Monster, The

In The Monster, somewhere deep in the dark woods lurks a bloodthirsty creature that targets an unsuspecting mother and daughter on a late-night road trip. A divorced mother (Kazan) and her headstrong daughter must make an emergency late-night road trip to see the girl's father. As they drive through deserted country roads on a stormy night, they suddenly have a startling collison that leaves hem shaken but not seriously hurt. Their car, however, is dead, and as they try in vain to get help, they come to realize they are not alone on these desolate backroads—a terrifying evil is lurking n the surrounding woods, intent on never letting them leave. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the Eyes In The Darkness featurette (HD 07:32), trailers, upfront previews, and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture exhibits a natural image, even in the darkest of scenes at night. Fortunately, the street lighting provides effective highlights that contrast effectively with the otherwise dark, rainy night. The flashbacks to interior scenes also exhibit a natural presence, with good contrast and effective interior lighting highlights. Contrast is well balanced with deep blacks and shadows that are nicely delineated. The color palette is naturally rendered, both during the night scenes and the flashbacks, Fleshtones are perfectly natural throughout. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail evident in facial features, hair, clothing, object textures, and rain. This is an effective visual experience that delivers a sense of danger and terror as the story develops. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack starts with a relative quiet, frontal focus in monaural, then proceeds as the story unfolds and intensifies as the evil in the night reveals itself and kills. It is the transition to the night that the soundfield energizes with a strong holosonic® presence and aggressive surrounds. Also, deep bass intensifies as the monster enters the scenes as well as its unique sounds. In the backdrop, at all times during the night, is an intense rain storm with distant thunder. The music score is quite creepy and injected with strong bass accents. The music is well recorded and quite spatially enveloping. Dialogue is clear and intelligible with good spatial integration. This is a quite effective soundtrack that delivers emotional suspense and terror. (Gary Reber)