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Blu-Ray : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
Sale Price: $14.63 Last Price: $19.98 Buy now! 3rd Party 9.91 In Stock
Release Date: April 8th, 2014 Movie Release Year: 2013

Holliston: The Complete Second Season

Overview -

Following the events of the first season, The Complete Second Season ups the ante of outrageousness, taking Holliston to a wide range of unexpected places. Highlights include the series' first animated episode, finding the town attacked by a giant blob; a Ringu-inspired J-Horror episode; a Found Footage episode; and a special season finale that boasts two special musical performances by the talented cast, as well as a shocking final scene that will raise the dead.

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Blu-ray
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
240
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.78:1
Audio Formats:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English
Special Features:
Audio Commentaries
Release Date:
April 8th, 2014

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

I'm so happy that this horror/comedy tv series from Adam Green and Joe Lynch came back for a second season. What's more, this season trumped the first! The inaugural season of 'Holliston' offered viewers a new and original take on the sitcom. It was also the first original series to air on the FearNet network, which is a channel dedicated to everything in the horror genre. It received quite a bit of good ratings from critics and fans across the globe, who have expressed their love for it, as it truly plays to us horror, comic book, and film geeks. Green and Lynch, who are clearly geeks themselves, made this for those who appreciate the likes of Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, and tons of gore.

The first season was packed with great horror movie cameos, and this second season out does the last with that regard. If you haven't seen this amazing show, I suggest you pick up the first season, so you can be primed and ready. 'Holliston' is like the show 'Big Bang Theory', but for the horror film crowd, or like 'Friends', but with 'Evil Dead 2' elements. If that doesn't peak your interest, I don't know what will. The whole gist of the story is that Adam and Joe, who play less successful versions of themselves, are aspiring horror filmmakers. The one thing these two want to do more than anything is make a gory horror movie that will change the world. However, they just can't seem to break into the business, so they work at a local cable access network run by the hilarious, flamboyant Lance Rockett (Dee Snider from 'Twisted Sister'). In their spare time, Joe and Adam make low budget horror movie shorts in the hopes that some big director will discover them.

They're joined by their girlfriends Corri and Laura (Corrie English and Laura Ortiz), although one of these relationships seems one-sided for comedic hilarity. Meanwhile, Adam has an imaginary friend who lives in his closet, who is Dave Brockie aka Oderus Urungus from the heavy metal band 'GWAR'. Brokie recently passed away, and will be hugely missed if they decide to do future seasons. It was a sour note to watch these again, knowing that he died a few weeks ago. That is more or less the big overall plot of the show.

In each episode, Adam and Joe pack the show with great references to horror movies, gore, and wonderful cameos. If you don't watch a lot of horror movies, some of the jokes will go over your head, but if you're an avid horror fan like me, this series will speak volumes to you and will have you in stitches throughout. There are 11 episodes in total, which includes a Christmas Special that aired between seasons one and two. You can expect werewolves, zombies, a giant blob, a supernatural videotape, a suicidal serial killer, and hilarious and awkward situations between this lovable and charming foursome. After just watching an episode or two, you will want to be life long friends with these guys.

Cameos this season include, Kane Hodder, Sid Haig, Bill Mosley, Seth Green, Danielle Harris, a very funny Paul Solet, and David Naughton. If you don't know who any of those people are, then you probably won't enjoy the show. There is some advancement with the relationships in this season that go into some genuine endearing moments, which surprised me. Add to that, the treasure trove of laughs and thrills, you get the second season of 'Holliston'. I only hope there is a third season on the way.

Video Review

Ranking:

'Holliston' Season 2 comes with a great 1080p HD transfer presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Much like a sitcom in high-definition on primetime television, 'Holliston' looks just as good with excellent detail, depth, and bright colors throughout. The detail is very vivid and sharp with well defined closeups that show excellent individual hairs, fine texturing in costumes, and great makeup effects such as guts, gore, and blood.

The depth of the sets in the house and the exterior shots outside both look amazing with every prop and actor looking great. Nothing looks flat here. The colors pop and are will-saturated. For being a horror themed show, it's surprisingly bright. The black levels are deep and inky, and the skin tones are natural and smooth. There is a small bit of video noise, but it's nothing to write home about. There are no banding issue or any other compressions problems to speak of. This is a great video presentation.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This release comes with a solid lossless DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix and I wish most sitcoms sounded this fun. The dialogue is always crystal clear and easy to understand, and is free of any pops, cracks, and hissing. Since this is a horror tv series, there are quite a lot more of ambient noises, music crescendos, and sound effects than there would be in a straight comedy or drama series. The sound effects are full and sound great from the surrounds.

The dynamic range is very wide with low deep growls to high pitch screams. The music is always fun and well balanced too, and it never drowns out the dialogue. The sound is loud, vibrant, and full of life. When the bass kicks in, it will rumble your walls. You're not going to receive the same sound as you would from a big action blockbuster, but for a low-budget sitcom, the audio presentation here is top notch.

Special Features

Ranking:

Audio Commentaries - Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Laura Ortiz and co-director Sean Becker offer a fun and fact filled commentary on each episode except for one. They discuss the origins for the episodes, hilarious anecdotes while filming, and praise for their cameo co-stars. These were a lot of fun to listen to.

Behind The Scenes (HD, 15 mins.) - Here is very fun behind the scenes extra that has Dee Snider discussing his costumes and the rest of the cast and crew talking about making season 2 and working with the cameo stars, and also their season 2 premiere is covered here. It's bitter sweet to see Oderus on here talking, but is quite a lot of fun.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 28 mins.) - There are 11 deleted scenes in total here and are located on the 'episodes' option of the main menu and not in the extras. Each deleted scene is intro'd by Adam Green in detail. Great deleted scenes here. Really enjoyed them. 

Table Read (HD, 30 mins.) - The cast of the show do a full table read of one of the episodes at a media convention and is quite the treat to see here.

Gag Reel (HD, 6 mins.) - A hilarious yet standard blooper reel with tons of laughs, flubbed lines, and missed spots. This is one of the better gag reels I've seen.

Music Videos (HD, 13 mins.) - There are three music videos here consisting of something from GWAR, Dee Snider, and Brokedown Cadillac which features Corri English from the show. 

'Hollistons' second season is just as good if not better than the first. It's chock full of laughs, blood, horror references, and amazing cameos. There is actually quite a bit of heart and soul in this series, especially in this season too and is not all blood and laughs, which was very nice and made us feel closer to these characters. The video and audio are top notch here and the extras are highly entertaining and worth watching and listening to. Just like the first season, this release is highly recommended and receives top marks.