The McManus Brothers’ low budget science fiction film The Block Island Sound is their second feature-length movie written and directed together, following the 2012 comedy-drama Funeral Kings. Here they take on a more eerie subject matter, part dysfunctional family drama and part apocalyptic mystery; and for much of the running time, The Block Island Sound refuses to relinquish the secret of its horrors. This leads to a compelling but also frustrating experience that showcases the potential talent behind the camera.
The film stars Chris Sheffield as Harry, a local of Block Island dealing with the trauma from his mother’s death as well as a new issue with his father (Neville Archambeault), who has been blacking out and taking his boat out into the sound precariously. As the film picks up, it’s clear that something is wrong with the areas around the sound; Harry’s sister Audry (Michaela McManus) is called in as a researcher to explain a recent large fish die-off along with various other afflicted animals. The Block Island Sound explores that family dynamic between Harry and Audry, while at the same time incrementally progressing toward a reveal of what’s really happening around the island.
There are a lot of things to like about what the McManus Brothers have crafted. In terms of atmosphere, The Block Island Sound is sufficiently moody thanks to its coastline cinematography, and the directors certainly have an eye for crafting beautiful shots of the surrounding locales either via aerial or out at sea. The film’s conceit – sort of a body-snatcher horror about people losing their bearings and consciousness for periods of time – is pretty compelling too, with Archambeault consistently showing up as a harbinger with a Donald Sutherland-esque look to him akin to 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
But The Block Island Sound moves a bit too slowly for its own good, often getting caught up in the family dynamic in a way that doesn’t progress the overall plot enough. The movie will likely prove plodding for many viewers, and it takes over an hour to really get to the meat of the mystery. Its cast does an excellent job with the script as it stands – McManus and Sheffield have a great chemistry and emotional rapport – but one can’t help but wish that the McManus Brothers explored the unknown presence in a few more gut-wrenching seabound excursions.
The conclusion, however, shows that the writers’ storytelling prowess is certainly capable of being cultivated, since the intriguing commentary about the similarities between abduction and humanity’s scientific experimentation on other organisms is probably one of the best moments of the movie. It’s unfortunate that The Block Island Sound couldn’t have refined its storyline just a tad, because its slower pacing will likely ostracize most audiences from appreciating the theme’s impact. For those more patient viewers, though, The Block Island Sound may prove more entrancing as a slow burn.
4K UHD
Synapse Films has elected to release The Block Island Sound on UHD following its previous premiere on Netflix streaming. This 4K transfer looks excellent as expected, presented in original aspect ratio 2.39:1 with virtually no flaws to speak of. The film gets quite dark at times, especially during the abduction sequences into the sky which are intentionally obscured to hide some of the special effects, but the HDR 10 handles black levels very well and maintains appropriate delineation. No compression or artifacts are noticed.
Audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which makes good use of the satellite speakers for overall ambience and creepy sound effects, and bass presence is nicely robust as well. No dialogue volume issues noted. Everything sounds appropriately mixed in presentation. Interestingly, this movie may have been even more effective with an Atmos mix due to its overhead audio effects. English subtitles are also included.
Extras include a number of new promotional featurettes featuring the McManus Brothers discussing various aspects of the film production, including filming the fish die-off, casting the main characters, creating the special effects of the abduction sequences, and the complications of filming at sea. These run about 30 minutes in total. Also new for this release is an audio commentary with the directors, which is a great listen that dives into the film’s creation in more detail than the featurettes can do. A behind-the-scenes 8MM featurette takes a look at filming some of the scenes with Jim Cummings in Los Angeles. Also a nice addition to this release is the inclusion of featurette about the McManus Brothers’ previous home movies, which runs about 6 minutes and also includes some footage of those shorts. This disc also contains an original trailer.
The Synapse limited edition also includes a slipcover with new artwork from Joel Robinson.
Extra Features
- NEW Audio commentary with directors Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus
- Original Trailer (1080p; 1:25)
- NEW A Practical Apocalypse (1080p; 3:23)
- NEW Finding the Cast (1080p; 9:22)
- NEW Filming on the Water (1080p; 6:55)
- NEW Special Effects on a Shoestring (1080p; 8:03)
- NEW Los Angeles Behind-the-Scenes (Super 8mm) (1080p; 1:42)
- NEW McManus Family Home Movies (1080p; 5:59)
- NEW special limited edition slipcover featuring new art from Joel Robinson, while supplies last
Verdict
Synapse Films’ release of The Block Island Sound is an excellent way to own this on home video, especially for those that enjoyed this eerie ambient thriller when it released digitally. A great transfer and plenty of extras provide awesome value.
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