# Enter the Dangerous Mind - Blu-ray Review



## Mike Edwards (Mar 10, 2011)

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42746[/img] 
*Title: Enter the Dangerous Mind* 

*Movie:* :1.5stars:
*Video:* :3.5stars:
*Audio:* :4.5stars:
*Extras:* :1star: 

*HTS Overall Score:*64






[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42754[/img]*Summary*
The tag line of the movie says it all. Music makes the voices stop. Already we have an idea about what the movie is going to encompass and we’re barely a few minutes in. Jim (Jake Hoffman) wants to do exactly that. He hides in his apartment all day mixing dubstep tracks in an effort to drown out the insanity of everyday life. His only companion is an abusive roommate (Thomas Dekker) who insults, hammers and verbally emasculates him on a daily basis. Bullying him into a relationship with a social worker who works at his friend, Kevin’s (Scott Bakula), business, Jim finally starts to break out of his shell. This causes the fragile psyche of the boy to snap and warp around him into a cocoon of angst and terror.

It’s obvious from the get go, but the story holds back for the first act, but Jim was a psyche patient of Kevin due to an emotional trauma. His brother abused and tortured him and another boy for days and then killed the other child, only to vanish into thin air. This left Jim with clinical schizophrenia and a rather shaky hold on reality. As you could guess, Jim’s roommate isn’t real at all, but actually his dead brother’s “voice” in his head, constantly directing and telling him what to do, what to think and how to act. Once he meets Wendy (Nikki Reed) things seem to go well, but his fragile psyche can’t handle the strain and he loses it. Soon Jim starts acting out more violent tendencies and revealing that he may be a tougher case than previously expected. Wendy doesn’t believe that there is a case too tough, too past the point of no return that can’t be helped, but Kevin isn’t so sure that’s the case. Especially since much of what happened in Jim’s childhood is shrouded in mystery.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42762[/img]The film tries its best to utilize the dubstep music to mimic the strange sensations and warped reality that Jim seems in musical form. As Jim reacts and views the world the music jolts, jumps and changes pitch to create a weirdly disturbing feeling in the viewer. Dubstep isn’t exactly known for being harmonic and the harsh chords and cacophony of the beats and mixed noises create a sense of uneasiness and restlessness that the film makers very obviously wanted the viewer to feel. The main problem stems from the uninspiring script. We all know the outcome by the first 15 minutes of the movie, but the directors make you wait it out till the last 20 minutes even though we’re yelling at the screen “we know”! Jim isn’t remotely interesting and Nikki Reed’s portrayal as Wendy is rather flat and bland. Scott Bakula is really the only interesting character in the movie and his part is rather wasted until the last few moments of the movie. 

I can’t help but think that the movie was a good idea in THEORY, but the execution is so poor and lifeless that you just want the movie to be over with, even though it’s a relatively short film at 90 minutes. “Enter the Dangerous Mind” feels that it’s much more than it actually is, a clever thriller that is using music and misdirection to mimic the mind of a schizophrenic person. Unfortunately the reality of the matter is that the movie is just stilted and drawn out, over staying its short welcome and being extremely dull. I couldn’t latch on to any of the characters an there weren’t any moments in the movie that I honestly felt there was hope for a better movie somewhere on the cutting room floor. 




*Rating:* 

Not Rated by the MPAA



*Video* :3.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42770[/img]“Enter the Dangerous Mind” comes to Blu-ray with a rather middling 1080p transfer. The film is devoid of any color and pop, as the image looks like it has been desaturated and overlaid with several changing filters. The main one tends to be a heavy grey filter that gives the appearance of a flat and lifeless image, but there are moments where a thick yellow filter is employed, giving some sickly skin tones and blooming whites. The black levels are rather washed out for the majority of the film, due to the grey filter, and some from some mild crush. One thing I REALLY noticed was some very heavy banding that pretty much stayed with the film for the entirety. Even Warner’s DC animated films don’t have this much banding and it got really distracting. Still the there is a solid amount of fine detailing on clothing and items like the airsoft gun, but the strange visual filtering and the banding robbed it of a some pop and pizzazz. 







*Audio* :4.5stars:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42778[/img]The best part of the package is the robust 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that literally teems with heavy dubstep beats. The entire track is filled with dubstep to give voice to the crazy workings in Jim’s head as well as the club beats during a few of Jim and Wendy’s interactions. The dialog is nice and crisp, locked to the center channel, and the dynamic range is HUGE, especially with the music. When the dubstep starts it becomes an all-encompassing sonic assault, making you feel as if you’re in the middle of a modern nightclub. Sometimes I felt as if the volume disparity between the music and the vocals may have been a bit TOO loud, but it does fit in very well with the dubstep culture, where explosive volume for their music is a must. Surrounds are very solid with some directional ambiance and well placed sounds from around the room. It’s a loud and aggressive track musically, and that may put some off, but the clarity is nice and clear with some heavy heavy lfe to boot. 






*Extras* :1star:
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=42786[/img]
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*Overall:* :3stars:

It’s very rare that I find a movie that I dislike thoroughly and completely, and it’s rare that the movie is one of Well Go USA’s films. However, I have to say that I really was just begging for the movie to be over with by the midpoint of the film and I could see very little redeeming points to it, besides Scott Bakula. The video is pretty mediocre, but the audio is a dubstep fanatics dream so those with a love of heavy, in your face LFE will enjoy the track. Personally, I’d skip it. 


*Additional Information:*

Starring: Scott Bakula, Jason Priestly, Thomas Dekker
Directed by: Youssef Delara, Victor Teran
Written by: Victor Teran
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 90 Minutes 
Blu-ray Release Date: April 14th 2015


*Buy Enter the Dangerous Mind On Blu-ray at Amazon*





*Recommendation: Skip It​*







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