SUSPIRIA (1977) (40th Anniversary Blu-ray Review)

SUSPIRIA (1977) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment 
Rating: R
Region Code: Region-Free
Duration: 99 Minutes 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, Italian DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles  
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Flavio Bucci, Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Joan Bennet, Eva Axen, Alida Valli

Suspiria (1977) is a surreal masterpiece of 70's Italian horror cinema, the penultimate achievement by director Dario Argento which has weathered the past 40 years with a supernatural grace rarely afforded genre cinema, from the first frame to the last each image is lensed with a painterly vision, drenched in dread and skin-crawling atmosphere, the kind of tension filled horror that leaves a lasting impression and one that is not easily forgotten.

The story is a dark fairy tale, an American ballet student Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper, Phantom of the Paradise) arrives late one night in Frieburg, Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy run by Madame Blanc (Joan Bennet, Dark Shadows). Upon arriving at the school she witnesses Pat (Eva Axen), a young woman fleeing the academy, she bursts out the front door and utters a few near incomprehensible words to a person unseen, then frantically escapes down a path through a nearby wooded area, it's pouring rain outside. Suzy herself is unable to gain entrance to the academy and takes a taxi back into town, we then follow Pat into town where she winds up at the apartment of a friend. While settling in for the night and drying her hair she stares out the window of the apartment and is startled by two burning eyes peering back at her through the darkness, just then a hairy arm breaks through the window pane and stabs her repeatedly, it's a tense and gripping moment, the Goblin score is overpowering, every time I watch the scene my heart begins beating right out of my chest, this happens every time I watch it. Unable to help her friend flees downstairs, as she runs across the lobby to the front door she is horrified as Pat's corpse crashes though a stained-glass ceiling with a noose around her neck, and the friend is fatally impaled by falling shards of glass. Not to overstate it, but this is one of the greatest horror openings ever, just barely a few minutes into the film it's already built up to an nerve-shattering crescendo and we only just getting started!

These opening scenes are overwhelming, loaded  with lush, vibrant
colors, the lighting is heightened, unnatural and fantastical, immediately we are aware of it's nightmarish quality, setting the stage for something extraordinary. The architecture and set design are key aspects of the visuals, when Suzy arrives outside the academy during the torrential downpour we are struck by how vibrantly red and gold-trimmed the exteriors are, there's a weird and wonderful symmetry to everything, it's peculiar stuff and is purely cinematic, I love the crushed blue velvet walls at the academy, it's great stuff.

The next day Suzy, unaware of the bizarre events from the night before, returns to the academy and is introduced to Madame Blanc and the stern dance instructor Miss Tanner (Alida Valli, Eyes Without a Face) and quickly meets Sarah (Stefani Casini, Bloodstained Shadow) a student who was previously friends with the unfortunate Pat. At first Suzy insists on living off campus but before she can leave the school she becomes dizzy and disoriented after an encounter with the school's lunch lady. Ill she remains at the school where a doctor prescribes to her a bland diet daily glass of wine, she winds up sharing a room with Sarah who in turn tells her strange stories about her former roommate Pat and the weird things she spoke of before she mysteriously disappeared into the night.

There's a odd air about the academy, it feels weird and it turns out Pat's not the only student to have gone missing. Suzy quickly begins to suspect that something not quite right is happening at the school, it's with these fears that she meets with Sarah's friend Dr. Mandel (Udo Kier, My Own Private Idaho) who further informs her of the schools dark history, it having been founded by the mysterious Helen Markos, a suspected witch known as the Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs. With this information she returns to the academy, continuing the great Argento tradition of protagonist recalling something overheard or seen earlier but not-quite-comprehended till later, she investigates further leading to a wonderfully fantastic and fiery crescendo to an altogether stunning supernatural thriller.

More so than any other film I've ever seen Suspiria benefits heavily from the intense atmosphere and dread created by the conjoining of Argento's painterly lensing, courtesy of cinematographer Luciano Tovoli  (Titus), and Goblin's haunting and pulse-pounding score. I think there's little doubt this would be a lesser movie without the score and visuals melding, the two are conjoined seamlessly. At some points the score actually drowns out dialogue, as a purely cinematic experience separate from narrative it's completely successful, Suspiria is a film that does not rely on a linear narrative and plot to accomplish what Argento set out to do, make a frightful, arthouse fairy tale for the ages, it's startling today so it must have been a revelation back in '77!

Audio/Video: Dario Argento's Suspira (1977) arrives on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1, and looks to be sourced from the same 4K restoration from the original camera negative done by TLE Films with what looks to be a new encode. The image is strong, colors are vibrant and deeply saturated, fine detail is abundant, and black levels are inky and deep, this simply looks great and surpasses Umbrella's previous 2012 Blu-ray. As this is sourced from the TLE Films 4K restoration there are some notable distinction in regard to the image, we have the problematic pinkinsh reds, the prevalent yellow and green hues, and contrast issues, si if you had issues with the UK and Italian releases the same will apply to this version. I believe that most fans are aware that Synapse Films are releasing a Steelbook Limited Edition this month, and while that has yet to be released I have seen the 4K DCP and it's a stunner. Synapse released some screen caps from their own 4K restoration of the film n their site, and the new color grading, as supervised and approved by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, do indeed show a significant change in the color grading as pictured below:

UMBRELLA: TOP

SYNAPSE: BOTTOM

Onto the audio, we have three options on the disc, which can be navigated through the audio button, there are no audio options on the menu, so you will have to toggle the audio button to access them all. We have a new 2017 surround mix, the original 2012 Blu-ray audio, and Italian - all in DTS-HD MA Surround with optional English subtitles. The first track, the 2017 mix, is the strongest and more powerful of the three, with the Goblin score coming through with some serious depth. I've always preferred the English audio over the Italian, the older 2012 audio mix is a bit weak when compared to the 2017 mix, and the Italian track also lacks depth. 

Onto the extras for Suspiria Umbrella carry over all the extras from their 2012 Blu-ray release, and add a few new extras. First the old, we get the 35-min 'Fear at 400 Degrees: the Cine-Excess of Suspiria' , the 52-min 25th Anniversary Suspiria Documentary, Leon Ferguson's 57-min doc 'Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror' , and the 21-min 2004 interview with Dario Argento. These are all great docs, and are serious value-add extras, none of which have been announced to appear on the forthcoming Synapse release.  

Now the new stuff, we get a brand new 40th anniversary interview with director Dario Argento, interviewed by Variety's Nick Vivarelli. It's a good interview, Vivarelli speaks English and Argento responds in Italian with English subtitles. Another new addition is the inclusion of director Michael Soavi’s 71-min doc 'Dario Argento’s World Of Horror', covering Argento's career from the beginning through the mid-80's. 

The disc is finished up with an expanded Dario Argento trailer reel covering '70 through 2009, US and international trailers, radio and TV spots and an extensive image gallery. The single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a 15mm spine Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring a variation on the classic dancer motif associated with the film by Umbrella staff artist/designer Simon Sherry, the reverse side features a variant of the same artwork minus the rating label. The disc itself features an excerpt from the artwork, that when seated in the Blu-ray cases lines up perfectly with the reverse artwork on the b-side.  The sleeve indicates this is a region b locked presentation, however the main feature played just fine on both of my region A Blu-ray players, although it's worth noting that a few of the extras did not play on one of my players.  

Special Features: 
- Suspiria Told by Dario Argento: An Interview with Dario Argento and Nick Vivarelli on Suspiria's 40th Anniversary (27 min) 
- 25th Anniversary Suspiria Documentary (52 min) 
- Exclusive Interview with Dario Argento (2004) (21 min) 
- 'Fear at 400 Degrees: the Cine-Excess of Suspiria' (35 min) 
- Documentary 'An Eye For Horror' (57 min) 
- Documentary 'Dario Argento's World of Horror' (71 min) 
- Image Gallery (50 min) 
- International Trailer (2 min) 
- U.S. Theatrical Trailer (1 min 
- TV Spot (1 min) 
- Radio Spots (1 min) 
- Dario Argento Trailer Reel (1970-2009)(41 min)

Suspiria (1977) is a surreal masterpiece of arthouse horror, a technicolor nightmare of hallucinatory fright that stands as Argento's supreme cinematic achievement in my opinion. This new Blu-ray from Umbrella looks and sounds fantastic and is loaded with some great well-rounded extras which make this a worthy addition to your collection. 

