Bambi: The Reckoning – Midnight Factory's Horror in 4K

The "Poohniverse" is the mad horror universe born from the public domain of classic children's tales, and Bambi: The Reckoning marks an unexpected step forward. After the very modest Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare, the new chapter abandons the improbable slasher format to embrace pure monster movie. And surprisingly, it works better than imaginable.

While a dysfunctional family tries to get through a Thanksgiving reunion gone awry, a mutant Bambi unleashes a massacre through woods and domestic walls. Dan Allen's film is certainly not refined, but it shows awareness and rhythm. The digital effects, though limited, deliver a monstrous and credible creature, the death scenes – gruesome and creative – elicit more than a knowing smile. Despite human characters that are thinly sketched, Bambi: The Reckoning is the first film in the Poohniverse to be entertaining in its grotesque delirium.

A Long Night of Horrors

As in the past, for this independent production, the technical information is quite scarce regarding the hardware used and the native resolution. Bambi – The Reckoning falls into the category of works with very little attention even in the USA, but thanks to Plaion, Italy even benefits from 4K, complete with Dolby Vision. With superior emphasis on light dynamics and color fidelity, it offers a technically exhilarating spectacle. The dark cinematography and dark, nocturnal transitions "breathe" more, provided you have a native 10-bit screen with infinite black. Image format 2.39:1 (3840 x 2160/23.97p), HEVC encoding on BD-66 dual layer.

This is a work that thrives on sound effects, in the background as well as the foreground, when the mutant creature runs, attacks, tears apart, and devastates. From the slicing of a piece of meat to a decapitation, the sonic entertainment is not lacking. DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for Italian, German, and English. Even if only 16-bit, the Home Theater delivers intensity and aggression with bass, clangs, screams, and effects also from the rear channels.

Succulent extras (on the 2K BD), starting with the film commentary (also on the 4K disc) with director and editor Dan Allen and cinematographer and colorist Vince Knight, where it's easy to be infected by their enthusiasm, discovering the behind-the-scenes of the production.

And more: 4 minutes of deleted scenes; 10 minutes of cast Q&A with some behind-the-scenes footage; 55 minutes of the video podcast "Scare Talk" with interviews with some of the protagonists (Russell Geoffrey Banks, Tom Mulheron, Nicola Wrigh, Adrian Relph); English and Italian trailers (also on the 4K disc). Subtitles everywhere except for the commentary. Steelbook edition which includes the BD-50 2K with supplements, booklet of textual insights curated by Nocturno.