Review: The Nesting (Blu-ray)

2012/08/30 14:09:43 +00:00 | Derek Botelho

The Nesting tells the story of Lauren Cochran (Robin Groves), a mystery writer suffering from agoraphobia. Instead of confronting her condition, she rents an mansion in upstate New York to concentrate on her new novel, pushing her further into isolation.

Once she arrives, things get weird: The old man who owns the house (John Carradine) reacts strangely to her wanting to rent it and there seems to be something in the house, only nobody else notices. Even her boyfriend Mark (Christopher Loomis) seems to think she’s losing it.

Lauren Cochran has to be one of the strangest and most stubborn heroines in any film I’ve seen. Robin Groves imbues her with a bit of what made Christina Rains in The Sentinel work, and this film owes a lot to that movie. Yes, the character needs to exorcise some demons and prove to herself she isn’t crazy, but it brings up the old haunted house question: Why not just leave? We are never given a satisfactory answer, outside of Lauren wanting to get to the bottom of this mystery of her home, even when people keep dying around her.

Since the movie revolves entirely around Lauren and her mission to solve the mystery of her new home, the male leads don’t have much to do. While they are sadly underwritten, they performed affably enough. One of the only standouts is John Carradine turning in a truly bizarre performance as a “crippled” and eccentric old man. Gloria Graham also turns up as a key to the history of the house, and sadly this was her last film.

Blue Underground has released The Nesting on Blu-ray and it looks just fine. The picture is clean and crisp and color reproduction looks good. This isn’t reference material, but it’s satisfactory and detail level is decent. Mainly due to shooting conditions, film stock and other issues, I don’t think it was ever an amazing looking film to begin with. Special features are slim here, but there are a handful of deleted and extended scenes, a few trailers, TV spots, and a poster and still gallery.

In an age when the big trend in horror films was the slash and chase epic populated by horny teenagers, The Nesting attempts to stand out as a creepy paranoid thriller like The Sentinel or Rosemary’s Baby, however it merely succeeds at being completely mediocre. Emmy winning legendary actor John Carradine and Oscar winner Gloria Graham attempt to lend some class to the proceedings, but it’s too little, too late. If you’re a die hard fan of ghost stories and paranoid thrillers, check it out if you must. For everyone else, it’s a curiosity at best to watch these two legendary actors and some of their last work in the medium.

Film Score: 1.5/5 Disc Score: 2.5/5