Blu-ray Review: SUSPIRIA (1977)

SUSPIRIA (1977) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment 

Rating: R
Region Code: B
Subtitles: None
Duration: 98 Minutes
Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
Actors: Flavio Bucci, Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Joan Bennet, Eva Axen, Alida Valli
Directors: Dario Argento

Synopsis: Jessica Harper (Phantom of the Paradise) stars as Suzy Banyon, a young American ballet dancer who arrives at a prestigious European dance academy run by the mysterious Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett, TV's Dark shadows) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli, Killer Nun). But when a series of bizarre incidents and horrific crimes (including what Entertainment Weekly calls "the most vicious murder scene ever filmed") turn the school into a waking nightmare of the damned, Suzy must escape the academy's unspeakable secret of supernatural evil. 

It would honestly be quite difficult for me to say anything about Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977) that hasn't been said before and more eloquently, too. It's a surreal masterpiece of 70's Italian horror, the penultimate achievement by Dario Argento and his gift to horror cinema, it has weathered the past 35 years with a supernatural grace rarely afforded genre cinema, from the first frame to the last each image is captured with a painterly vision, it's a film you could snatch any scene from and it would be a work of art unto itself, on top of that it's drenched in some gut-churning, skin-crawling atmosphere, it's the kind of horror that eaves a lasting impression and is not easily forgotten. So, just from this small paragraph you should know I am about to gush all over this film, embarrassingly so.

The story is the stuff of dark fairytales, an American ballet student (Jessica Harper, Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise) arrives late one night in Frieburg, Germany to attend a prestigious dance academy run by Madame Blanc (Joan Bennet, Dark Shadows). Upon arriving she witnesses Pat (Eva Axen), a young woman fleeing the academy, she bursts out the front door and utters some near incomprehensible words to a person unseen, then frantically escapes down a path through a wooded area, it's pouring rain outside. Suzy herself is unable to gain entrance to the academy and takes a taxi back into town. We then follow Pat into town where she winds up at the apartment of a friend. While drying her hair she stares out the second floor window and is startled by two burning eyes staring back at her, just as a hairy armed breaks through window pane and stabs her repeatedly, it's a tense and gripping moment, the Goblin score is overpowering and my heart is beating off the scale, this happens every time I watch it. She screams for her friends help and when she cannot gain entrance to the room she flees downstairs, as she runs across the lobby to the front door she is horrified when Pat's corpse crashes though a stained-glass ceiling, a noose around her neck stops her short of the floor and a large shard of glass lacerates her friends face and she is impaled to death by falling debris. Not to overstate it, but it's one of the greatest amped-up horror openings ever, just barely a few moments into the film it's already built up to an nerve-shattering crescendo and we are just getting started.

Just with these opening scenes we are overwhelmed as viewers with lush, vibrant primary colors, the lighting of the film is unnatural and fantastical, immediately we are aware of it's nightmarish quality, we are about to experience something extraordinary. The architecture and set design are just as striking, when Suzy arrives outside the academy during the torrential downpour we are struck by how vibrantly red the gold-trimmed exterior walls are, the set designs are outstanding, there's a weird and wonderful symmetry to everything, it's peculiar and baroque stuff and purely cinematic, when it comes to locations early era Argento was a the master, I love the crushed blue velvet walls at the academy, it's great stuff.

The next day Suzy, unaware of the bizarre events from the night before, returns to the academy and is introduced to Madame Blanc (Bennet) and instructor Miss Tanner (Alida Valli, Eyes Without a Face) and quickly meets Sarah (Stefani Casini) a student who was previously friends with the rather unfortunate Pat. At first Suzy insists on living off campus but before she can leave she becomes dizzy and disoriented by an encounter with the school's lunch lady. Under the weather she remains at the school where a doctor prescribes to her a daily glass of wine, she winds up sharing a room with Suzy who in turn tells her strange stories about her former roommate Pat and the weird things she spoke of before she mysteriously disappeared into the night.

There's a odd air about the academy, it feels weird and Pat's not the only student to go missing abruptly either. Suzy quickly begins to suspect that something not quite right is happening, it's with these fears that she meets with Sarah's friend Dr. Mandel (Udo Kier, My Own Private Idaho) who informs her of the schools dark history, it having been founded by the mysterious Helen Markos, a suspected witch known as the Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs. With this information she returns to the academy, continuing the great Argento tradition of protagonist recalling something overheard or seen earlier but not-quite-comprehended till later, she investigates further leading to a wonderfully fantastic and fiery crescendo to an altogether stunning supernatural thriller.

