Seance

The special features here are a bit of a mixed bag but will be of particular interest to those who have been following the writing career of Simon Barrett and hope to see more from him as a director. it's no easy thing even for an experienced director to try and produce a full length audio commentary solo and Barrett does a good job of it, going into considerable detail. As is often the case with low budget films, he and his team had to solve more than just the usual number of problems on set, which makes for good stories for the casual viewer and useful insights into the filmmaking process for those who engage with it themselves.

Whereas many audio tracks leave the film's own sound on at a low level so that the dialogue can also come under scrutiny, here that's missing. It's still more curious that this remains the case in the deleted scenes, which one imagines fans might have liked to see as originally intended, but of course it's always possible that no audio was recorded for them. Instead we get more of Barrett, as he explains why he chose to leave them out. The Behind The Scenes featurette brings in other members of the team, with the young cast vocal in their enthusiasm for the project and really positive about the chemistry they found when working together. There's not a lot of insight in this section but it will appeal to fans, and still more so in future if these young stars go on to carve out lasting genre careers.

Do you know what a decapitation pre-viz is? Neither did this critic until watching it. It's a wee gem. Save it until after the film or you will be in stitches at a completely inappropriate moment.