In the opening minutes of Nurse, director Douglas Aarniokoski promises that the next 70 minutes of the feature will be devoted to an atmosphere of sleaziness so thick and colorfully B-movie, it will be impossible to resist. While Nurse doesn’t quite meet those lofty goals, it does manage to provide some deliciously colorful and fun moments. This isn’t intellectual stuff, but if you enjoy “body count” horror with a simple but serviceable plot, Nurse is perfect for you.
Paz de la Huerta plays Abby Russell, a successful nurse at a New York hospital. During the day, Abby values her role as a caregiver to the suffering. At night, Abby sets out to destroy married men on the prowl for infidelity, luring them into her web with irresistible sex appeal, and then killing them off with medical instruments. Abby has a serious distaste for philandering men.
When Abby has a wild night with a newly arrived nurse named Danni (Katrina Bowden), it soon becomes an obsession. Call it Single White Female for the 21st century, as Abby falls in lust with Danni. The males in Danni’s life—her loyal boyfriend Steve (Corbin Bleu) and her cheating step-dad (Martin Donovan)—find their lives in danger, as April tries to make sure she will have Danni all to herself.
Despite the horror of it all, Douglas Aarniokoski has interjected some real humor into things, and certainly isn’t afraid to sex things up (de la Huerta spends most of the movie half naked). Even when the leading ladies are dressed for work, the nurses’ uniforms look like they came straight off a porno set. Stylishly crafted, Aarniokoski does a decent job with the framing and lighting, but the suspense isn’t a priority, as we are simply given scenes of Abby doing ultraviolent things, without much thought or buildup, and the gore is mostly amplified CGI, and not particularly scary. Even so, Nurse is cheesy fun. Paz de la Huerta and the rest of the actors do a fine job with their roles, but it’s doubtful that anyone watching this will be evaluating acting ability.
Presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, Nurse was shot on high end digital video, meaning it’s free of digital anomalies. Color reproduction is bright, bold, and well saturated and detail is solid. Skin tones look natural and DNR or edge enhancement doesn’t appear to have been used.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is fitting for the film. Surround activity is in evidence throughout, whether it be during an action scene or more subdued moment. The bass on display during club scenes comes through powerfully, but the low end stays strong no matter the circumstance. Dialogue is clean and crisp from start to finish.
English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.
The following extras are included:
- Audio Commentary: Director Douglas Aarniokoski discusses the filming process, working with the cast and crew, the effects, script, and more.
- Bad Medicine: The Making of Nurse (HD, 8:08) This featurette offers a peak behind the scenes with the cast and crew. Various cast members discuss what attracted them to the movie, and the filming process.
- Video Diaries (HD, 5:47) Katrina Bowden and Corbin Bleu took some footage of themselves doing various things (fun and work related) during filming.
- · 3D Blu-ray of the film.
- UltraViolet Digital HD copy of the film.