More so than any other film I've seen Suspiria benefits quite heavily from the intense atmosphere and dread created by the conjoining of Argento's poetic lensing and Goblin's haunting pulse pounder of a score, without the nightmarish fairytale themes from Goblin there can be little doubt this would be a lesser entry, the two are conjoined seamlessly. At some points the score drowns out dialogue, as a purely cinematic experience separate from narrative it's completely successful, Suspiria is a film that does not rely on a linear narrative to accomplish what Argento set out to do, make one Hell of a spooky, arthouse fairytale for the ages, it's starting now it must have been a revelation back in '77!

Blu-ray: Australia's Umbrella Entertainment do some fantastic work with OZploitation and b-movie cult classics releases with a usual array of excellent bonus content. They bring Dario Argento's crowning achievement Suspira (1977) to Region "B" locked Blu-ray with an AVC MPEG-4 encode in 1080p widescreen (2.35:1). No information is provided about the transfer but I believe this is the same 2007 Technicolor restoration master used on Blue Underground's 2-Disc Special Edition (2007). It would stand to reason that if you took issue with what you saw then you might have issues with it now, criticisms would be the overblown contrast, pinkish tones and the yellow color boosting. While I do not think it's as abhorrent as some might say the brightness and contrast boosting are problematic. I think this could go back to Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and Dario Argento's decision to shoot the film with the Technicolor 3-strip camera that has a more saturated effect, the camera system which was antiquated even in '77 was used to shoot both the Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939). I rather like the over-saturated look of the Blu-ray, it lends itself well to the surreal fairytale aspect of the story. I've seen the previous Anchor Bay's DVD edition and the colors seemed muted in comparison to what we have here but it's hard to say that the 2007 Restoration is any truer to the original color palate, would love to hear Argento or Tovoli's input on this. Regardless of what you think of the transfer and tweaking here the 1080p upgrade definitely boasts superior PQ over the previous standard definition DVD's with improved clarity and depth, fine detail gets a nice boost even if it wax and wanes from scene to scene. Overall it's a very nice 1080p presentation albeit with the inherent flaws found with the 2007 Restoration, which itself was supervised by Tovoli.  It's caused quite a bit of fuss over the years from critics and fans and reminds me a bit of Vittorio Storaro's controversial Univisium reframing of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) on Arrow Video's 2011 Blu-ray edition, I don't this is as egregious an affront as that but it's worth noting.

The English language 5.1 Dolby TrueHD is quite impressive, a definitive upgrade on all fronts, more depth, more oomph and Goblin's wicked score sounds superb, we are immersed in it like never before, it's a fantastic aural experience. There are no subtitle options and it's worth noting that no there is no Italian audio option either.

Umbrella Entertainment have stuffed this disc with great extras beginning with 'Fear at 400 Degrees: the Cine-Excess of Suspiria' Documentary (34:55) hosted by Director of Cine-Excess, Xavier Mendik. It's a thorough examination of the film with contributions from Kim Newman, Dario Argento and Claudio Simonetti that's peppered with clips and stills from the film and films inspired by Argento's work, many notable in their own right, including Sergio Martino's Torso (1973), Andrea Bianchi's Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975), Pupi Avati's The House with the Laughing Windows (1976) and Aldo Lado's Who Saw Her Die? (1972). It puts the film into context of the 70's era, it international success having a great effect on both Italian and French cinema at the time.

Ported over from the Blue Underground set is the 25th Anniversary Suspiria Documentary (51:00) a entertaining feature with interviews with Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento, Co-Writer Daria Nicolodi, Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, Composers Goblin (Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli & Agostino Marangolo), and Stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini and Udo Kier. This one really pulls you right into the making of the film. Daria Nicolodi talks about Argento's boredom with the crime genre and wanting to do something different, something supernatural, and basing the story on her own grandmother's experience at an elite school where it was aid that black magic was taught. Star Jessica Harper discusses having watched Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) and her excitement to work with the director, also the oddness of working on an Italian set where sound was not recorded on set, at the time it was standard practice to record all dialogue in post-production,  plus the uncomfortable experience of having maggots thrown in her hair. I particularly fond cinematographer Luciano Tovoli's interview as he spoke at length about experimenting with extreme color (inspired by Disney's Snow White), the unnatural tone of the film, strange lighting techniques, using the Technicolor 3-strip camera and a fun anecdote about working with Jennifer Jason Leigh on the set of Single White Female (1992), turns out she's quite a fan of the film. On a sad note it was heartbreaking to hear co-screenwriter Daria Nicolodi express her wishes to write the then as of yet unfilmed third film, Mother of Tears,  knowing now what we ended up with, it was heartbreaking as someone who enjoys this film and it's sequel Inferno (1980). 

