1974: La posesión de Altair — 1974: La posesión de Altair(Blu Ray)

1974: La posesión de Altair is a mid-2010’s Mexican made found footage film, which blends authentic 70’s period setting with a great growing feeling of both intriguing mystery and dread. From Cauldron Films- here we have dual disc Blu Ray and CD soundtrack release of this lesser-seen/ lesser-known found footage film, which is a must checking out scenario for those who enjoy this genre.

1974: La posesión de Altair appeared in the year 2016- it was the first feature-length film of Monterrey Mexico born Victor Dryere, who both wrote and directed the film. As its title suggests the film is set in 1974, and it focuses on a recently married twenty-something couple- moustached Manuel(Rolando Breme) and initially happy-go-lucky Altair(Diana Bovio). To add to the air of 70’s authenticity the whole thing is filmed on super eight film, which is largely handled very well- managing to blend home user errors/ glitches, with more moody arty shooting.
 
The couple lives in a mountain top house, which is surrounded by woodland looking over a city in the distance. The film kicks off with Manuel trying out his super eight for the first time- he’s sat in the couple's kitchen eating cereal, in comes Altair in her shinny 70’s short-shorts, and she surprises her with a  puppy. Initially, the pair seem happy- Altair is teacher, and Manuel is working on a stop-motion film, but slowly and surely things start to go awry. First off, the pair see a swirling flock of birds over the house, which later rain down dead on the pairs house. Altair is having strange dreams where she is visited by something, next a pile of bricks and black paint appear in the couple's garage, and Altair behaviour becomes more erratic/ strange. I won’t detail any more what occurs with the couple, as one of great things about the film is the way it keeps you guessing exactly what is going on.
 
Both Breme and Bovio are good/ convincing as the lead couple, as the film goes on the pairs bearded friend appears- and he takes over some of the filming, so you got a good blend of shots of the couple together and alone, as well as a few other characters that come into the story like stern and serious doctor(Rubén González Garza). The 70’s setting/ look is very good and wholly authentic- I kept checking the background of shots for out of time elements or period errors- but it was all on point, so whoever did the set design/ dressing took a lot of time and effort to get it just right. The super eight is used to great effect throughout, and its quirks add to the building feeling of mystery and dread, as well as some of the effective jump moments. As we get deeper into the film the creepiness deepens, with some neat moments of jarring and nervy jangling terror. Also as we get further in we get first subtle, then later more pronounced use of moody sound scaping- this element is largely used well/ sparing- though of course, it does take one out of the truly authentic found footage feel- but this is just a sight issue. On the whole, I was most impressed by 1974: La posesión de Altair and can certainly say it’s one of the better examples of the found footage genre.

Moving onto this region free blu ray release- and as you’d expect with meant to be a super eight film from the ’70s, the print is aged/ pock-marked. Though the print is clear and well enough defined, though the key/ important thing is the audio which you can hear in either 5.1 surround or 2.0 stereo. The film is the Spanish language with largely clear English subs, though on a feel occasion they do get lost when we get white text on white background. The only extra on the disc is a three and half minute featurette about the films sound design, this is once again subtitled and is interesting enough if brief. 
 
The release also features a CD- this takes twenty-one tracks, which are a blend of creepy sound design cues, and the later more formal scoring. The disc blends together both types of tracks and works well enough as an unsettling standalone. Moving between lo-key creeping ‘n’ droning sound scaping, louder more jarring retro-electro texturing, and more angular/ grating stringed soundtrack. With the release, we get a double-sided glossy inlay card listing the CD tracks on one side, and details of other Cauldron Films titles on its flip side.
 
It’s great to see 1974: La posesión de Altair getting this Blu ray release from Cauldron Films, as it certainly is one of the more intriguing and wholly rewarding films of the found footage genre. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for future films from Victor Dryere, as well, of course, new releases from Cauldron Films- who really are one of the best recent genre film reissue labels around.