kit (11 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a locations featurette for Killers and The Convent (14 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a behind the scene featurette (8 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and audio commentary with cast & crew, and an audio commentary with Kelly Mantle and David Gunn aka Lords of Hell.

The Blu-ray disc has the same extras.

Other extras include reversible cover art and an 8-page booklet with an essay titled It’s Always Something with a Virgin: Bringing The Convent (Back) to the Screen written by Corey Danna.

Summary:

Demonic spirits possess college students after they enter an abandoned convent.

Once again, director Mike Mendez opens a film with an iconic song; this time he uses Lesley Gore’s You Don’t Own Me. A young girl named Christine enters the convent in a flashback sequence that opens the film, where she kills all the nuns and the priest, then sets the place on fire. Fusing this song with an eruption of carnage creates a synergy that sets the tone for what follows.

From there, the narrative flashes forward 40 years. The convent still stands desolate; it has not been torn down in all of the years since the massacre. Teenagers constantly trespass, disregarding the danger inside. Fortunately, the police round up most trespassers and get them to leave. This time, a girl hides inside while her friends are integrated by the police. Unfortunately, for her, being a virgin will not save her like it would in another horror film, since the demons need virgin sacrifices to unleash their holy terror.

Despite there being an ample amount of bloodletting, it's hard to look past The Convent’s attempt to use humor. Most of it is politically incorrect; some of it works, but then most of it falls flat. That said, The Convent is at its best when it focuses on horror elements. And though most of the special effects look really good, some of the CGI effects will make you wince.

From a production standpoint, The Convent is a film that often exceeds its limited resources. At just under 80 minutes in length, its narrative does not feel overlong, and there are only a few lulls. Relatively unknown actors make up most of the cast, delivering enthusiastic performances. Ultimately, despite its shortcomings, The Convent is a film that fans of horror/comedy hybrids will get the most mileage out of.

The Convent gets an excellent release from Synapse Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of extras.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer