My bias for this movie aside, Disturbing Behavior is at least an entertaining little thriller with some fun moments that sets it apart from others of the like. The cast is a lot of fun especially for Nick Stahl and William Sadler in his brief role, not to mention seeing Katie Holmes playing against type.
Disturbing Behavior
(1998)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Thriller
Shout Factory | R – 84 min. – $26.99 | March 22, 2016
Date Published: 03/04/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 3.0/5 |
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Have to admit up front, for some strange and bizarre reason, Disturbing Behavior holds a special place in my heart. Technically speaking, this not a very well made movie but it was the first R-rated movie I was able to pay my own ticket for. With the director of numerous episodes of “The X-Files” and even the frickin’ composer, Mark Snow, it would seem the studio wanted to make a ‘tween version topped off with the teen angst that would be popularized with the Twilight franchise a decade later. Note: This review contains plot spoilers.
Steve Clark (JAMES MARSDEN) is a teenager who has moved with his family to the seemingly idyllic town of Cradle Bay. At his first day of high school, he is quickly introduced to the hierarchy by new pals Gavin (NICK STAHL) and U.V. (CHAD DONELLA). Gavin also knows there’s something strange happening in Cradle Bay. The school has a group called the “Blue Ribbons” who are the supposedly good-doers, and all-around douches, raising funds from bake sales, but they have an underlying dark side: when they’re sexually aroused, they become uncontrollably violent. Meanwhile, Steve meets Gavin’s friend Rachel (KATIE HOLMES), who has her own outsider status coming from the other side of the tracks, metaphorically speaking. There’s an instant attraction between the two, of course. Soon enough, though, the two begin seeing what Gavin has been telling them, that there is something really wrong going on and they begin an investigation on school counselor Dr. Caldicott (BRUCE GREENWOOD) who we discover has been doing experiments on the “bad” high school kids, and soon enough both Gavin and Steve are the target of Caldicott with the help of their respective parents. They do receive help from an unlikely source, the school’s supposed mentally challenged janitor (WILLIAM SADLER).
Directed by David Nutter, Disturbing Behavior was a movie that, although I mostly enjoyed, was hacked up by the studio as demonstrated by 20+ minutes of deleted footage which should never had been taken out. Instead, outside of sexual content and some violence, is a rather safe R-rated thriller. And when you remove the opening and end credits, the film clocks in at only 75-minutes. The cast of mostly hip up-and-comers from the 1990s were decent enough. James Marsden showed some glimpses talent and Katie Holmes was delightfully playing against character compared to her goody-good role on “Dawson’s Creek”. Then you have Nick Stahl who easily played the most enjoyable character making the most of a limited script and hacky dialogue, but the way he portrays the outsider was incredibly fun.
In the end, Disturbing Behavior has all the markings of a late ‘90s teen thriller between the cast and soundtrack. I know and understand it’s not very good or well made but it does hold some nostalgia for me being 17 when it was released. As far as copies of Invasion of the Body Snatchers go, The Faculty is still the best by comparison but this one still has some entertainment value. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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Audio Commentary – Director David Nutter offers a low key but fairly informative track breaking down certain plot elements. Deleted Scenes (24:42; SD) – There are several scenes here that add a few more character moments, as well as an OK alternate ending, and some of them should’ve been included, including a love scene between Marsden and Holmes. Also has an optional commentary with Nutter. Theatrical Trailer (2:31; HD) The music video for “Got You Where I Want You” was not ported over. |
VIDEO – 3.0/5 |
| Disturbing Behavior debuts on Blu-ray through Shout’s Scream Factory line. Having the DVD to compare it to, there is a decent upgrade with better detail while colors are mostly drab leaning more toward darks than anything bright, even daylight scenes. Those dark scenes, however, show off a heavy amount of noise so it’s not exactly the most pleasing looking transfer. I also noticed a few instances of dust marks although nothing overly distracting. |
AUDIO – 3.25/5 |
| The disc comes with both a 2.0 and 5.1 track with the latter being the version I used. The DTS-HD Master Audio track is half-decent and shows some nice depth when it came to the score, soundtrack and the occasional on-screen sounds (like the ferry horns). Where it falters is with the dialogue which comes across as muffled at times to the point it’s hard to tell what is being said. Now, to be fair, the sound design was never great to begin with and I doubt even using some kind of pricey restoration would’ve helped any. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
| Overall, my bias for this movie aside, Disturbing Behavior is at least an entertaining little thriller with some fun moments that sets it apart from others of the like. The cast is a lot of fun especially for Nick Stahl and William Sadler in his brief role, not to mention seeing Katie Holmes playing against type. The Blu-ray itself is basic, the video is only a modest upgrade while the audio, by my ears, is virtually the same and the bonus features were decent, in particular the deleted scenes to see what could have been. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.