As if the two documentaries were not enough Umbrella Entertainment also offer up Leon Ferguson's 2000 film 'Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror' Documentary' (57:58). Add it up, that's over 107 minutes of Argento/Suspiria documentaries on this disc! The near feature-length doc features interviews and commentary with Director John Carpenter, shock rocker Alice Cooper, effects master Tom Savini, George A. Romero, William Lustig, Jessica Harper, Asia Argento, Claudio Simonetti and TV Guide's Maitland McDonagh whom all offer praise for Argento's body of work. We get a brief history of Argento's early career beginning with co-writing Sergio Leonne's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) with Bernardo Bertolucci (Dreamers) right up through his then still-in-production film Sleepless (2001) which if you haven't seen I would say was Argento's last decent entry, a nice Giallo throwback featuring Max Van Sydow (The Exorcist).

The extras are rounded out with an interview with Dario Argento conducted in Italian with English subtitles, a Photo Gallery, Trailers and TV Spots plus an Argento Trailer Reel of six films including a very striking Italian one for Cat O' Nine Tails (1971). What more could I have wanted? It's a short list but let's begins with the audio commentary from Argento experts Alan Jones and Kim Newman that appeared on the UK Blu-ray, Italian Audio, and English subtitles, that said this is a very fine edition indeed and one I think you need in your collection.

Special Features: 

- 'Fear at 400 Degrees: the Cine-Excess of Suspiria' Documentary (34:55) HD
- 25th Anniversary Suspiria Documentary (1:49) HD
- Exclusive Interview with Dario Argento (21:00) 

- 'An Eye For Horror' Documentary (57:58) SD
- Photo Gallery 

- International Trailer (1:56)
- U.S. Trailer (1:10) 
- TV Spot(:28)
- Argento Trailer Reel (15:06): Deep Red (1975), Phenomena (1985), Sleepless (2001), Phantom of the Opera (1998), The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), Cat O' Nine Tails (1971)

Verdict: Suspiria (1977) is a surreal, avant-garde masterpiece of arthouse cinema drenched in technicolor swatches of primary color and bloodsplatter. It stands as Argento's supreme cinematic achievement and Umbrella Entertainment's superb Blu-ray is as near definitive a document as we are likely to get, an classic supernatural assault on the senses. 5 Outta 5 

Note: Images used for the purpose of this review were not sourced from the Blu-ray. 

Blu-ray Review: NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS (1975)

NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS (1975)

Label: Blue Underground
Region Code: ALL (ABC)Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 Mins
Audio: DTS-HD Mono 1.0 with
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Video: 16:9 Widescreen 1.85:1 (16x9)
Director: Aldo Lado
Cast: Flavio Bucci, Macha Meril, Marina Berti, Irene Miracle
Tagline: You Can Tell Yourself It's Only A Movie... BUT IT WON'T HELP!

Whew, now this is what I call a revolting film! If you're in short supply of sick kicks and find yourself in need of an Italian rape-revenge exploitation fix I think I have what you're looking for right here. I've known of this film for some time and usually hear of it in the same breath as Wes Craven's seminal '72 shocker THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and not without good reason either. The Blu-ray cover sports the quote "More reprehensible than LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT" and while that's a serious accusation to drop on a film it's no mere hyperbole and I am inclined to agree, it's worth mentioning that it riffs heavily on Craven's film like few before or since but the Italians have never been known for subtlety when cashing-in on American properties now have they?

Margaret (Irene Miracle, INFERNO) and her cousin Lisa (Laura D’Angelo) board a train from enroute to Munich, Germany to stay with Lisa's parents in Italy for Christmas break. On board they meet two street punks, the not-without-charm Blackie (Flavio Bucci, SUSPIRIA) and the just plain creepy Curly (Gianfranco De Grassi) who themselves board the train illicitly after beating the snot out of a man dressed as Santa. The girls unaware of this are charmed by the duo and hide the scoundrels in the restroom to avoid the train's ticket taker but are quickly turned off when Blackie follows an upper-class blonde woman into the ladies room where he attempts to rape her but  she being not-quite what she seems turns the tables on the libidinous punk, seducing him instead.

