Cat Sick Blues Blu Ray Review (Wild Eye Releasing)

Cat Sick Blues is a 2015 slasher film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Dave Jackson (The Devil’s Primetime, Cannibal Suburbia, Touched by an Angle Grinder, and The Unsolved Love Hotel Murder Case Incident). It was co-written by Andrew Gallacher (Horrible, White Room, and Cat Sick Blues 2013). It was produced by lead actor Matthew C. Vaughan (Lost Dog, The Peep Jeep, Touched by an Angle Grinder, and Totally Talls). It’s a full length version of the 2013 horror short with the same title. It was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign. When Ted Henson’s (played by: Matthew C. Vaughan from Cat Sick Blues Sick Blues, Cat Sick Blues 2013, Dick Dribble: Pro-Baller/Private Eye, and Fishcam) beloved cat dies, grief fractures his mind beyond repair. Consumed by delusion and anger, he is convinced that nine human lives are the key to bringing his pet back from the dead. Armed with deadly clawed gloves and a terrifying cat mask, Ted descends into a nightmare of obsession and murder. Through all of his carnage, he meets Claire Ellis (played by: Shian Denovan from Frankenstein, The Whip, Bite, and Lord of Darkness), a young woman mourning her own lost cat. Their shared sorrow sparks a bond that blurs the line between love and madness!!!! Cat Sick Blues is one of the most unique slashers ever made. It’s bizarre addition to Australian horror and there’s nothing like it at all. Director Dave Jackson kept busy on this independent production with multiple jobs while putting it all together. The script is batshit crazy, shocking, brutal, and oddly hilarious. Lead actor Matthew C. Vaughan returns as The Catman aKa Ted Henson from the original 2013 short film. This just takes that small concept and turns it into something even more wild. He is a pet owner that feels like his cat is much more than that. It’s like his own child so he loses his mind when it passes away. He’s left lonely, angry, sad, and it motivates him for a insane plan that requires him to take 9 different lives to resurrect his cat. Cat Sick Blues has one of the most original villains that I’ve ever seen in a slasher and that’s saying a lot. Ted doesn’t hold back when he goes on his bloody killing spree. Shian Denovan going through the same thing as Ted with losing her popular viral cat so she’s feeling it after her own tragedy. She was traumatized and she doesn’t realize how this relates to her new friend. This creates a strange bond with the disturbed serial killer that could go anywhere but it’s unknown for now. The supporting cast includes Meg Spencer (It’s a Date), Jeni Bezuidenhout (Back to Goode), Danae Swinburne (SheBorg), Rachel Rai (Bertram Poppingstock: Problem Solver), Noah Moon (Touched by an Angle Grinder), Hwee Hall (Angel of Mine), Hayley Beveridge (Dead Moon Circus franchise), Kim Armstrong (Cannibal Suburbia), Harley Hoshi (The Peep Jeep), and Cat Commander (Peek a Boo). Cat Sick Blues is not for the squeamish or sensitive, it has all kinds of rape and extreme graphic situations. Shades of A Clockwork Orange, The Catman wears a dangerous phallic prosthetic during his executions. This isn’t just gory, it’s past that and it does whatever it wants when it comes to over the top violence. There’s absolutely no boundaries here. It has a solid body count. The nasty special fx from artist Liz Jenkinson (Winchester, The Dressmaker, Alien Arrival, Wentworth, and Open Slather) are very impressive especially for not having much of a budget. Cat Sick Blues takes a whole new approach for losing a loved pet. Ted goes completely insane after it and it’s wild experience to watch. Dave Jackson takes some visual chances by throwing in black and white with some slow motion and reverse shot footage that you typically don’t see in an independent project like this. I thought the finale was a little too long so it lost a little momentum but it wrapped up like it should have considering all of the shocking events before. It’s for a specific crowd for sure, most casual fans will be offended or give up before it’s even over. I personally think it’s worth checking out because I respect how brave it was. It wasn’t watered down or censored like most horror these days, it knows exactly what it was doing. Cat Sick Blues will continue to be on my watchlist, it’s so unexpected in every possible way. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Wild Eye Releasing in association with OCN Distribution! This 1080p (1.85:1) uncut transfer is from a newer director approved 2K restoration. I’ve owned the original 2018 DVD from Wild Eye since it was first released and this Blu Ray upgrade is a huge step above when it comes to it’s sharper picture quality. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the disc. Cat Sick Blues isn’t explosive or action packed but it has it’s batshit crazy situations where the audio is definitely elevated. The score and soundtrack adds a nice punch to everything. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the killing is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with director Dave Jackson, Jax McMullin Condo, Lucas Haynes, Mitch McTaggart, Bethany Young, James Birrell , Daniel Cowan, Matthew C. Vaughan, and Harley Hoshi. This one is loaded with all kinds of people that worked on Cat Sick Blues. Lots of different opinions and reactions here. It feels a little crowded at times but there’s so much great detailed information and personal stories from this Australian slasher. They all have a blast revisiting this together. It’s an adult type of audio track but that’s not surprising considering the actual movie. It has an additional “Audio Commentary” with director Dave Jackson, co-writer Andrew Gallacher, lead actor Matthew C. Vaughan, and producer Harley Hoshi. I personally enjoyed this commentary way more than the previous one. It felt more organized and coherent. It was easier to navigate everything without other people trying to speak over each other which could be a little distracting. They chat about Cat Sick Blues and go over it’s origin story. The original script was very different than what they went with. They repeat some of the information and stories from before but there’s a good amount of new stuff discussed for this. They keep busy talking throughout the whole feature so there’s not a dull moment here. Between these two, you will learn plenty about this wild horror film. It has the almost 9 minute “Beautiful World” video essay from Heather Drain. She explains that she originally got interested in Jackson for his original site. She breaks down his extreme horror feature Cat Sick Blues. She shares her personal and blunt thoughts on the slasher. It’s an interesting segment, I think this might be exclusive just to this because I haven’t seen it listed on any other versions. It has the little over 47 minute “Show me Something Wrong Podcast” with director Dave Jackson and lead actor Matthew C. Vaughan. It’s in black and white so it’s kinda stylish. They chat about how they first met and that overall experience. They joke about early gross short videos that were made before they went into making movies. They bring up television work they did when they first became friends. It’s a loaded conversation between the creative duo. Lots of earlier information and stories are shared here so it’s a fun watch. It has the almost 13 minute “Catboy” documentary. Director Dave Jackson gives a tour of his home in Japan. He goes over his earlier work. He chats about all of the pet cats that he’s had over the years and this includes some footage from it. It has the 35 minute “Claws and Cat Cocks: Behind the Scenes” documentary. This is mainly driven by various raw footage from the set. It highlights Matthew C. Vaughan, practical special fx, production design, and so much more. There’s some spoilers so make sure you have actually seen Cat Sick Blues before viewing it. It has almost 13 minutes of 3 “Deleted Scenes”. It has the original little over 10 minute horror short version of “Cat Sick Blues”. I was surprised but this is vastly different from the updated full length movie besides a few similarities. This is one of the best additions on this home video release. It has the little over 5 minute black and white 2012 creature horror short “Kappa” from director Dave Jackson. It has the “Cat Interrupts Interview”. It’s a short with original Cat Sick Blues trailers. It has 4 different music videos which includes the little over 3 minute Lady Flash: “Gundam Mitai Na Onnanoko”, the little over 3 minute Lady Flash: “Astrochic Alaska”, the almost 7 minute Tokiyo: “Maboroshi”, and the almost 6 minute Last Chance: “Instant Junkie”. The limited edition comes with a high quality slipcover. Every version comes with additional artwork underneath and a 11×17 folded poster with exclusive new artwork. It’s available everywhere right now including VinegarSyndrome.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!