The Haunting of Sharon Tate appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a mainly satisfactory presentation.
Overall sharpness seemed good. A little softness crept into the presentation at times, but the majority of the film brought appealing delineation and accuracy.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.
Like many period films of this sort, Haunting gave us an amber-tinted palette. Some teal appeared as well, but the golden feel dominated. Within those parameters, the hues were positive.
Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed good smoothness and clarity. Despite some softness, I felt pretty happy with the transfer.
As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Haunting, it lacked a ton of ambition. The soundfield focused on music and creepy ambience, though it opened up on occasion, mainly in terms of “jolt scares”. Nothing especially memorable occurred, though.
Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.
Music offered good clarity and range, and effects worked well enough. They didn’t have much to do, but they appeared reasonably accurate. All of this ended up as a perfectly satisfactory soundtrack for this sort of movie.
A few extras appear, and the main attraction comes from an audio commentary with writer/director Daniel Farrands. He offers a running, screen-specific look at history, research and factual liberties, story/characters, sets and locations, cast and performances, music, and related domains.
Overall, Farrands offers a useful chat. While I don’t agree with many of his choices, he explains them well and makes this an engaging and informative piece.
Premonitions runs 14 minutes, one second and includes notes from actors Hilary Duff, Jonathan Bennett, Lydia Hearst, Ryan Cargill, Bella Popa, Pawel Szajda, Tyler Johnson and Fivel Stewart.
The featurette discusses story/characters as well as cast and performances. Some minor insights emerge but this mostly feels like a fluffy chat with the actors.
The disc opens with ads for Mara, The Super and Lizzie. No trailer for Haunting.
As a take on the infamous actions of Charles Manson and his “family”, The Haunting of Sharon Tate fails. It turns the true crome material into cheap, amateurish horror. The Blu-ray brings generally good picture and audio as well as a few bonus materials. Haunting flops.