The Human Race - Blu-ray

Content: Just moments ago, Eddie (Eddie McGee), Justin (Paul McCarthy-Boyington) and 78 other humans are going about their normal daily lives when they are blinded by a glaring light. Shortly after, they find themselves in a cordoned-off area. A voice tells them to start running, following a set path. Whoever leaves the path or is lapped by another, must die. Shortly after the first heads explode and the involuntary participants of this competition realize that this is not a joke with hidden camera, but bloody serious. But who is behind it and will really only one be able to leave this arena alive? And if so, does someone like Eddie, who lost a leg in the war and has only been able to get around on crutches ever since, stand any chance of survival?

Director Paul Hough directed his end-times thriller The Human Race over a period of almost four years. Whenever he could scrape together a bit of money, production continued until funds were again exhausted. The mini-budget and long pauses between filming meant that Hough had to keep altering and readjusting his original script drafts. And it could happen that an actor who was supposed to play a central role in the film at the beginning was suddenly no longer available and had to be written out of the story. Money was even so tight that there was only one bucket directly on the set, which served as an emergency toilet for the cast and crew and which Hough himself had to empty night after night. Of course, this has little to do with the glamour of Hollywood.

Despite these somewhat adverse production circumstances, Hough has succeeded quite well in directing a film that is hardly noticeable for its patchwork shooting. Especially at the beginning he uses a rather surprising stylistic device, which, as he admits in the audio commentary, he borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He introduces a protagonist who the audience believes to be the main character, but who then surprisingly quickly has to make room for the actual main characters. What follows is a mix of Running Man and Battle Royale, with the brutal demise of some of the participants in the involuntary race losing much of its impact over time. Moreover, Hough also tries to focus on the psychological aspect of the story: how long does it take for self-preservation instincts to triumph over morality and conscience in people in such an extreme situation? How long before even the most peace-loving person becomes a killer to save their own life?

That in itself is a very interesting and exciting starting situation. Unfortunately, in some moments much of the suspense potential is lost due to too long dialogue sequences. Then also the constant exploding of heads doesn't help much to build up this tension again. A little more pacing here and there would have really done the whole thing some good. Nevertheless: especially in view of the small means he had at his disposal, Paul Hough really got a lot of good and exciting out of his story.

Naturally, such a story often stands and falls with the resolution. For until barely five minutes before the credits roll, neither the participants in this gruesome battle, nor the viewers, know who is behind it all and what the goal of this bloody race is. And as is often the case, the solution Hough presents will divide minds. But whether you like it or not, at least you have to give the director credit for striving to offer a clear, yet original explanation that also adds a nice double meaning to the film's title. Granted, The Human Race does have some flaws dramaturgically and craft-wise. But all in all, the whole thing turned out to be a really decent low-budget fantasy thriller, which can score with a coherent atmosphere and some intense moments. And in the end that is enough for a clear: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture of the Blu-ray is very clean, but has a very dirty end-time look due to the slightly alienated color scheme, which gives the film a very coherent atmosphere. The image sharpness is at a good level in many moments, only in some very dark moments does the detail look a bit washed out. The audio is in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, which has a few decent surround moments to offer, but otherwise comes across as rather restrained. The very centrally mixed dialogue clearly dominates the proceedings. The bottom line for the picture and sound quality is a satisfied: good!

Extras: The Blu-ray has a very interesting, commendably German subtitled audio commentary by director Paul Hough and actor Eddie McGee to offer. The two talk about the sometimes very difficult filming conditions, about working with a mini-budget or changes that had to be made due to the long shooting time. In addition to this very good commentary, there are also short cut scenes with a commentary by the director (approx. 1:41 min.). Not much, but good!

Conclusion:The Human Race may not be full of new ideas, may have some lengths, and may show its mini-budget in effects time and again. Nevertheless, director Paul Hough has staged a very atmospheric and suspenseful thriller that has some very intense moments to offer and also strives for originality, especially towards the end. The Blu-ray presents the film in good picture and sound quality and has a very interesting audio commentary to offer as a bonus. Overall, this is clearly enough for a: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp