The Vault Blu Ray Review (FilmRise)
The Vault is a 2017 horror film co-written & directed by Dan Bush (The Signal, FightFuckPray, The Reconstruction of William Zero, & The Dark Red). After starting a fire in a nearby warehouse as a diversion, five robbers Leah (played by: Francesca Eastwood from Heroes Reborn, True Crime, M.F.A., & Final Girl), her sister Vee (played by: Taryn Manning from Hustle & Flow, 8 Mile, Sons of Anarchy, & Orange Is the New Black), their brother, Michael (played by: Scott Haze from Venom, Thank You for Your Service, Future World, & Only the Brave), the safe cracker Kramer (played by: Michael Milford), & the muscle Cyrus (played by: Keith Loneker) initiate a bank robbery. Detective Iger (played by: Clifton Collins Jr. from Westworld, The Mule, Crank: High Voltage, & The Boondock Saints II) just left the bank earlier & returns to the scene of the crime.
The robbers find only $70,000 in the vault. The assistant manager Ed Maas (played by: James Franco from Spider-Man trilogy, The Disaster Artist, Pineapple Express, & 127 Hours) says he will tell them where $6 million is stored as long as they do not hurt anyone. The police surrounds the building. He tells them the money is in the basement vault which is a part of the old bank & hands them the key to the access door. Weird things start happening when they go to the basement & open the vault looking for more money. Bank employee Susan (played by: Q’orianka Kilcher from The Alienist, Hostiles, Sons of Anarchy, & The New World) tells the robbers about the story of the 1982 robbery that turned into a massacre. Vee finds a bag of money but all the bills are from 1982 inside. People start going missing & weird claims are being made. Can these criminals survive both the police & the supernatural at the same time????
The Vault delivers two different films for the price of one! It starts out being a gritty crime & heist flick but later on it gets really dark. It becomes a supernatural & horror feature towards the middle. Personally, I love when productions pull this off especially when the do it right. It had a great balance of action & gore plus it was well written. It’s one of those films that you really need to pay attention to because it has a few twists that hit you for the finale. I would like to see more independent films be like this. It had a excellent variety of quality when it comes to several different aspects of the production.
The best thing about The Vault was the casting, the performances here elevated everything. Since it was based in a single location for the most part that was very important. Francesca Eastwood & Taryn Manning were at their highest level with The Vault. It’s the best work that I’ve seen from both of them. Scott Haze & Clifton Collins Jr. amped it up with their supporting turns, for a small set up they were smart about picking the right actors for these roles. James Franco is a movie star but he still manages to do whatever he wants when it comes to movies which is rare for someone of his status in the industry. He always keeps busy & he does as much independent work as mainstream material. He was great in this & he helped the transition from crime to horror with his character. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special feature from FilmRise! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks great on blu ray! This is one of those single location type of the productions for the most part so it goes into great detail for the bank & underground vault setting. The cinematography captures the scenery, it has a nice change when the film gets darker. It has two different audio options which includes English: Dolby Digital 5.1 & English: Dolby Digital 2.0 on the release. The feature has lots of dialogue & it’s crystal clear on the tracks. All the action & thrills are boosted also. It has English SDH & Dutch subtitles. Both picture & sound are very impressive on this. The only extra on the disc is the “Trailer”. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
