Educational Media Reviews Online

Bierce's entry in volume 139 of Gale Research Inc.'s Contemporary Authors notes that he "was known by his contemporaries for his scathing satirical wit and his dark view of the human condition." This dark, somewhat Poe-like, attitude is clearly reflected in this video adaptation of Bierce's short story, An Arrest, recounting the escape, and ultimate recapture, of a man condemned to hang. The staging is tight, almost sparse, without seeming cheap or claustrophobic. Boland makes excellent use of both the interiors and exteriors of the Big Sky Movie Ranch in Simi Valley, California, as well as of the fog-shrouded woods and streams of the location shooting in the U.S. Forest Service's Arroyo Seco Ranger District in La Canada, California. The acting is solid and confident, and original music composed and conducted by Gregor Narholz lends a great deal to the overall atmosphere of darkness, oppression, and eeriness. In short, the production values and presentation are excellent.

However, in terms of actual content, another quote from Gale's Contemporary Authors about Bierce (this time specifically referring to his journalistic work) seems fitting: "As critics were to point out over the years, Bierce had a tendency to expend a great deal of energy in knocking about relative nonentities." Likewise, Boland seems to have expended a great deal of effort and talent to produce a worthy adaptation of a story that, while assuredly eerie and dark, is also at its heart rather suspenseless, being generically familiar enough to border on the hackneyed. Boland has produced an excellent adaptation of a work that probably did not deserve the effort. Recommended if an adaptation of this story is needed.