Séance appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a generally positive presentation but not a great one.
Sharpness became the weakest factor. While the image usually looked concise, a few perplexing instances of softness materialized, and those caused distractions.
No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent.
Colors went primarily with an amber/orange feel, though we got some teal-influenced blues as well. These didn’t shine but they seemed more than adequate.
Blacks were deep and dense, while shadows offered reasonable clarity. Outside of the sporadic softness, this became a good image.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it seemed fine as well. Speech usually appeared fairly natural, and they lacked edginess or issues with intelligibility.
Music felt bright and lively, while effects came across as accurate. The mix came with mostly good range and depth.
The soundscape opened up matters in a moderate manner, but it didn’t really impress. The five channels broadened the material in a fairly engaging manner, though not one that appeared especially active.
Still, the track used the speakers in a mostly positive way, as it accentuated the movie’s scares and creepy notes. Overall, this was a satisfactory mix.
The disc comes with some extras, and we start with an audio commentary from writer/director Simon Barrett. He provides a running, screen-specific look at the project’s roots and development, story/characters, cast and performances, influences, sets and locations, music, effects, and related topics.
Barrett claims he got bad reviews for an earlier commentary, but if so, he didn’t hear complaints from me. I wrote up the Blu-ray for 2017’s The Guest and I thought he and director Adam Wingard offered a solid chat.
I feel the same about Barrett’s solo track for Séance, as he creates a lively, engaging look at the film. Barrett proves informative, self-effacing and entertaining as he gives us a pretty terrific overview of his film.
Behind the Scenes of Séance runs 18 minutes, eight seconds and boasts notes from actors Innana Sarkis, Ella-Rae Smith, and Madisen Beaty.
As implied by that roster of participants, “Scenes” concentrates on characters, cast and performances, though it also discusses Barrett’s work as director and thoughts about the shoot. Some decent notes emerge but the reel feels fairly fluffy much of the time.
A collection of Outtakes spans one minute, 52 seconds and shows a pretty standard blooper reel. Do with that what you will.
Six Deleted Scenes occupy a total of four minutes, 53 seconds. These offer a little more gore and a bit of additional exposition. None add anything memorable or important.
We can watch the deleted scenes with or without commentary from Barrett, as he provides details about the shots and why he cut them. Barrett already tells us some of this in the main commentary, but he still adds useful notes here.
A Decapitation Previz goes for 20 seconds and displays an extremely crude rendering – with action figures! – of how one gory scene would play. It’s silly but fun.
Finally, we get a Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery. It offers 20 shots from the set and becomes a decent collection.
The disc opens with ads for The Owners, The Dark and the Wicked, and Trick. No trailer for Séance appears here.
As a mix of ghost and slasher movies, Séance comes with the potential to create an intriguing mix of genres. Unfortunately, it moves slowly and never turns into anything especially creative. The Blu-ray comes with generally good picture and audio as well as a few bonus features headlined by a great commentary. Séance doesn’t bomb but it also can’t find a groove.
