As I write this in mid-May, Get Out stands as the sixth highest-grossing movie of 2017 in the US. By the time the year ends, the film certainly will reside much lower on the list, as its $174 million gross will get overtaken by many a blockbuster to come. Get Out might not even make the year-end top 15, honestly.

And yet I also think it’s likely that Get Out will wind up as 2017’s biggest surprise hit. A low-budget flick from a writer/director out of his usual comedic element, the movie came with zero hype, but glowing reviews and excellent word of mouth made it a sleeper smash.

As their relationship grows more serious, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) goes on a weekend trek with his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to meet her wealthy parents Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener). The kicker? Chris is black, Rose is white and she never told her family of the racial difference.

Despite this, all seems to go well at the Armitage estate – Rose’s family may try too hard to seem open-minded, but nothing bad occurs. However, strange occurrences start to mount that make Chris fear for his safety.

My first awareness of Get Out came when my favorite movie chain ran a promotion: if you saw enough Universal releases from a short list, you’d earn bonuses. I heard pre-release hype for the other three - Split, Fifty Shades Darker and Great Wall - but no knowledge of Get Out had reached me.

When I looked it up, I saw it was a horror film and Jordan Peele wrote/directed it. That led to an assumption, as I figured Get Out must offer a comedy-horror hybrid.

After all, prior to this release, Peele was famous exclusively for comedic work, mainly via his popular series Key & Peele. Clearly Peele would make another laughfest, right?

Nope. While Get Out comes with occasional comedic elements, it mainly stays on the creepy side.

Which is the film’s main orientation, as it doesn’t usually go for the overt scares. That makes it a nice switch from the usual 21st horror flick, as most of those do little more than pack one “jolt moment” after another without any real development or terror.

Much more character-based, Get Out offers a slow build. Actually, the film comes with a prologue that provides a quick thriller moment, and I have to assume that scene exists mainly to make sure audiences don’t get too impatient. Without this opener, we’d wait a long time for the plot to move into more traditional scare mode.

That would be fine with me, but I don’t mind the prelude. It sets the table well but doesn’t feel intrusive or out of place.

Once we meet Chris and Rose, Get Out traces a natural, involving path that manages to develop its characters and situations well. Like a good horror movie, it straddles a line that allows for our lead to seem perceptive and perhaps paranoid at the same time.

That’s crucial for a “slow burn” flick like this. I don’t want a psychological horror tale that telegraphs its notions, so I enjoy the manner in which it builds the creepy environment around Chris.

Is there really spooky weirdness at work or Chris he just hyper-conscious around well-meaning but patronizing white people? For much of its running time, Get Out allows for either possibility to work, and that makes it more tense than a more blunt story would be.

Get Out does drop hints along the way, and those allow for it to remain enjoyable on second viewing. The first time through, we find ourselves caught by surprise much of the way, but subsequent screenings give us the chance to see the framework Peele establishes and appreciate the small but crucial clues.

While Get Out shows its influences, it still manages to feel original and creative. Sure, we see some Hitchcock here and some Polanski there, but the film doesn’t come across like influences in search of its own personality.

Add to that a capable, professional cast as well as insightful social commentary and Get Out becomes a cinematic breath of fresh air. It deserves its success.

Get Out appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, the movie presented strong visuals.

Overall definition seemed good. A few interiors showed a smidgen of softness, but those elements remained modest, as the film usually appeared accurate and concise. Jagged edges and moiré effects didn’t mar the presentation, and I saw no edge haloes. Outside of one tiny speck, print flaws also failed to appear.

In terms of palette, Get Out went with a standard orange and teal orientation. Within stylistic choices, the hues seemed well-depicted. Blacks were dark and dense, and low-light shots gave us good clarity. I felt pleased with this transfer.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, it offered a mostly typical horror movie soundscape. This meant a fair amount creepy atmosphere and occasional “jolt moments”. Along with good stereo music, the soundfield was able to open things up in a satisfying manner that embellished the story; the mix didn’t dazzle, but it worked fine.

Audio quality was always good. Music appeared full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Speech was natural and distinctive throughout the film. Again, this wasn’t a heavily active track, but it made sense for the story.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from writer/director Jordan Peele. He offers a running, screen-specific look at influences, story/characters, cast and performances, music, social issues and related topics.

Peele gives us a lively look at his film via this involving commentary. He covers the requisite subjects well and mixes in a little humor along the way. Peele brings us a fine chat.

11 Deleted Scenes fill a total of 23 minutes, three seconds. Many of these extend existing sequences, and we also get some alternate lines, most of which come from the Rod character. They’re fun but not important.

We can view these scenes with or without commentary from Peele. He tells us basics about the clips and lets us know why they didn’t make the film, so he covers the snippets well.

An Alternate Ending goes for three minutes, 39 seconds. It offers a darker, less crowd-pleasing finale, one that might be more realistic but also one that would send home viewers on a less happy note. Though I like bleak finales, I prefer the cheerier finish in the theatrical version.

The “Alternate Ending” also comes with optional commentary from Peele. He explains the origins of this version – the original conclusion – and tells us why he changed it. Peele presents nice insights into the scene and why it didn’t make the film.

Unveiling the Horror of Get Out goes for eight minutes, 50 seconds. It features Peele, producers Jason Blum and Sean McKittrick, and actors Allison Williams, Betty Gabriel, Bradley Whitford, Marcus Henderson, Daniel Kaluuuya.

“Unveiling” looks at the film’s origins and development, story/characters, Peele’s work as a first-time director, and themes. Some decent notes emerge, but most of the piece seems superficial – and it comes with scads of spoilers, so don’t watch it if you’ve not already seen the film.

Finally, we get a Q&A Discussion. During this five-minute, 28-second reel, we hear from Peele, Kaluuya, Williams, and actor Lil Rel Howery. They give us a few movie-related basics in this passable overview.

The disc opens with ads for Split, The Mummy (2017), Sleepless, The Bye Bye Man, Cult of Chucky and Incarnate. No trailer for Get Out appears here.

A second disc presents a DVD copy of Out. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

Never would I expect comedian Jordan Peele to make his directorial debut with a horror tale, and the film’s high quality becomes an even bigger surprise. Get Out delivers a rich, clever and entertaining tale that allow it to become much better than the usual genre flick. The Blu—ray provides good picture and audio along with some useful supplements. Get Out turns into one of 2017’s most pleasant surprises.