Josh and Renee move into a new house with their children, but before they have time to unpack, strange things start happening. Objects inexplicably move, strange sounds are heard in the nursery… But the real nightmare starts for the parents when their ten-year-old son Dalton falls into a coma. All the efforts of doctors in the hospital to help the boy are in vain.
A few months later, he is returned home, where his mother and a nurse look after the unfortunate child. But the mysterious apparitions in the house continue. The desperate parents are ready to turn to anyone for help, and soon it turns out that Dalton is unconscious and connected to the paranormal world.
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It’s good to know that the Van Wonell team has once again not failed. ‘Astral’ is not only one of the best horror movies of the year, but also one of the most memorable and powerful film projects of recent times. For those who are afraid of going to horror movies, I am sure this movie will bring you to a state of mild fear of something unknowable (for everyone who left the hall said that they were ‘scared’). Those who are not afraid of films of this genre will appreciate this very and very skillfully created horror film, which really has the right to be called as such.
Nearly every phrase here is constructed in such a way as to awaken forgotten childhood fears in the viewer, every creaking door induces you to mentally stop in front of it and never enter the room, here, finally, all the few “boo-effects” (the film is based on nothing at all) are made so gracefully that you subconsciously want more and more. In the end, the interesting plot, the play of great actors and the scenery add to the pluses.
We are glad that the authors did not find it necessary to keep the viewer’s attention only on the monster-ghosts suddenly jumping out from around the corner. Every shadow outside the window or interference in the radio, vaguely reminiscent of someone’s muffled croak, every heavy step somewhere in the attic here make you crouch in your chair and bite your nails to the blood. The music also does its job, it is interesting that it is very traditional for this kind of pictures, and this, oddly enough, produces the right effect.
Some episodes vaguely resembling “The Paranormal Phenomenon” are particularly memorable, and it comes to the ridiculous – you only have to watch ‘Astral’ to understand what really happened to the characters in Oren Peli’s film. Could it really be true?
Only, unlike in ‘The Paranormal Phenomenon’ Van doesn’t use the formula ‘the less we see the source of danger the more we fear it’ – ghosts and the aforesaid demon appear here often, but scare even more than if we didn’t see them – the final scenes with the father of the family are wonderful in this sense, and, from the point of view of the plot the film surprises you towards the end. Of course, it doesn’t end easily either.
The end result is a great movie to watch and revisit repeatedly for all fans of the genre, and not only. A quality, spectacular and very atmospheric horror film that can really scare you, after watching it you will probably think a hundred times before going into a dark room, much less turn on the lights there.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (57.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: FLAC 7.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English, Italian.
