'Green Room' Blu-ray review

Green Room, the critical darling starring Patrick Stewart as a neo-Nazi that was released back in April, arrives on Blu-ray in a fan-pleasing package.

In the movie, a member of a thrash metal band (played by the late Anton Yelchin) walks through a forgot-to-be-locked door at the skinhead-filled gig he was playing at. One thing leads to another and the band is now trapped inside the gig's green room by a gaggle of neo-Nazis under the order of the venue's calm and professional owner (Patrick Stewart).

Writer and director Jeremy Saulnier brings the horrors of his last thriller, 2013's Blue Ruin, in full force to Green Room. The film sucks you in with its frightening premise and hits you at every corner. In Green Room, the worst things that can happen are probably going to happen and there's enough raw R-rated violence to show for it.

Saulnier keeps the blood pumping by revealing very little to the audience in the beginning of the film to then slowly drip information onto them amid the chaos. The plot never becomes overwhelming as Saulnier balances the madness to create a heart-thumping thriller.

The film's only major downside are the uncharacteristic characters. None of the band members or even Patrick Stewart's villain make an impact on the audience at a personal level. They're not unlikable and the performances are fine, but the characters are just plain. The plot carries the movie here and that doesn't bode well for repeated viewings.

Upon viewing the movie twice, Green Room does take a noticeable step down the second time. The movie's worth watching twice to make sense of the bits of plot revealed in the beginning that don't make sense until the end, but I can't attach myself to the characters and the "surprise" factor of the film's first viewing is gone. There's not much to continue to go back for in a movie where plot and surprise is everything.

On Blu-ray, the picture quality is standard but perfectly suitable. The picture is very soft thanks to the yellow color scheme, dimly lit interiors, drab and dreary exteriors and the digital cinematography (recording on film might've bode more well or at least add a little sharpness to the backgrounds). Since the film was intended to be pretty nasty, the picture lacking in a lot of pop is more of a good thing here. For what there is to work with, it's a completely fine picture for the film.

The bonus content includes an honest and insightful commentary by Saulnier as well as "Into the Pit: Making Green Room," a 10-minute behind-the-scenes feature that has its moments outside the standard EPK stuff.

Fans of Green Room have a solid product on their hands, but anybody else interested will find a rental more suitable. Regardless of how the Blu-ray is obtained, there's a fun thriller here to check out.

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