Cradle Of Fear Blu Ray Review (Unearthed Films)

Cradle of Fear is a 2001 horror anthology film written, edited, and directed by Alex Chandon (Inbred, Pervirella, The Perv Parlor, Bad Karma, Cradle of Filth, Drillbit, and Shortcuts to Hell: Volume 1). Confined to a padded cell in a local asylum, Kemper (played by: David McEwan from Bootle Saddles, EastEnders, and The Bill) still manages to orchestrates his vengeance from afar. He commands a mysterious figure known only as “The Man” (played by: Dani Filth from Cradle of Filth, Baphomet, Dominator, and Slice 2! Children of the Course) to carry out a series of increasingly savage murders targeting the families of those who put him away. As the body count rises, Detective Nielson (played by: Edmund Dehn from Knightmare, The Containment, Appleseed Lake, and Vesper) who has a personal history with Kemper struggles to make any sense of the escalating gruesome violence and its seemingly supernatural orchestration!!!! Cradle of Fear delivers plenty when it comes to the gore, violence, sleaze, death, and nudity. Director Alex Chandon is no stranger to extreme horror and this is another brutal effort from the underrated filmmaker. I’m really surprised that he hasn’t done more over the years, I loved Inbred and Cradle of Fear is straight up graphic in every possible way without any hesitation. The script is a little incoherent and all over the place but this horror film is all about it’s nasty visuals more than anything. Scream Queen Emily Booth (Doghouse, Evil Aliens, Shed of the Dead, Inbred, Event Horizon, and Grindhouse) has one of her better roles here as Mel. Cradle of Filth member Dani Filth is one of the bigger characters in this as “The Man”. Dani clearly isn’t your typical actor so the performance is over the top but there’s some great presence here especially considering Dani is a little smaller than most horror villains. Alex Chandon was behind the camera for around 6 Cradle of Filth videos so it’s not a major shocker that this highlights Dani Filth and the music of Cradle of Filth in it. Veteran actor David McEwan has one of the best performances in this as the deranged Kemper. He’s trapped in an asylum now but he’s still going to get his gruesome vengeance no matter what it takes. Edmund Dehn is the dedicated detective that’s trying to solve this crazy killing spree before it gets much worse. The rest of the supporting cast includes Eileen Daly (Razor Blade Smile), Stuart Laing (EastEnders), Rebecca Eden (Pervirella), Louie Brownsell (Gangs of New York), Al Stokes (28 Days Later), Barry Lee-Thomas (Dead Room), Mark Rathbone (Inbred), Neil Keenan (Inbred), Lucille Howe (Buckle Up), Angela Kay (Warrior Sisters), Tony Hickson (The Last Zombi Hunter), Sean Boru (Lost Dogs), Morrigan Hel (Nature Morte), Gian Sessarego (24 Hours in London), and Emma Rice (One Man and His Dog). The excellent gory special fx were executed by artists Tristan Versluis (Wednesday, Ex Machina, Overlord, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Warfare, Annihilation, Game of Thrones, Inbred, and The Batman), Alan Hedgcock (28 Days Later, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Blade II, Waxwork, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Unholy), Cliff Wallace (Hellraiser, Doom, Mission: Impossible, Death Machine, The Unholy, Alien: Earth, Cobweb, and The Abandoned), and Ian Morse (Alien³, Saving Private Ryan, Split Second, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, 28 Weeks Later, The Marvels, and Waxwork II: Lost in Time). It has a little bit of a Creepshow, Asylum, and Body Parts influence for this. Cradle of Fear features 4 different stories here that all kinda connect to each other. A goth girl hooks up with a stranger in the club and she suffers a hideous aftermath for her risky actions. A few thieves think they have an easy heist with a weak target but it all backfires on them. After suffering an unfortunate accident that takes away his leg, a man is desperate to do anything to get his life back as it was before the tragedy. This ends up being a massive mistake. The son of a legendary detective does his own private investigation on the dark web when he discovers a site that shows live snuff films to it’s private audience. It’s an interesting mix of a variety of morbid tales that are linked. Cradle of Fear doesn’t really drag at it’s longer length but it would have been a little sharper with around 15 minutes removed from it because it does have material that feels more like filler that’s thrown in every once in awhile. Regardless, Cradle of Fear is better than it’s reputation. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the insanity that shows up on the screen, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Unearthed Films! This 1080p (1.66:1) uncensored director’s cut transfer definitely has it’s own style to it. Cradle of Fear embraces it’s trashy and brutal atmosphere, it didn’t have much of a budget but it made to use a good amount of it on it’s violent special fx that steal the show here. It has an English: LPCM 2.0 track on the disc. It has a Heavy Metal style soundtrack courtesy of Cradle of Filth that stands out the most when it comes to the audio department. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the chaos is elevated, and the music has a massive boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the little over 12 minute “Some Making of Cradle of Fear”. It features a nice variety of behind the scenes footage from the independent shoot. It highlights some of the graphic violence from it for this. It has the little over 42 minute “The Special German DVD Making of Thing Something For Cradle of Fear”. It has additional behind the scenes footage in this with some narration. It has a few interviews from the set. Director Alex Chandon is hilarious for this mini documentary that they made for the original German DVD home video release. He goes through the process of making smaller budget features in this. It focuses more on gore and sleaze from it. He worked in the art department so he’s gained all kinds of special fx friends during all of that so he got help from various talented artists for Cradle of Fear. It’s really detailed and well made. It has the almost 12 minute “Important Words” with Alex Chandon. He’s signing autographs and he’s having an unfiltered conversation while hanging out with some people. His crew isn’t shy about saying whatever is on their mind at the moment. It’s a darker comedy segment. It has the almost 10 minute “Behind the Scenes Gallery”. It has a variety of 3 “Trailers” for Cradle of Fear. Disc 2 is dedicated to the Alex Chandon’s Shorts Collection. Most of these are not really that short so it’s awesome to see them all included in this set. It has the little over 7 minute 1988 horror short “Chainsaw Scumf***”. It has the little over 41 minute 1989 horror short “Bad Manor”. It has the little over 36 minute 1991 horror short “Bad Karma”. It has the little over 32 minute 1992 horror short “Drillbit”. It’s narrated by cult director Jim Van Bebber (Deadbeat at Dawn, Kata, Through Eyes of the Dead, and The Manson Family). It has the little over 9 minute 1998 horror short “Night Pastor”. It has the little over 2 minute faux broadcast short “Bullshit News”. It has the little over 4 minute 2005 experimental short “Borderline”. It has the little over 4 minute 1993 horror short “Film Extremes 3 Promo”. It has the 4 “Shorts Behind the Scenes Gallery” that’s a little over 10 minutes I’m total. It has 2 “Shorts Outtakes” that are a little over 16 minutes. It has various “Trailers” for Bad Manor, Bad Karma, Drillbit, Pervirella, and Night Pastor. All of these movies explore different areas mainly in the horror genre. I love Shot On Video Horror and a few of the movies have that vibe to them. The early talent is obvious after experiencing the origins of Alex Chandon. It comes with a slipcover and artwork underneath. It’s a must own for any Alex Chandon or Cradle of Filth fans because it’s loaded with bonus material and lots of his previous work that really hasn’t been available to that many over the years. Unearthed Films once again gives an obscure horror film the royal treatment on home video. This is a limited edition so make sure that you pick up to get this bonus disc before it’s gone forever. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!