For reasons still unknown, I've been a fan of horror since my earliest memories. I came of age in the 1980s and devoured every horror movie I could either by catching them on HBO (often broadcast only once at 2am) or through renting VHS tapes ("What are those?" asks many readers). Thus, I've seen a lot of 80s horror movies and I'm very familiar with the pros and cons of scary movies from that period. The Blu-ray Disc packaging for the film Mr. Hush states that it is "A frightening throwback to the slasher films of the 1980s". This can either be a good thing or a bad thing. Let's see which way Mr. Hush leans.

Mr. Hush opens in the year 2000. Holland Price (Brad Loree) is a doting father who lives with his wife, Julie (Jessica Cameron), and their daughter, Amy. Holland loves Halloween, as it's one of the fondest memories from time spent with his father, so he always tries to make it a fun time for Amy. As he and Julie relax after trick or treating, the doorbell rings. Holland assumes that it's another child, but it's a man (Edward X. Young) dressed as a priest. Claiming to need help, the man is invited in, when he promptly kills Julie and kidnaps Amy. The story then leaps ahead 10 years. Holland now lives in a tent with Donald (Tim Dougherty), and he's been traveling the country trying to find Amy. He currently works for Mac (Steve Dash) as a short-order cook. Holland has become friends with Debbie (Connie Giordano), and they begin dating. Even Debbie's daughter, Kat (Alexis Lauren) takes a liking to Holland. However, this happiness comes to a screeching halt when the mysterious murderer once again enters Holland's life.

While Mr. Hush wants to be a horror movie, it actually plays more like a drama. Holland has suffered a traumatic experience which has haunted him for a decade. With Debbie, who is a widow, he find a kindred spirit with whom he may be able to start a new life. Remove the fact that Holland's family was attacked by an apparent psychopath, and you've got the makings for a Lifetime movie. So, for much of the movie, Holland talks about his problems with Debbie or Donald, or we get to hear about Holland's recipes for corned beef. How exciting!

Mr. Hush is a homegrown low-budget affair. Thanks to HD cameras, many independently made films can now have a slick look which help to hide their low budget. While Mr. Hush looks OK, it still has an amateurish feel. Brad Loree (who looks like the love child of Zach Braff, Ken Marino, and Don Johnson) does OK in the lead, but the other actors clearly struggle at times. (Just look at Donald trying to emote.) Writer/Director/Producer David Lee Madison doesn't give them much help with the film's choppy editing where shots begin and end on odd paces. The movie's claim to fame was the return to horror for Stephen Geoffreys (after years of doing gay porn), but his role is little more than a cameo. The oddest thing about Mr. Hush is the covert art of the Blu-ray Disc. Early in the film, Holland describes an "Invisible Man" costume his father made for him. To me, his description matches the figure prominently featured in the cover art, and knowing nothing about the movie, I thought that this would come back. But, it never did. Thus goes the perplexing nature of Mr. Hush.

Mr. Hush may be the first movie to ever offer tent foreshadowing on Blu-ray courtesy of Horizon Movies. The film has been letterboxed at 2.20:1 (who's ever heard of that?) and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 20 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The film was shot on HD equipment, but the image doesn't quite have the "film look" associated with most modern HD projects and at times clearly has a "video" look. Otherwise, the colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The image has an adequate amount of detail and the depth is fairly good. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.0 Mbps. For the most part, the track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. However, when Holland yells, which is a lot, the sound distorts, as if he were too close to the mic and it wasn't corrected. The surround sound effects are good, most notably the music. There was one point where individual instruments were coming from the left and right rear channels in a very impressive manner.

The Mr. Hush Blu-ray Disc contains a few extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director David Lee Madison. "Mr. Hush Bloopers" is a 2-minute gag reel. "Special Introduction" features Madison and an actor from one of my all time favorite comedies who has a cameo in a post-credit sequence. We get the "Mr. Hush Music Video" from the band Visitor, who sound like a Huey Lewis and the News tribute band. Finally, the Disc offers three different TRAILERS for the film -- original (?), theatrical, and DVD.