A Group of College kids go to an abandoned haunted Catholic school and their only hope is Adrienne Barbeau in The Convent. New to 4K UHD from Synapse Films!
The Film
Everything about The Convent is a win for director Mike Mendez. Coming off Killers a not entirely successful but visually astute film, The Convent puts everything together in a fun stylish package with a truly great and game Adrienne Barbeau.
Yes, the narrative is something we’ve seen time and time again. A group of college kids go to a haunted building (this one being an abandoned Convent, hence the title), and things go horribly wrong like clockwork. Though the script, written by co-star Chanton Anderson, is filled with quirk and of-the-era bits of humor that make the lead into the third-act horror extravaganza entertaining, a little bit goofy, and charming. When the film does go hard the film elevates itself to a truly delightfully deranged piece of horror action mania.
One wishes that Barbeau who’s character is the center of the narrative plays a bigger part earlier in the film. Barbeau’s Christine is a Hail Mary (pun intended if you’ve seen the film) for the younger characters. As soon as Barbeau comes on screen the film has a sense of urgency that’s lacking in the first half. The film becomes what you want it to become a kick-ass piece of horror cinema with a bit of wit.
Part of the fun of the film is when it does go hard it goes hard but in an unexpected way. The wonderful neon-soaked gore that Mendez and Co. decide to use instead of the normal gore, is a brilliant and unexpected choice. The result is a hallucinogenic visually stunning bravado finale that is sure to entertain and enthrall horror fans that have not seen the film before. Mendez’s strength is his visual style and understanding of what makes a movie look like a movie – something many filmmakers in the indie realm have zero understanding of.
The Convent is a backloaded horror film that many horror fans will delight in the visually brilliant finale.
The Transfer
The 4K remaster of the uncut version supervised and approved by director, Mike Mendez. Mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is a beautiful representation of the film and its 35mm origins. There is nary a scratch or defect through the run time. Like Killers, they’ve smartly kept the grain structure intact and reasonably healthy. The result is one of the best-looking 4K UHD of 2024.
The Extras
They include the following;
Cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director Mike Mendez
“Lords of Hell” audio commentary featuring Saul and Dickie-Boy
Location Featurette
Behind the Scenes Featurette
Original Electronic Press Kit
Deleted scene
Gore outtakes
Still gallery
Promotional trailers
The first commentary track is a Cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director Mike Mendez. The track begins with introductions of actor Megan Perry, actor Liam Sullvian, composer Jospeh Bishara befor diving into the track. Some of the details include the production schedule for the film; the time it took and the troubles that came up during the opening sequence; the dog that stars in the film – and how much work he’s gotten; the true story that the film was based in part – a convent performing an abortion; a larger discussion of the various locations they used during the production – including how they solved some issues, also the fact they used the same studio and sets that Leprechaun in the Hood used as well; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film and anecdotes from the production; and much more. Mendez and company provide a lively commentary with a few nuggets from the making of the film but like many a group tracks feels more like one long conversation rather than a discussion of production, the film, and technical details. Note: this was recorded for the initial DVD release so there is some language that you will find inappropriate, with good reason, that was acceptable at the time.
The second commentary track is labelled the “Lords of Hell” audio commentary featuring Saul and Dickie-Boy who were cast in the film. This track has to be listened to be believed. I’m not 100% it isn’t a satirical commentary track. I will not deluge any information about what they discuss during the track allowing the viewer to discover the track for themselves.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (8:33) – this vintage behind the scenes making-of featurette has a lot of great b-roll footage but is very of the era that it was made (e.g., early 2000s). Featuring interviews with Mendez, writer/co-producer/co-star Chanton Anderson, actor Megan Perry, Liam Sullvian, Oakley Stevenson, and more.
Location Featurette (14:33) – Mike Mendez hosts this all-new Video tour of both The Convent and Killers film locations, many of which were very personal to Mendez. Mendez goes into detail on how they used each of the locations in various parts of the Valley and Los Angeles.
Deleted scene (0:31) – a single deleted scene that occurs at the diner, which was cut for obvious reasons once you see it.
Gore outtakes (5:54) – various moments of additional gore that was pulled from an AVID edit and various gore tests or FX composites. The footage is great for anyone that loves to see the various bits of gore and on-set effects being done because much of it is the actual full takes including after they’ve cut the from the scene. This does have chapter stops and allows you to navigate the various clips/snippets for convenience.
Still gallery (6:26) – the gallery of 77 different production stills, behind the scenes photos and poster / home video art which play automatically while the score by composer Joseph Bishara plays.
Original Electronic Press Kit (11:33) – this is a true blue EPK that features the following for its package; a trailer; soundbite interviews with Producer Ryan Carroll, writer/co-producer/co-star Chanton Anderson, director Mike Mendez. The EPK during the soundbite interviews do feature quite a bit of b-roll footage from the production.
Promotional Trailer #1 (1:44)
Promotional Trailer #2 (1:45)
The Final Thought
The Convent delivers early 2000s horror entertainment. Synapse has delivered an equally great 4K UHD set with special features. Recommended!!
A Group of College kids go to an abandoned haunted Catholic school and their only hope is Adrienne Barbeau in The Convent. New to 4K UHD from Synapse Films!
The Film
Everything about The Convent is a win for director Mike Mendez. Coming off Killers a not entirely successful but visually astute film, The Convent puts everything together in a fun stylish package with a truly great and game Adrienne Barbeau.
Yes, the narrative is something we’ve seen time and time again. A group of college kids go to a haunted building (this one being an abandoned Convent, hence the title), and things go horribly wrong like clockwork. Though the script, written by co-star Chanton Anderson, is filled with quirk and of-the-era bits of humor that make the lead into the third-act horror extravaganza entertaining, a little bit goofy, and charming. When the film does go hard the film elevates itself to a truly delightfully deranged piece of horror action mania.
One wishes that Barbeau who’s character is the center of the narrative plays a bigger part earlier in the film. Barbeau’s Christine is a Hail Mary (pun intended if you’ve seen the film) for the younger characters. As soon as Barbeau comes on screen the film has a sense of urgency that’s lacking in the first half. The film becomes what you want it to become a kick-ass piece of horror cinema with a bit of wit.
Part of the fun of the film is when it does go hard it goes hard but in an unexpected way. The wonderful neon-soaked gore that Mendez and Co. decide to use instead of the normal gore, is a brilliant and unexpected choice. The result is a hallucinogenic visually stunning bravado finale that is sure to entertain and enthrall horror fans that have not seen the film before. Mendez’s strength is his visual style and understanding of what makes a movie look like a movie – something many filmmakers in the indie realm have zero understanding of.
The Convent is a backloaded horror film that many horror fans will delight in the visually brilliant finale.
The Transfer
The 4K remaster of the uncut version supervised and approved by director, Mike Mendez. Mastered in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is a beautiful representation of the film and its 35mm origins. There is nary a scratch or defect through the run time. Like Killers, they’ve smartly kept the grain structure intact and reasonably healthy. The result is one of the best-looking 4K UHD of 2024.
The Extras
They include the following;
The first commentary track is a Cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director Mike Mendez. The track begins with introductions of actor Megan Perry, actor Liam Sullvian, composer Jospeh Bishara befor diving into the track. Some of the details include the production schedule for the film; the time it took and the troubles that came up during the opening sequence; the dog that stars in the film – and how much work he’s gotten; the true story that the film was based in part – a convent performing an abortion; a larger discussion of the various locations they used during the production – including how they solved some issues, also the fact they used the same studio and sets that Leprechaun in the Hood used as well; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film and anecdotes from the production; and much more. Mendez and company provide a lively commentary with a few nuggets from the making of the film but like many a group tracks feels more like one long conversation rather than a discussion of production, the film, and technical details. Note: this was recorded for the initial DVD release so there is some language that you will find inappropriate, with good reason, that was acceptable at the time.
The second commentary track is labelled the “Lords of Hell” audio commentary featuring Saul and Dickie-Boy who were cast in the film. This track has to be listened to be believed. I’m not 100% it isn’t a satirical commentary track. I will not deluge any information about what they discuss during the track allowing the viewer to discover the track for themselves.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (8:33) – this vintage behind the scenes making-of featurette has a lot of great b-roll footage but is very of the era that it was made (e.g., early 2000s). Featuring interviews with Mendez, writer/co-producer/co-star Chanton Anderson, actor Megan Perry, Liam Sullvian, Oakley Stevenson, and more.
Location Featurette (14:33) – Mike Mendez hosts this all-new Video tour of both The Convent and Killers film locations, many of which were very personal to Mendez. Mendez goes into detail on how they used each of the locations in various parts of the Valley and Los Angeles.
Deleted scene (0:31) – a single deleted scene that occurs at the diner, which was cut for obvious reasons once you see it.
Gore outtakes (5:54) – various moments of additional gore that was pulled from an AVID edit and various gore tests or FX composites. The footage is great for anyone that loves to see the various bits of gore and on-set effects being done because much of it is the actual full takes including after they’ve cut the from the scene. This does have chapter stops and allows you to navigate the various clips/snippets for convenience.
Still gallery (6:26) – the gallery of 77 different production stills, behind the scenes photos and poster / home video art which play automatically while the score by composer Joseph Bishara plays.
Original Electronic Press Kit (11:33) – this is a true blue EPK that features the following for its package; a trailer; soundbite interviews with Producer Ryan Carroll, writer/co-producer/co-star Chanton Anderson, director Mike Mendez. The EPK during the soundbite interviews do feature quite a bit of b-roll footage from the production.
Promotional Trailer #1 (1:44)
Promotional Trailer #2 (1:45)
The Final Thought
The Convent delivers early 2000s horror entertainment. Synapse has delivered an equally great 4K UHD set with special features. Recommended!!
Synapse Films’ 4K UHD Edition of The Convent is out now
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