The House appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This was a terrific visual presentation.
From start to finish, sharpness looked nearly immaculate. Only the slightest hint of softness affected wide shots, and those examples occurred too infrequently to cause problems. Instead, the film looked concise and well-defined.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge enhancement was absent. I also failed to detect any source flaws.
In terms of colors, the movie featured a teal and amber palette. These tones didn’t seem overwhelming, but they leaned that way. Across the board, the hues looked positive.
Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows appeared clear and smooth. I thought the movie consistently looked great.
I felt that the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack of House seemed fine but it didn’t excel because of a lack of ambition. Like most comedies, the movie featured a limited soundfield that favored the forward channels. It showed nice stereo spread to the music as well as some general ambience from the sides.
Some of the broader comedic scenes opened up the mix, though, and those added pizzazz to the presentation. The tracks offered nice localization and used the surrounds in a compelling way on those occasions when it decided to go “big”.
Audio quality appeared good. Speech was natural and distinct, with no issues related to edginess or intelligibility. Effects sounded clean and accurate, with good fidelity and no signs of distortion.
Music was perfectly fine, as the score and songs showed positive dimensionality. This track was good enough for a “B”, largely due to the occasional “big scene”.
A handful of extras round out the set, and we begin with Playing with a Loaded Deck. It lasts 12 minutes, 47 seconds and includes notes from co-writer/director Andrew J. Cohen, co-writer Brendan O’Brien, producers Jessica Elbaum and Nathan Kahane, and actors Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Jason Mantzoukas, Rob Huebel, Cedric Yarbrough, Lennon Parham, Allison Tolman, Andy Buckley, Andrea Savage, Rory Scovel, Michaela Watkins, Nick Kroll, and Ryan Simpkins.
“Deck” looks at cast and performances. We get a few decent notes, but much of this exists to praise the actors.
During the 13-minute, 43-second If You Build The House They Will Come, we hear from Ferrell, Mantzoukas, Savage, Parham, Yarbrough, Scovel, Poehler, Cohen, production designer Clayton Hartley, prosthetic artist Matthew Mungle, and stunt coordinator Todd Bryant. Most of “House” looks at set/production design, and we also learn a little about effects and stunts/action. This becomes a fairly satisfying overview.
11 Deleted Scenes fill a total of 15 minutes, 43 seconds. These tend to add small character bits, with an emphasis on secondary roles. Some amusement results but we don’t find any important story beats that got the boot.
We also find 33 Extended/Alternate Scenes. These take up a whopping one hour, 19 minutes, 54 seconds – nearly the length of the film itself!
Most of these simply offer more of the same kind of material found in the final film, but some new bits arrive. For instance, Alexandra Daddario plays Corsica, a character not found in the release movie.
Like the deleted scenes, these tend to bring us some good material. However, they lack a ton of substance – they’re fun to see but not essential. Still, they’re a nice addition.
A Gag Reel lasts nine minutes, 57 seconds. Some of this brings us the usual goofs and giggles, but we also get a lot of variations on jokes, and those make the “Reel” above average.
More alternate material shows up via Line-O-Ramas. These run eight minutes, 41 seconds and present additional lines for existing scenes. Once again, these add some amusing gags.
The disc opens with an ad for It. No trailer for The House appears here.
A second disc presents a DVD copy of The House. It includes the gag reel but none of the other extras.
Because I like its leads, I thought The House would provide a fun comedic experience. Unfortunately, they can’t overcome the stupidity and laziness of the script, so the end result lacks real amusement. The Blu-ray offers excellent picture with good audio and a roster of supplements highlighted by ample amounts of unused footage. This becomes a solid release for a disappointing film.