Synapse Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, delivered a long lead announcement this past week regarding the writing and directing team of Kevin and Matthew McManus eerie horror/mystery, The Block Island Sound.
Both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD editions will be available on Dec. 10, which gives Synapse over 90 days to work the streets in the promotion of this gem.
It is something of a puzzlement as to why this clever horror/mystery/sci-fi tale took so long to make its way to the physical media marketplace … but no matter the reason, it will be here soon enough for genre afficionados to enjoy.
The film made its debut at the Fantasia Film Festival in Canada on Aug. 28, 2020, but there was no apparent follow-up, until it surfaced as a Netflix release the following year (we all know how Netflix works when it comes to physical media product offerings … crickets … it is a place where films go to die). Despite solid reviews it just disappeared … until Synapse Films made this good news announcement that Dec. 10 will be the physical media debut date. Thank You, Synapse Films!!
The ocean can always be something of a mystery … what lies beneath? Filming in and around Block Island, Rhode Island, filmmaking brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus (who are from the area) make the ocean a major player in this creep-fest. Call it atmosphere … chilling, cold and effective.
Tom Lynch (Neville Archambault) is a local fisherman who appears to be having something of a breakdown. It doesn’t help his mental condition that all sorts of weird events are taking place — tons of dead fish have been washing up on the Block Island shoreline and sea birds are dropping unexpectedly out of the sky. Thump, thump … that can be a little unnerving.
It gets even stranger as Tom just heads out in the middle of the night on his boat for no particular reason … the island is affecting him and his son, Harry (Chris Sheffield), has finally reached the point where this is a problem … and a mystery, especially when dear old dad doesn’t remember any of it.
So he turns to his sister, Audry (Michaela McManus — as Kaley in director David Hackl’s Into the Grizzly Maze), a marine biologist (EPA), who is very interested in what is taking place on the island and agrees to come take a look-see.
Without giving too much away, let’s just say that with all the family members on the island the filmmaking brothers McManus have a field day in ratcheting up the tension. Not only is The Block Island Sound a terrific horror tale, but the “mystery” elements (what the hell is going on) give the film something of a sci-fi vibe that works extremely well. This is a must-see and Dec. 10 for the 4K Ultra HD (or Blu-ray) release can’t come soon enough.
Bonus goodies include commentary from filmmakers Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus, 8mm behind-the-scenes footage, family home movies and four featurettes — “A Practical Apocalypse,” “Finding the Cast,” “Filming on the Water” and “Special Effects on a Shoestring.”
