Bryan Loves You Blu Ray Review (MVD Marquee)
Bryan Loves You is a 2008 horror film produced, written, and directed by Seth Landau (Cards Brah and Take Out). In the early 1990s, a 32-year-old psychotherapist (played by: director Seth Landau) began to suspect that his small Arizona community was being taken over by a homicidal religious cult known as “The Bryans”. His entire ordeal was captured on camcorder footage and security tapes. They are the video musings of a highly disturbed young man. This is what was recovered after it was all said and done!!!!I remember when Bryan Loves You first hit home video from Anchor Bay when it originally hit DVD. That cover and artwork always grabbed my attention plus the cast list was very impressive. Found Footage is one of my least favorite sub-genres when it comes to horror. The low budget Bryan Loves You adds an interesting twist to those type of features here. I am a huge fan of cult movies so that made it being a found footage production better than what you would expect but it still had it’s fair share of issues. If I remember correctly, this was shot in only 17 days and it cost around $25,000 to make. Seth Landau was smart when putting this together when it came to his actor selection and use of them to boost the hype for this smaller project.
Most of the bigger names like Tony Todd, Daniel Roebuck, George Wendt, Brinke Stevens, Tiffany Shepis, Lloyd Kaufman, and Chuck Williams.that you see listed for Bryan Loves You are cameos or very small roles but everyone is really good in this little horror flick. The main cast that’s actually featured more in this is nothing special for the most part. The flow and pacing for Bryan Loves You could have been so much better. The idea, concept, and potential of the promoted cast teases to be better than what it actually it was. I will say that I really enjoyed the look of the cult and it had some decent moments in this. If you are into cult, found footage, and micro budget horror then you might dig this forgotten horror entry from awhile ago.
This 1080p (1.33:1) transfer is a massive upgrade quality wise compared to the older Anchor Bay DVD. It’s a found footage feature so lots of it is filmed a certain way to get that look. So yes, it definitely looks very low budget but that actually helps with the sub-genre that it was aimed at during it’s original release. The aspect ratio is different than the original presentation so that’s an interesting choice from the filmmaker. The English: LPCM 2.0 track is actually better than I remember compared to it’s original release. It’s also has English subtitles. It has the original “2008 Audio Commentary” with Seth Landau, James Oster, Elissa dowling and Dr. Phillip Baker. It has a brand new exclusive “2022 Audio Commentary” with director Seth Landau. It has an almost 45 minute “They’re Still Talking About Me” interview with actor George Wendt conducted by director Seth Landau. It has an almost 51 minute “Your Attitude Needs to Change” interview with actress Tiffany Shepis conducted by director Seth Landau. It has an almost 32 minute “Have a Pleasant Day” interview with actress Brinke Stevens conducted by director Seth Landau. I may not love Bryan Loves You but I do appreciate and enjoy Seth Landau’s ongoing passion for this project after all these years. He really went out of his way to make this brand new blu ray home video release special because it’s loaded with extras. It’s always weird saying this but the special features are way better than the actual film itself. If you are fans of George Wendt, Tiffany Shepis, and Brinke Stevens, I highly recommend this one for their interviews alone. It has a “Trailer” for Bryan Loves You plus a few other MVD related releases on it. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!