Heavenly Creatures [Blu-ray]

Saw this disturbing yet wildly emotional, imaginative and engrossing 1994 film back in the 90's, and until recently, I never thought I could bear to watch it again due to the vile subject matter of matricide. It's amazingly well-done and the two young leads are incredible actresses. It's directed by Peter Jackson who would go on to do Lord of the Rings. Really. It's one of the better F/F films in our genre out there-- I can't stress this enough.This is based on a true-crime story which goes down in New Zealand in 1954. It follows the obsessively needy and close friendship of teenager Juliet Hulme (Kate Winslet) and her best friend Pauline Rieper/Parker (Melanie Lynskey) who brutally murder Pauline's mother when she tries to keep them apart.The girls are seemingly opposites. Juliet is the beautiful and charming daughter of a brilliant physicist/university rector and an attractive mother who does social work. Pauline is the angry daughter of a fishmonger and a mother who runs a boarding house out of their home. The girls initially bond in school via their shared rebellious natures and the health issues that set them apart from others. Soon enough, their vivid imaginations and writing pursuits isolate them into their own private world.Having read a bit of the case outside of what this movie covers, the girls are convicted and serve less than 6 yrs in separate prisons... then are given new identities and passports upon their release. Pauline would go on to become an anonymous recluse as Hilary Nathan, but Juliet Hulme would go on to become Anne Perry... international bestselling author of crime fiction!Bizarre and fascinating story. I'm glad I decided to see it again... it's as good as ever. Loved revisiting such a young and talented Kate Winslet!!! Recommended.

I saw this film years ago when it had its major theatrical release. Years later, it remains as powerful. The wonderful, odd vision of Peter Jackson (Director of LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) is put to use in this story of two young girls whose fantasy world runs amok.I think it would be fair to say this is the breakout film that brought Kate Winslet to the well-deserved attention of a world market, but her co-star Melanie Lynskey gives the more complex performance of the two in this, if only because her role is given more layers. The DVD is an uncut version, and it lends a different light to her sexuality than the version in theatres, but it is all still awkwardly (perfect for this story telling) ambivalent.Jackson makes weird and wonderful use of the clay figures and fantasy land of the girls, and although I don't really think he has a full handle on what a girl's fantasy land would be made of (this one was awfully muddy - ick), it is still a compelling, complete and disturbing vision - all fitting. There are truly great moments which feels completely, messily, real. Sarah Peirse's entire performance is wonderful, as the more downtrodden and distressed mother. This is really fine acting.Not long after the film was released, the actual case this was based on was re-opened, and it was found that, as part of their "treatment," the girls were given a drug to sedate them, but it has since been shown to cause extreme violent outbursts. It is too bad this information could not have been available as the film was made. I believe Jackson could have incorporated this and made the film even richer. But that would be icing. This is a true story, and a truly wonderful film of it.

This is not a review of the movie; we know how great it is, but an insight on the technical aspects of this Canadian import version of the blu-ray release, region A, which does play in the US. I did a side by side comparison of exact scenes w/ the upscaled dvd (via HDMI) and this blu-ray.1) The first and foremost noticeable eye opener are some cropping (missing information) on the sides of the picture of both versions, and vice versa. Let me explain. In a large majority of camera shots, either the tops and bottoms, or the sides are missing on the dvd or blu-ray, and vice versa. In simple film school terms, it is panned and scanned (P&S) differently. I use the term P&S loosely because as you know it's associated w/ old 4:3 full screen, but the point is that the picture editing, cropping, and zooming are different. I chose several exact scenes that were not in motion, and I paused at the exact location to compare. The P&S-ing is regardless of the aspect ratio, 1.79:1 Blu-Ray, 2.35:1 DVD.2) The 1080i blu picture is only slightly better than the upscaled dvd picture. Blu-ray picture still contains jitters and artifacts considering a 16 years old (1994) transfer. Colors at times are not as accurate, so the noticeable improvement is in the definition (resolution), however only slightly.3) Blu-ray: The sound of the English 2.0 track is very low, while the French 2.0 is loud. Volume just needs manual adjusting, which is annoying that these 2 language tracks are not standardized (or equalized).4) Blu-ray contains no extra materials. DVD contains Trailer. Hence, you might think I'm keeping both the blu and the dvd versions, yes, I recommend that. In fact, I'm keeping the VHS as well! That old clunker is the original, cut (edited), theatrical version.

Excellent Peter Jackson film about the true crime committed by these two notorious girls. We see Mr. Jackson's skills in storytelling here, as well as his ability to tell a story in an interesting, fresh way. The tale unfolds beautifully, visuals are stunning. My only regret, is not getting a version with more extras. Commentary, behind the scenes, interviews would be quite an addition.

this is one of my favorite movies of all time. cinematically beautiful & it’s now so hard to find but i’m so glad i bought this movie when i did. (years ago)