Of all the movie genres, horror seems most able to produce profitable low-budget efforts. For a recent example, we go to Talk to Me, a 2022 Australian flick that did decent business in the US when released there in summer 2023.

Estranged from her father Max (Marcus Johnson), 17-year-old Mia (Sophie Wilde) continues to mourn the death of her mother Rhea (Alexandria Steffensen) two years ago. She now lives with her pal Jade (Alexandra Jensen), Jade’s younger teen brother Riley (Joe Bird) and their mom Sue (Miranda Otto).

At a party, the teens play a game that involves the disembodied hand of a psychic that appears to allow those who touch it to communicate with the dead. When this seems to grant Mia the ability to contact her mother, she becomes obsessed, with negative ramifications.

Sometimes I think movie critics overrate films simply because those flicks offer something somewhat different. Given how many formulaic offerings hit theaters, I get the tendency to overpraise work that simply deviates from the norm.

I feel this became the case with Talk. It got uniformly strong reviews, and I don’t believe it lives up to that level of quality.

This doesn’t mean I think Talk flops, however – or even just seems meh. I do feel this becomes a better than average 21st century horror tale.

Admittedly, some of that comes from my low expectations for modern horror. The majority of these genre flicks rely on cheap, clumsy “scares” and little else.

This leaves me open for horror that does something a bit different, and that becomes the case with Talk. Despite some flaws, the movie does more right than wrong.

My biggest complaint relates to the movie’s overdone “message”. Talk turns the use of the paranormal hand into an obvious metaphor for substance abuse, and this seems too clumsy.

In addition, like many horror films, Talk fares best in its first half. As the movie goes, it tends to ramble a bit, so it loses some effectiveness along the way.

Nonetheless, the creative spark behind Talk helps keep us with it. Even as matters sputter somewhat in the last act, the general plot and various character elements ensure the movie doesn’t lose us.

Talk also manages to terror scares without a slew of the usual cheap jump scares. Sure, some of those appear, but the film’s dark mood and invasive presence do most of the work.

Again, Talk never turns into a classic. Nonetheless, even with some flaws, it manages to create a creepy and impactful horror tale.

Talk to Me appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a positive presentation.

Sharpness looked solid. A few shots were slightly soft, but not to a substantial degree, so most of the movie seemed accurate and concise.

No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws were a non-factor, as the movie stayed clean.

Like most modern horror, Talk favored a mix of teal and amber. Within their parameters, the colors appeared solid.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows were smooth and well-delineated. In the end, the transfer proved to be appealing.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I also felt positive about the pretty good Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Talk. Given the nature of the story, moody environmental information dominated the mix.

These elements filled out the speakers in a fairly involving manner. The movie didn’t become a constant whiz-bang soundfield, but it created a decent sense of place.

The more active “scare moments” used the spectrum in the most dynamic manner, but they failed to appear on a frequent basis. Instead, music and moody ambience became the most prominent components.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise. Effects depicted the elements with acceptable accuracy and boasted pleasing low-end when necessary.

Music showed positive clarity and range, and they also packed solid bass response at times. This was a perfectly positive mix for the material.

When we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director/writer Danny Philippou and director Michael Philippou. The twin brothers sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets, locations and production design, music and audio, effects, props and makeup, stunts, and other production domains.

Don't expect a lot about story and characters. At the start, the brothers state that they want to avoid thematic areas so the movie remains up for viewer interpretation, and this means we don't find much in that vein.

We do encounter one of the more enthusiastic commentaries I've heard in a while, as the brothers speak a mile a minute and seem very excited to talk about their experiences. Miraculously, this remains more charming than annoying, and we get a good look at the movie's creation.

Six Deleted Scenes span a total of six minutes, 54 seconds. These offer some extra character information and some exposition, especially related to Mia’s mom. I don’t think the movie needed these sequences, but they add some good information.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we finish with a featurette called In the Grip of Terror. It runs 13 minutes, 28 seconds and involves Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, producer Samantha Jennings, and actors Otis Dhanji, Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, Chris Alosio, Joe Bird, Zoe Terakes, and Alexandra Jensen.

“Grip” looks at the movie’s inspirations and development, story/characters, cast and performances, and a possible sequel. This program mixes decent insights and fluff.

A second disc includes a DVD copy of Talk. It provides the same extras as the Blu-ray.

A creative horror tale, Talk to Me hits much of the time. It does sputter as it goes and can feel heavy-handed, but it nonetheless brings a reasonably fresh genre effort. The Blu-ray comes with good picture and audio as well as a smattering of bonus materials. Though not a classic, Talk becomes mostly intriguing.