John Travolta makes no winking cameos in the gaming horror flick Stay Alive,
and it’s probably for the best. Shot on location outside the swampy
environs of New Orleans, and cast with a passel of young, on-hiatus TV
stars, the movie scores some middling points for its conceit, and the
manner in which it attempts to blend big screen narrative with teens’
burgeoning appetites for the interactive and participatory thrills that
videogames provide. But in the end it amounts to just trading one set
of familiar clichés for another, although this unrated version — which
runs around 15 minutes longer than the PG-13-rated theatrical cut,
which rung up $23 million at the box office this March and April —
plays a bit better and more well-rounded.

The story? The real world and the world of devoted gaming gruesomely
collide when a group of friends get sucked into the beta version of the
titular videogame, a title that kills the gamer whose character dies in
play. In a death-defying race against time, the survivors, including
Hutch (Jon Foster), Abigail (Samaire Armstrong), pipsqueak Swink
(Frankie Muniz), October (Sophia Bush) and her wiseass brother Phineas
(Jimmi Simpson, bringing some much-appreciated levity to the early
proceedings), must work together to solve the mystery of the game —
based on a real-life 17th century noblewoman known as “The Blood
Countess” — all while desperately trying to evoke Travolta’s dance
moves from the misguided sequel to Saturday Night Fever… err,
no, no, I mean, simply stay alive. Investigating the case from the
outside in — which is to say, expressing incredulity regarding the
kids’ story — is Detective Thibodeaux (Wendell Pierce).

Packaged in a regular Amray case, Stay Alive is presented in
2.35:1 widescreen, enhanced for 16×9 televisions. A Dolby digital 5.1
surround sound audio mix pumps up the aural horror, alongside optional
French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include a short visual
effects reel that cuts together, music video-style, a clutch of
artists’ drawings and conceptual work. There’s also an interactive
bonus menu template, sort of laid over the regular DVD menu, which
allows you to “build” a character from several traits, and then flash
forward to see what happens to you after your selections. It’s an
intriguing and somewhat freaky little gambit, but one that ultimately
doesn’t have too much replay value, so limited are its branching
options.

There’s also an audio commentary track from writers Matthew Peterman
and William Brent Bell (the latter of whom also directs), in which the
pair discuss and joke about the challenges of mounting their
independently financed $10 million production (hence the 15 credited
producers!), the research that went into the project and centered
around the real-life Elizabeth Bathory (who allegedly killed 650 girls
in Romania and bathed in a tub of their blood) and the introduction of
an entirely new character, Alice Kreig in the longer cut of the film.
It’s a breezy, enjoyable offering, grounded in reality and refreshingly
cognizant of and honest about some the movie’s shortcomings. C- (Movie) C+ (Disc)