Written by: Michael Den Boer on April 11th, 2011
Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2007
Director: David Buchert
Writer: David Meier Smith
Cast: Jamie Alford, J. Thomas Bailey, Sarah Bloodworth, Enrique Camacho, Jessica Cardinale, Natalie Hart, Patrick Holt, Roger Horn, Alex Kendall, Tina Krause, Jamie Reynolds, Angela Schmidt, Tiffany Shepis, Katie Vaughan, Stephanie Vickers
DVD Released: May 10th, 2011
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Letterboxed Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Troma Team Video
Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Retail Price: $14.95
Synopsis: Four friends on a camping trip encounter a deformed woman that stalks and kills anyone who crosses her path.
Horror films by nature are formulaic. And trying to shock the core audience for these type of films has become increasingly difficult over the years. Has the core audience for these type of films become too jaded? Or does the fault lay more in the hands of those creating this latest breed of horror. Sure one of the more common crutches that befalls the majority of horror films that are being made for today’s audience is their lack of resources.
Besides the shortcomings of the plot. Another area in which this film often comes up short are the performances from its entire cast. For most of them this is their one and only screen credit to date. The only performance of note is Tiffany Shepis (Home Sick, Good Boy).
The horror genre is a genre that relies heavily on the element of surprise. And yet this film far too often feels content retreading familiar ground, instead of going for the jugular.
The DVD:
Troma presents Blood Oath in a letterboxed widescreen that retains the film’s original aspect ratio. For a film that the bulk of the screen time takes place at night. The black levels are average at best and some of these darker moments tend to lack the crispness that is present during daytime sequences. Colors and flesh tones look accurate. It should be noted that there are some mild issues with combing.
This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. There are no major issues with distortion or background noise. And even though the audio is limited range wise, at least dialog comes through clearly enough to follow.
Extras for this release include a intro before the film with Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rochon, a trailer for the film, a storyboard slideshow, six minutes of outtakes, a six minute special effects segment, a thirty eight minute ‘Making of’ featurette and a audio commentary with director David Buchert. Also included with this release are trailers for other titles also available from Troma and wide assortment of other Tromatic extras. Overall Blood Oath gets a well rounded DVD release Troma that is highlighted by a informative audio commentary track with the film’s director David Buchert.