Quadrant — Quadrant( DVD)
Quadrant is a recent horror/ Sci-fi fantasy film from the long-running and prolific B-movie director Charles Band. It concerns Quadrant, a VR helmet that transports users' minds into nightmarish AI worlds, to try and cure their mental health issues. Unfortunately, a Jack The Ripper obsessive dons the helmet, and blood starts to run both in the VR and real world. The film was entertaining enough- taking in neat noir-like to vivid nightmare footage, with some softcore female nudity & spurting red gore. Here from Full Moon Pictures is a release of the film- coming as either a DVD, Blu-Ray, or VHS- I’m reviewing the first of these.
Quadrant is from 2024- it’s the 87th film Charles Band has directed, and the 425th film he’s produced- so that in itself is most impressive. The film is scripted by C. Courtney Joyner( Prison, Class Of 1999). The film runs at one hour and thirteen minutes- remaining largely engaging/ entertaining throughout, which I don’t think you can say for the output of alot of B-movie directors in their later careers.
The picture revolves around Erin (Shannon Barnes) a rather quirky twentysomething who is obsessed with the Jack The Ripper case. The film opens with her inside the monochrome noir VR world of a recreated 1888 London- as she is standing over the bed of the rippers' last victim- someone off-screen goes to hand her a knife, and she is pulled out of the VR simulation.
Running the Quadrant project in a backroom just off a high street is Harry (Rickard Claeson) a roughly bearded character, with long hair tied back, and a vaguely European accent. He's helped by Meg (Emma Reinagel) a slightly more mysterious/emotionally unpredictable assistant. Though the pair say they have a few clients- we only see one other in the film- Robert (Christian Carrigan)- a mop-haired and troubled twentysomething.
The film is very much striped-back/ sparse with both its actors and locations- with the two main settings being the backroom lab, and Erin’s overlooking a graveyard apartment- which is lined with all manner of Ripper victim pictures, books, etc.
I guess around forty per cent of the film takes part in the VR world- moving between the already mentioned monochrome 1888 London footage, and more garishly/ bloody splattered bound fantasy landscapes. With the rest in the real world.
I can’t reveal too much about the plot, so as not to spoil anything- but it all treads a path you’d expect with a neat enough twist in the tail. All the acting is fine to good enough. The effects are largely created by CGI but don’t look too bad, and there is a fair bit of topless nudity from Ms Barnes, as well as from some of the female supporting roles.
Extras-wise on the disc we get the following. Video Zone (16.59) a making of looking at both formal filming and green screen elements. Table Read ( 10.05) Pulp Noir (8.19) a look at the sub-label that released Quadrant, touching on the other films planned. And a trailer.
Quadrant finds Band adding a little more gory/ flesh to his brand of horror/fantasy- with the whole thing being entertaining enough. And I certainly look forward to seeing more films from the new Pulp Noir sublabel.