My Stepmother Is An Alien appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite its age, the image looked pretty solid.
For the most part, sharpness worked fine. Occasional soft shots materialized, but the majority of the movie boasted appealing accuracy.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt natural, and only a handful of small specks cropped up during the movie.
The film opted for a natural palette, and the hues held up fairly well. Though not dazzling, the colors seemed largely well-rendered, and they lacked bleeding or other issues.
Blacks felt fairly dense and deep, while shadows presented largely positive delineation. Give the flick’s vintage, I felt happy with the presentation.
Don’t expect much from the lackluster PCM stereo soundtrack of Stepmother. Music spread to the sides in a positive way, but effects didn’t get as much to do as one might expect from a story with so much sci-fi behind it.
The film boasted occasional instances of localized audio from the right and left, but they remained largely passive. Some movement occurred and the side channels added a bit of interactivity, but they didn’t seem especially active.
Audio quality also seemed a bit lackluster, as the track lacked much range. Music and effects showed reasonable accuracy but dynamics seemed restricted and without much oomph.
Speech largely sounded natural, with only a little edginess along the way. For a movie from 1988, the audio felt adequate and not much more.
A few extras flesh out the disc, and these open with an audio commentary from film critic Bryan Reesman. He offers a running, screen-specific look at cast and crew, genre topics and influences, period details, and general thoughts about the film.
Reesman manages an energetic chat, as he speaks a mile a minute. In terms of content, though, the track seems a little spotty.
Oh, Reesman manages a decent number of insights, so he offers a reasonable overview. Still, the commentary doesn’t offer consistent depth, so it seems likeable but erratic.
Cosmetic Encounters spans 14 minutes, eight seconds and provides a new interview with director Richard Benjamin. He discusses how he came onto the project as well as changes he made to the screenplay, cast and performances, influences, various effects, and a few related elements.
Don’t expect the most coherent production overview, as Benjamin skips around a lot. Still, he gives us a decent view of the flick and his efforts.
In addition to the film’s trailer - which actually appears to be a 32-second TV spot - we get an Image Gallery. It shows 12 production stills and seems eminently forgettable.
As a wacky comedy, My Stepmother Is An Alien musters the occasional laugh. However, too much of it becomes repetitive, so the jokes quickly lose impact. The Blu-ray offers pretty good picture, mediocre audio and a few bonus materials. The flick doesn’t flop but it fails to impress, either.