So, does Mayhem live up to its name or is it just another lame Battle Royale wannabe?
Creating Mayhem: The Making of the Film (11m 55s, HD)
Director Joe Lynch and actors Steven Yuen and Samara Weaving are interviewed about the film, working with each other, and the themes of the film. This is a fairly standard making of so there are not going to be big revelations, but it serves its purpose and does it pretty well.
The Collected Works of David Cho (1m 26s, HD)
The main character of the film paints in the film and all of the paintings are showcased here with narration from the film that ran over the paintings.
Technical Commentary with Director Joe Lynch, Director of Photographer Steve Gainer, and Editor Josh Ethier
Normally this is where I would put pictures of the cover art, disc, and anything else that comes with the disc, but my camera doesn't work right now, so I am going to have to leave this section blank. When I get everything working again then I will post pics, but until then you'll just have to take my word for it.
The disc is REGION A (locked)
Mayhem is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and looks great. Of course, it is going to look great because this film just came out. The film is a very stylized film, so there is a lot going on that wasn’t part of the original shoot. Overcranking, undercranking, etc are all present and add to the way the film looks. The film is very violent and bloody and the blood looks very good. The film does downplay other colors, so they look less than great, but that is what director Lynch was going for. Overall, this is a really good picture.
We are given a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and it is really good. We have a nice feel of immersion and the surrounds are great utilized. We feel very much like we are there in that office building. Dialogue is crisp and clear and the soundtrack comes through loud and clear.
Dear Hollywood Producers,
My name is James and I am a film fan. I have been since I can remember. I run a blog/website called The Big Movie House, where I review films along with the home media they come on. I just watched a film called Mayhem that I really liked. In fact, I think that the film is one of the best films of 2017. Yeah, it is that good.
The film tells the story of a virus that breaks out inside of an office building. The virus messes with people inhibitions and can lead to them killing others in nasty and gruesome (ie FUN) ways. The film stars Steven Yuen, of The Walking Dead fame, as a lawyer for the firm that occupies the building. Yuen is fed up with his job and the more fed up he gets, the higher up the ladder he goes. He meets a woman, played by Samara Weaving, who is trying to get her house out of foreclosure. Yuen and Weaving have a not so good first meeting and Weaving ends up mad at Yuen.
Meanwhile, Yuen is being set up by some of the higher-ups in the firm for something that he didn’t even know happened. Yuen is then fired, but not before the building is put on lockdown, for eight hours, by the CDC because of the virus I mentioned earlier. No one can leave and everyone becomes enraged from the virus and all-out war starts. Yuen and Weaving meet up again and agree to fight their way to the top of the building, where the bigwigs are, to get what they need.
Mayhem is a fucking balls-out film. It starts with a few savage acts of violence and keeps building on that until the end. We are given what the virus does and then we wait. The wait is killing us because we want to see what the film has promised (Mayhem) and we are not let down. The film does not shy away from the brutality happening onscreen and we love the film for it. We want to see the blood and the guts, but we also want to see Yuen and Weaving get their dues. They have to go through many floors in this office building to get to the top and each one gets harder and harder.
This film reminded me a lot of what Bruce Lee wanted his film Game of Death to be before he died. The powers that be who owned the footage, took it and made one of the worst, most insulting films ever made. Anyways, the film was about a group of martial artists who have to fight their way up through the different floors of a five-story pagoda. Each floor would be guarded by a martial arts master of a different style and would have to defend the upper floors. At the top is a man that everyone is scared of because of how big and strong he is.
Mayhem reminded me of this. Yuen and Weaving have to go through the different floors of the office building, each one guarded by a different higher up, before reaching the top where the firm’s CEO is. I have no idea if this what the filmmakers had in mind, but it seems like they might.
Speaking of filmmakers, the reason that I am writing this open letter is that I want to talk about Mayhem’s director, Joe Lynch. Lynch has been making films most of his life but got into the feature-length horror game when he directed Wrong Turn 2: Dead End in 2007. This sequel to a film that had come out four years prior, was a much better film than the first one and went for broke in almost every category you can think of. Lynch even hired Henry Rollins to be in the film and he rocks the part.
The amazing thing that Lynch was able to do was to do something different than just making the first film over again. He made the film a comedy and let the audience in on the joke. Sure, there is plenty of horror to be found, but the first film was a straight-up horror film, while this one strives to tickle our funny bones while grossing us out.
Lynch then directed a segment in the anthology film Chillerama called Zom-B-Movie. This is the wraparound film that keeps the whole anthology together. The film is a lot of fun and is actually the best of all the shorts.
Lynch would go on to direct Knights of Badassdom, a film that he faced many problems on and still doesn’t have a proper director’s cut to, and Everly, starring Salma Hayek as a woman who has to fend off attackers in her apartment. The film is action-packed and shows that Lynch can do action just as good, if not better than he can do horror.
I have to ask why Lynch hasn’t had to opportunity to direct a decent budgeted film yet. The man has proven time and time again that he has the filmmaking chops to tackle any genre and yet he has to fight for the chance to direct a film. He has made action films, horror films, comedies, and is even one of the stars of a sitcom. Lynch should be making big films like the upcoming The Meg (really? You could just have left the title as Meg?) or the Death Wish remake. I know that he would have made the films better than the filmmakers who actually made the film and I haven’t even seen them yet. Hell, hook him up with Blumhouse and let him go wild.
The truth of the matter is with Mayhem, Lynch has proven again that he can take a topic like murdering your co-workers and make it fun to watch. The film is gory as hell, but we have real characters that we can root for. He lets us get to know our protagonists before throwing them into the lion’s den. Not many filmmakers do that anymore.
Mayhem is a blast to watch and should open doors for Lynch. I doubt it will because of how much a bitch Hollywood is, but it should. He has so much more talent than most of the directors working in Hollywood today.
Thanks for listening,
James
www.thebigmoviehouse.com
The Film9
The Picture9
The Sound9
The Features8
The Packaging8.5
Summary
Mayhem is a fantastic film. It does the "killing everyone in an office building" really well and gives us characters that we like (for the most part). Director Joe Lynch villianizes the right characters and then makes them like a boss in a video game. The film is gleefully violent and gory and has fun with the premise it has been given. Mayhem is one of the best films of 2017. This is a must watch.The blu-ray, from RLJ Entertainment, is pretty nice, although it is lacking in one key area: Special Features. The picture and sound quality are top notch, showing how much work Lynch and company put into this film. The sound is espeically impressive with all channels being utilized. The special features are lacking, though. There is a wonderful commentary track featuring Lynch and his director of photography and editor, which is a must listen for fans of either the film or Lynch. Other than that, there is a short making of and a look at the artwork used in the film. There are no deleted scenes, no documentary, nothing else that would entice people to buy the blu-ray. Not only that, but the commentary isn't even listed on the back of the box. Still, this is worth the money. It is a great film.
10
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