Sliver 4K UHD Review: 1993 Sharon Stone Erotic Thriller

Sharon Stone stars… err, sorry. Sharon Stone’s body stars in Sliver, a follow-up project to Basic Instinct for Stone, only Sliver carries none of the style or verve of that prior film.

It’s not Stone’s fault – she’s fine, a woman surrounded by abusive, manipulative men inside an apartment building that’s soon to be condemned with the number of dead bodies it eventually holds. If Sliver does anything right, it’s depicting a woman trapped even in her own apartment, living with fear and anxiety that she cannot escape, caused by the men in her life.

As for the rest, it’s a static, dull thriller without much of a pulse, partly the fault of William Baldwin whose dismal, listless performance suggests a social awkwardness, or even a discomfort except when manipulating women. Sliver’s gimmick, that Baldwin owns this apartment complex and rigged every room with cameras and microphones, is a surreal touch. It plays into an early ‘90s voyeurism at a time when cameras and VCRs were beginning to become ubiquitous. That Baldwin’s character is a videogame designer means nothing other than to explain his tech obsession.

Sliver isn’t without its successful moments, notably a stairwell encounter, steeped in lavish shadows and excellent editing – at least until it cuts away from the action, diminishing the impact. The rest is an excuse for sex – lots of it – becoming a fetish film in a pre-internet era, and being open about it. Sliver isn’t confident though, staging conversations in Stone’s office about vibrators as if sultry enough to elicit titillation. Maybe years of media consumption and waning standards about these things have medicated the once mighty sexual thriller, or Sliver is just forcing things. Probably the latter – err, sorry again. It is the latter.

Everything in Sliver is meant to look and feel exotic or wealthy. The apartments are paid for with high-end, New York jobs, and filled with classy stereo systems, butting up against lavish artistry. It’s a fantasy world, to an extent, but one exposing a genuine fear for women that ends up feeling exploitative. For a movie made on the back of Basic Instinct, that’s hardly surprising.

This isn’t a knock-out transfer, but it’s a good one of a somewhat bland source. The 4K master shows through, with overall excellent sharpness. Definition doesn’t soar due to the weaker source lighting, but the resolution still makes an impression. This happens behind a jumpy grain structure that Vinegar Syndrome’s encode manages to keep a hold of. The print itself has a few remaining specks, but they’re almost imperceptible unless watching for them.

Color doesn’t pounce either, flesh tones flat and primaries dry. It fits the tone. Dolby Vision makes a menial impact, black levels hearty and the contrast bright, but never pushing nits particularly high (although some candles hit a nice peak).

An original 5.1 track in DTS-HD joins a stereo downmix. The default 5.1 is a pleasing effort, staged widely as to capture doors and voices in distinct channels depending on the scene. Inside a voyeur room, the various audio sources split the front soundstage without issue, and this all sounds natural. The laundry room offers some great motion and enhances the fear as sound drifts into every channel around Stone.

Dialog sounds a touch worn, but fidelity otherwise holds firm. There are no such issues with the bold, dynamic score, which introduces some stellar throbbing lows.

Director Phillip Noyce speaks for 32-minutes on his work, beginning the bonus features. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas chats for 12-minutes in an interview. Actress Coleen Camp takes nine-minutes to speak her thoughts. Archival interviews and EPK footage (including footage from the R-rated cut) join stills and the trailer.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 32 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: