OFF BALANCE (1987)
aka Phantom of Death
aka Un Delitto Poco Comune
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 57 Seconds
Audio: English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Cast: Michael York, Donald Pleasence, Edwige Fenech, Giovanni Lombardo Radice
Another Italian rarity gets the Cauldron Films Blu-ray treatment, this time it's Off Balance (1987) aka Phantom of Death from director Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust), starring Michael York (Logan's Run) as the virtuosic pianist Robert Dominici who begins a violent at the top of his game stricken with a rare form of progeria that starts to rot his brain and his mind at an accelerated rate. At the top of the film we see him playing a concert, this is intercut with scenes of a young woman bring brutally murdered by a sword to the neck, followed by near Tenebrae levels of the groovy red stuff. At the top of his game professionally we find Robert having not one but two love interests by way of his girlfriend Susanna (Mapi Galan, The City of Lost Children) and attractive fashion designer Helene (giallo-queen Edwige Fenech, The Case of the Bloody Iris).
Another Italian rarity gets the Cauldron Films Blu-ray treatment, this time it's Off Balance (1987) aka Phantom of Death from director Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust), starring Michael York (Logan's Run) as the virtuosic pianist Robert Dominici who begins a violent at the top of his game stricken with a rare form of progeria that starts to rot his brain and his mind at an accelerated rate. At the top of the film we see him playing a concert, this is intercut with scenes of a young woman bring brutally murdered by a sword to the neck, followed by near Tenebrae levels of the groovy red stuff. At the top of his game professionally we find Robert having not one but two love interests by way of his girlfriend Susanna (Mapi Galan, The City of Lost Children) and attractive fashion designer Helene (giallo-queen Edwige Fenech, The Case of the Bloody Iris).
Meanwhile police inspector Daddi (Donald Pleasence, Raw Meat) begins to investigate the murder of the woman earlier, who turns out to have been a scientist. Soon after Robert's girlfriend is murdered at a train station on her way to meet with Robert, freeing him up to pursue the relationship with Helene. The film starts off as a bit of a giallo-esque whodunit with the murder unseen, but the identity of the killer is revealed pretty early on, so spoilers ahead.
It turns out that Robert's disease is warping his mind, and he is quickly becoming unhinged as he begins to rapidly age, setting about on a wild, murderous rampage, seemingly killing anyone who reminds him of his diminishing youth. All the while he phones Inspector Datti anonymously and taunts him throughout the investigation, making threats against his flute-blowing daughter Gloria (Antonella Ponziani). Datti is initially unaware that it is Robert who is the killer, or that he has been stricken with the disease, which makes identifying the killer difficult since eye witness accounts portray the killer as a man in his thirties, and then in his 50's, and then elderly, so it's hard to pin him down.
We get some splashy special effects by Dino Galiano (Four Flies on Grey Velvet), the kills being a highlight of this later era thriller, the scene of Susanna's death by sword to the throat followed by an Argento-esque head-first crash through a window was a definite highlight. Another scene of Robert encountering a man in a gas station bathroom who makes an off-handed comment about aging also suffer his wrath rather brutally. Other kills include a sword to the neck, a table lamp to the neck, and a good old fashioned razor blade across the throat. As far as special effects go there are a few that aren't great, the decapitation scene in a dream looks terrible, and the progressive old-age make-ups vary from good to terrible, but the murder set-pieces are all well done.
The film has a lot of weird elements and choices being made, none more so than the scenes of York training in the martial arts which never seems to come into play other than a dream sequence in which he chops of his master's head! In some territories the fim was titled Phantom of Death, and seeing how Robert is a musician and plays concert halls it would seem an appropriate spin on The Phantom of the Opera, but a clumsy scene of Robert wearing a Phantom-esque mask walking into a concert hall with a cloak does seem sorely out of place.
There are some fun cat and mouse moments of the elderly looking Robert evading Datti, and while Pleasance was in his advanced years here he is quite good still, though coming off as pretty much a variation on his Dr. Loomis character. I thought York was pretty great, I have always thought of him as being emotionally-cold as an actor but I have not seen him in a ton of stuff either, and I thought his transformation from handsome and passionate musical genius to demented and disease stricken killer was well-handled, especially as he sets out to kill Helene, who becomes pregnant with his child, realizing the offspring might also be afflicted with his same disease he convinces himself he must kill her and the child.
It's a weird flick for sure, coming off as a psychological slasher with giallo-esue elements that is perhaps stymied by the revel of the killer perhaps a bit too early, but still a fun Italian horror romp with some nicely splashy set-pieces, enhanced by a synth score from Pinno Dionaggi (Dressed To Kill). Not top-tier Deodato by any means, even he was not a huge fan of it, but as he's since passed I took great pleasure in discovering this somewhat obscure late-era slasher from Deodato thanks to the good work of Cauldron Films.
Audio/Video: Cauldron Films presents Off Balance on Blu-ray, uncut and restored in 2K from the camera negative, framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. It looks quite good in HD, it looks filmic, there;s nice color saturation, solid black levels and modest death and clarity. Audio comes by way of English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. I preferred the English track, it was clearer and had more depth to it, plus it features York and Pleasances' actual voices which is always a plus. Both tracks are clean though, I just preferred the English track personally.
Extras on the Cauldron release include a new Audio Commentary with Italian cult film experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth that is well-informed and entertaining, covering quite a bit about the production, cast and crew; plus we get a candid 34-min An Uncommon Director - An interview with Ruggero Deodato, one of the final interviews with the controversial director filmed July 2022; wherein he discusses how this was not a film he felt passionate about, disagreements with the producers, how he wanted Kelly LeBrock (Weird Science) instead of Fenech, how much he appreciated Pleasance as an acting professional, and some less flattering gab about York and Fenech. He also discusses how Cannibal Holocaust was a bit of an albatross around his neck and took a lot of the oxygen out of his career, but then he never stops talking about it, so... Disc extras are finished up with a English and Italian Trailers.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Blu-ray Wrap featuring a front new cover illustration by Eric Adrian Lee, and the alternate “Phantom of Death” artwork that I think was featured on the Vidmark Entertainment VHS release. The film was also previously available as a now OOP Limited Blu-ray/CD w/ Slipcase release from Cauldron Films.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Italian cult film experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
- Audio Commentary with Italian cult film experts Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
- An Uncommon Director - An interview with Ruggero Deodato, one of the final interviews with the controversial director filmed July 2022 (33:50)
- Trailers: English (3:21) and Italian
- Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate “Phantom of Death” artwork
- Front cover artwork by Eric Adrian Lee
- Trailers: English (3:21) and Italian
- Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate “Phantom of Death” artwork
- Front cover artwork by Eric Adrian Lee
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