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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: May 9th, 2023.
Director: Jon Wright
Cast: Hannah John-Kamen, Douglas Booth, Colm Meaney, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, Kristian Nairn
Year: 2022
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Unwelcome – Movie Review:
Director Jon Wright’s 2022 film, Unwelcome, opens in London with a scene where a young couple, Maya (Hannah John-Kamen) and Jamie (Douglas Booth), learn that they’re going to be parents. Jamie heads outside their apartment to get a bottle of champagne to celebrate and is harassed by some punks as he goes in and out of the store. A few minutes later, those same punks break into their place and beat the snot out of Jamie. Maya fends them off with a knife.
Understandably quite rattled by this, they decide to move to the middle of nowhere in Ireland where Jamie’s recently deceased aunt has left her ancient castle home uninhabited. It isn’t long after their arrival that they learn just how oddly superstitious Jamie’s aunt was before she passed – going so far as to commit blood sacrifices on a regular basis, in hopes that it would keep creatures called ‘redcaps’ at bay. Since the castle is a bit run down, they hire a local man named Whelan (Colm Meaney) and his crew to help fix it up, only to learn that some of the locals, Whelan being a prime example, aren’t so happy to have an Englishman like Jamie in their small town.
As the story progresses, it turns out that maybe Jamie’s aunt wasn’t as crazy as some people thought, as there really are some weird, goblin-like creatures running about in the woods nearby – and while they can be helpful in times of need, they also seem to really like babies.
Unwelcome is uneven but interesting enough to make it worth a watch. Hannah John-Kamen and Douglas Booth are both very good in their lead roles, with each one bringing some believable humanity to their respective character as they struggle to come to terms with what they went through with the home invasion scene. Understandably, they’re both pretty scarred from this and they have very different ways of trying to come to terms with this, which makes for some decent character development. It’s a shame that we didn’t get more of it, as in many ways it is the most interesting aspect of the story overall. Colm Meaney’s supporting work is also quite good, he plays a surly Irishman just as well as you’d expect him to.
The story with the redcaps builds slowly at first but once we get to the second half of the movie and it becomes more prominent, it pays off rather well. There’s some nice effects work on display in the movie and Wright does a nice job of executing some unique and quirky ideas. The location shooting adds some nice visual flair to the movie, the scenery is frequently very pretty to look at, and both the cinematography and the score are quite good.
Unwelcome – Blu-ray Review:
Unwelcome arrives on Blu-ray from Well Go USA on a 25GB region free disc with the feature taking up 20GBs of space on the disc and framed at 2.35.1 widescreen. As this was shot in high definition on digital camera, the AVC encoded 1080p high definition picture doesn’t show any dirt, damage or grain. Colors are reproduced nicely and accurately and we get good black levels. Detail is generally strong here, though some scenes with fog look softer, obviously. Some mild compression artifacts can be spotted here and there but there aren’t any serious issues in that regard and all in all, this looks quite good.
Audio for the feature is handled by an English language 16-bit DTS-HD 5.1 track, with optional subtitles offered in English only. Audio quality is strong, with solid bass response and good directional activity noticeable throughout the film. The rear channels are used nicely to build some appreciable atmosphere, while the score sounds really good. No problems with any hiss or distortion to note and the levels remain properly balanced throughout the film.
The main extra on the disc is a thirteen minute behind the scenes featurette made up of interviews with the writer and director as well as some behind the scenes footage and separate interviews with the main cast members. It's a moderately interesting look at what went into making the movie even if it feels like more of an EPK than anything else.
The disc also has a five minute piece called Making The Redcaps that goes over the creature effects and what went into designing the different makeup appliances that are used in the movie.
Rounding things out are a trailer for the feature as well as trailers for Project Wolf Hunting, The Loneliest Boy In The World, Death Knot. Menus and chapter selection options are also provided.
Unwelcome – The Final Word:
Unwelcome is a pretty entertaining mix of a serious look at the effects of trauma mixed with monster movie hijinks, and while it is uneven, it’s well-acted and features strong production values. The Blu-ray release isn’t stacked with extras but the audio and video quality are quite strong making this a pretty decent package for those wanting to check the movie out.