MovieFreak.com - Wes Craven Presents They DVD Review

A psychology student (Laura Regan, Unbreakable) who experienced "night terrors" as a child realizes that her nightmares were not all in her head! And when she finds others (Ethan Embry, Dagmara Dominczyk and Jon Abrahams) who also shared similar experiences, they together discover the most frightening truth of all: the monsters in their closets marked them as children and are returning to collect them.

After watching this film, it’s becomes increasingly hard to trust Wes Craven. First of all, his name doesn’t appear anywhere in the credits, except for the obligatory "a Wes Craven presentation" during the end credits. The question is why is he selling his name to films like They and other weak horror films (Dracula 2000, Wishmaster sequels)?

I guess it doesn’t really matter at the end of the discussion, since I’m here to talk about director Robert Harmon’s film. Harmon makes a decent impression on the creative side, but that’s really all it appears to be, because They is a bad film. However, it’s not necessarily all his fault. Brendan William Hood’s script is well researched in terms of the psychology subplot, fine, that’s the good part, but as for the rest of it, things just fall apart too easily and quickly.

They is really more suitable as a B-horror movie. Considering the talent of its actors, the scope of the story, the special effects, dialogue, and the story itself, They is a lost cause for the horror genre. For one, it’s not scary. Its lack of jumps or twists is reason alone to cause the film to fall apart. Two, nothing about the story or characters is in the least big captivating. There needs to be something about the characters that is convincing, other than the fact that Julia is studying to be a psychologist or that her boyfriend Paul (Mark Blucas) is a paramedic (who can prepare a glass of water with sleeping pills as well).

Three, the acting is less than pathetic. Laura Regan is unconvincing most of the time and lacks the intensity the role requires. Ethan Embry plays one of the marked-for-death characters and his talents are completely wasted. Dagmara Dominczyk plays Embry’s roommate, but she can’t do much with her material. The same goes for Jon Abrahams, who at least gets to exit the film before it turns into a waste of time. I guess the only good thing to say is that these actors seem promising, except for Embry who is more established, but didn’t come through in this film at all.

The production value is probably one of the more rewarding things about this film. What I mean is, the attacks on our kids are well executed and some of the sets look more than its budget allowed. The film’s visual presentation is nice, but too bad the intellectual side of it is not. The dialogue is too generic and weak, even if Julia’s psychological explanations sound educational. I guess the only thing left to say is, They is better left alone.

Buena Vista presents They in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer looks rather decent. I noticed spots of grain and some scratch marks. The color palette is dark and subdued, not at all distinctive. Color detail is minimal, but shadow detail looks good. Dark tones and black level have a lot to work with since most of the film takes place in the dark, however, they’re not always consistent. Overall, it’s a decent presentation for a film that’s photographed rather nicely.

Buena Vista makes They available in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Elia Cmiral’s score is in and out of the film, but doesn’t make much of an impact, not to mention it sounds more like recycled. Sound effects are plenty here, such as the gurgling and squishing sounds of the mysterious creatures haunting our kids. They features a neat sound design overall, however, most of those sounds come from the front. It would make sense for the rear speakers to pick up on the sound effects, but I guess it doesn’t. Dialog scenes are clear when the characters speak in a normal voice, but then again, a large portion of the film’s dialogue is generic and weak anyway. Overall, They sounds alright and provides a decent presentation at best.

Alternate Ending – This is the only extra feature on this disc, but it’s nice to have. The original ending is a lot darker, not to mention weird. Nonetheless, this alternate ending is not that bad, but it’s obvious why it’s not in the film. More or less, it’s somewhat similar to the twist ending of The Sixth Sense where we find out everything we’ve seen before isn’t true.

There is no trailer for this film, but you will find a few sneak peeks when you pop the disc in your DVD player. You can select to view the film with optional English subtitles. The DVD’s menus are not animated. The 90-minute feature is organized into eighteen chapters.

If you’re looking for a horror film, look elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for an OK B-horror film, you might want to consider checking this one out. On second thought, don’t. They lacks two of the most important parts of a horror film, the scares and the horror. They is probably not worth your money, especially because of the high list price at. View at your own risk.

THE MOVIE	3
THE VIDEO	7
THE AUDIO	7
THE EXTRAS	2
OVERALL (not an average)	3