{jatabs type="content" position="top" height="auto" skipAnim="true" mouseType="click" animType="animFade"}
[tab title="Movie Review"]
This Italian-Spanish co-production is a shoddy-looking horror film. Know that first. Panic, also known as Bakterion) is also quite interesting in its own way, weaving a tale about scientists who create something they cannot even hope to control through failed bacteria experiments, as it has more ambition than most films released today have. In a low budget flick like this, that simple fact carries a lot of weight.
Panic, is not a great B-movie, but it deserves to be seen and remembered which is why this Blu-ray release from Code Red is so damn interesting. A mushy-faced scientist turns deadly killer. Who cares if it is trying to pass itself off as British? The setting and the dubbed accents might be misleading; the terror inside is not.
Because, as the film suggests, this contagion-like frenzy MIGHT HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED! Director Tonino Ricci (Night of the Sharks, Encounters in the Deep) might not be out in the sea for this tale, but he does have fun with his audience even if he’s nothing more than a straight-laced hired hand here.
The movie – much like the first kill – rips you from the driver’s seat through the window with its bluntness. It might lose direction and gusto from time to time, but it continues to offer a nice stab at the whole INFECTED genre of horror as a killer scientists, blitzed by a nasty virus, drags his victims by their ankles before devouring them.
That’s how powerful a grip it has. Panic has every right to continue to be in circulation, especially for avid David Warbeck (City of the Living Dead) and Janet Agren (The Beyond) fans.
And it begins with a fast-moving POV shot that is effective in getting audiences thrust right into the action. Even if we don’t know what’s going on, there’s a connective thread that pays off when all the parts start moving. This is a quick and sloppy festival of funhouse grime and thrills. For example, in the first five minutes of the movie, we have sex in a car and violence on the streets; we also get infected rats hoping all over each other before busting loose in a laboratory and contaminating people.
And then they get really big. Well, one does and once is also the only time you will see it.
Much of Panic, about a covert germ-warfare project gone ass up thanks to an infected scientist who stumbles around a tiny English town, is set to eerily dramatic music that seems to be hearkening back to Bernard Herrmann’s score for Psycho. The movie itself works largely in part because it too gives us nods to classic horror titles, even if it cannot ever hope to live up to those film.
Panic ambles about in its own B-movie way and makes minimalistic movie magic where it can. The make-up effects are poor and the acting is a bit bonkers, too. The film, for some, won’t work due to all its inadequacies but, when you consider the suspense in some of the kills and some deft lighting effects.
Panic is now available on Blu-ray thanks to Code Red's 2016 new HD master with color corrections throughout.
[/tab]
[tab title="Blu-ray Details"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Code Red
Available on Blu-ray - December 1, 2020
Screen Formats: 1.66:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single-disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
An English village turns into a hunting ground when an unholy bacterial experiment gone horribly wrong turns a local scientist into a deformed, rampaging nightmare! With the population being picked off one by one, it’s up to an intrepid police detective (David Warbeck, The Last Hunter, The Beyond, Tiger Joe) and a sexy scientist (Janet Agren, The Gates of Hell, Hands of Steel, Eaten Alive) to put a stop to this bloodthirsty madness before the government steps in and wipes out the entire town! Missing in action for decades since its reign as a popular ‘80s video rental, this slimy slice of Italian horror is now remastered in HD for the very first time!
Video:
Newly remastered in HD! Code Red’s HD transfer of Panic is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with heavy color corrections made throughout the new HD master. While colors don’t exactly pop, the subtleties in the black levels are palpable. Shadows run deep and remain engaging. Skin tones are fair and some of the blood effects – looking like a mixture of corn syrup and red paint – remain gooey and textured. Browns and blues carry more weight in this release. Overall, it is a very nice presentation of a film that feels all sorts of new as a small town goes on full alert.
Audio:
There is a crisp DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 audio track that provides both a dubbed and Italian dialogue track.
Supplements:
Commentary:
- Still none
Special Features:
The extensive color corrections on the new (as of 2016) HD Master should be reason enough to purchase this one.
Blu-ray Rating:
| Movie |  |
|
| Video |  |
|
| Audio | |
|
| Extras |  |
|
|
Overall Blu-ray Experience
|
||
[/tab]
[tab title="Film Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 90 mins
Director: Tonino Ricci
Writer: Víctor Andrés Catena
Cast: David Warbeck, Janet Agren, Roberto Ricci
Genre: Horror | Sci-fi
Tagline: PRAY it doesn't happen HERE.
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor: Cinema Shares International Distribution
Official Site:
Release Date: December 7, 1982
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 1, 2020.
Synopsis: An English village turns into a hunting ground when an unholy bacterial experiment gone horribly wrong turns a local scientist into a deformed, rampaging nightmare! With the population being picked off one by one, it's up to an intrepid police detective (David Warbeck, The Last Hunter, The Beyond, Tiger Joe) and a sexy scientist (Janet Agren, The Gates of Hell, Hands of Steel, Eaten Alive) to put a stop to this bloodthirsty madness before the government steps in and wipes out the entire town! Missing in action for decades since its reign as a popular '80s video rental, now watch this slimy slice of Italian horror on Blu-ray.
[/tab]
[tab title="Art"]
[/tab]
{/jatabs}