Later when the train makes a stop at a depot in Austria and searched by authorities investigating a bomb threat the girls switch trains in an attempt to distance themselves from the punks. The two settle into a compartment on an empty car and are soon unnerved by the sounds of Curly's familiar and eerie harmonica playing. Attempting to flee to a more occupied train car they are coerced to stay when Blackie, Curly and the blonde woman, now calling the shots, enter the compartment. The film thus far started off slow but by this point had already been permeated with an twisted uneasiness, here it quickly becomes much darker as the young women are humiliated, raped and worse not just at the hands of the desperate street punks but under the direction of the blonde woman who takes a perverse delight in orchestrating the fiendish acts. In yet another layer of sleaziness a middle-aged man wanders onto the train car and observes a rape in progress but does nothing to stop it, in fact taking delight in the events until he is coerced into participating in the vile crimes, and even when he slips away unnoticed he does little to report the incident to the authorities.

While the film is seriously riffing on Wes Craven's LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFTI must say I enjoyed this quite a bit more, it transcends it's origins by quite a margin. Craven's film is a shocking in-your-face experience, artless in it's rough cinema verite style but here we have some great atmospheric shot composition and cinematography from Gabor Pogany, it's an attractive film which is not something I think anyone would level at Craven's film. There's a sense of dread about this film that really settles over you, you know from the start that these girls are doomed, true to it's American inspiration, leading up to the perpetrators chance encounter with Lisa's mother and father, a doctor natch, whom takes uncharacteristically violent revenge upon his daughters murderers with one perverse twist. Throughout the film there's numerous mentions of the Dr.'s benevolent, non-violent tendencies and the ills of society, that stuff was laid on a bit thick for my tastes. I've never enjoyed the bizarre keystone cops kookiness of Craven's film, and director Lado maintains a somber mood throughout making the film resonate more soundly in my opinion.

Flavio Bucci despite a valiant attempt can't quite muster the demented menace of David Hess's "Krug" but few can. Gianfranco De Grassi as the black tar junkie Curly is more the imminent threat, a vile and sadistic presence for sure. As the unnamed blonde woman Mecha Meril is delightfully twisted,a would-be victim turned perverse ring leader, a lot of the truly disturbing acts in the final third are at her direction, grotesque stuff. Laura D’Angelo and Irene Miracle as our doomed victims are breathtaking women but the sexualized violence perpetrated against them is too ghastly to allow us to enjoy it, they offer solid performances and our sympathies for them never waiver.

Blu-ray: Blue Underground offer a brand-new high definition transfer of the film from the original negative in it's original 16:9 enhanced aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and it's a thing of beauty. The image is phenomenal for a forty-year old film with vibrant colors and decent black levels with a fine layer of film grain quite intact, a wonderful image from a pristine print, very impressive and nicely detailed. The English-dubbed DTS-HD Master Audio Mono 1.0 comes off clean and strong if not overly dynamic, dialogue, effects and Ennio Morricone's haunting harmonica score sounds great, there's a reason he's the master of the filmscore.

Special features are sorta slim when compared to the recent Blue Underground ZOMBIE Blu-ray but we do get 2 trailers, 2 radio spots, a poster and stills gallery with the main attraction being a 15 minute on-camera interview with director Aldo Lado who openly discusses the film's origins, the genesis of the production, casting, Ennio Morricone's score, early screenings of the film and it's censorship as a Video Nasty in the UK. It's only 15 minutes but there's some tasty tidbits for fans of the film to chew on.

Special Features:- Riding the Night Train: Interview with Director Aldo Lado (15:57 ) 16:9
- U.S. Trailer (2:33) 16:9
- International Trailer (3:49) 16:9
- Radio Spot #1 (0:28)
- Radio Spot #2 (0:28)
- Poster and Still Gallery

Verdict: A dark, disturbing and effecting film, as Italian rape-revenge films go this is a top drawer title and I would put it right up there with Ruggero Deodato's HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK and throw in that it transcends it's American inspiration in dread, style and composition. It's an uneasy watch and not one soon forgotten, a squirm inducing slice of Italian exploitation presented in eye-popping 1080p, another fine presentation from Blue Underground and a high recommend. 4 outta 5

http://blue-underground.com/