HI, MOM! (1970)
Limited Edition Blu-ray
Label: Radiance
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes 48 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Charles Durning, Jennifer Salt, Gerrit Graham, Paul Bartel
Hi, Mom! (1970), directed by Brian De Palma (Dressed To Kill), is an early black comedy, made before he entered the world of thrillers and horror, but it certainly has his trademark themes and motifs on display - there's voyeurism, an obsession with surveillance technology, and of course his technical filmmaking skills are on full display if not as refined. In it Jon Rubin (Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver) is a Vietnam vet freshly returned stateside, he's an aspiring pornographer who rents a dilapidated apartment, leased from sleazy slumlord (Charles Durning, TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow), who clearly is taking advantage of him, He's chosen this specific location because of it's proximity to a neighboring middle-class apartment building, because he has developed an idea for a new style of porno, a voyeuristic dirty candid camera that involves filming those neighbors across the street in an apartment building, without their consent. With his camera set-up he begins filming them, which has a very Hitchcock's Rear Window flavor in style and execution. He then pitches the proof of concept to disinterested porn producer Joe Banner (Allen Garfield, The Conversation), who only agrees to the idea because Joe reminds him of a family member who died in Vietnam. Now armed with a better camera with a zoom lens he sets up his camera and arranges a meet-cute with one of the tenants that he is filming, Judy Bishop (Jennifer Salt, TV movie Gargoyles), presenting himself with a false name and pretending he has arrived at her door via a computer dating mix-up. They hit it off, go on a date or two, and then he arranges a homemade camera contraption to capture them having sex through her apartment window, rehearsing the timing of the encounter alone so that the camera turns on at the exact moment that the sex act will occur, according to his calculations, but hilariously when he shows up at her apartment, she is unexpectedly horny, forcing him to try to delay the act until a red light in his apartment window turns on, letting him know the camera is rolling. Because of a technical issue he does not get the money-shot, the producer loses interest and his porno aspiration quickly crumble, he immediately sells his camera to buy a TV.
He next throws himself into joining a militant black experimental theater group, who one of the tenants he was filming Gerrit (Gerrit Graham, Terrorvision), belongs to, after spotting a poster for the experimental environmental-theater production called Be Black, Baby!, which will air on the N.I.T. Channel, in which he plays an angry cop. The show airs, and it's a doozy, the volunteer white audience is made to experience what it means to be black in America, forced to eat soul food, made to where blackface, and are assaulted by the black actors in white face who terrorize them, even going so far as to attempt to rape one of the white participants, which is when Joe as the NYC cop shows up, only to arrest the white actors in blackface, simply because they black. It's quite a radical sequence, it's both satire but also harrowing to watch to a degree, blurring the lines between entertainment and violence. The film comes to a close with what seems to be Joe having found some sort of domesticity, he is now married to Judy and they have a child, but the film ends with an act of domestic terrorism as he literally blows-up his domesticated lifestyle with a madcap freeze-frame finale that is an acquired taste, because it seems so random, but I've always found it quite a fun punchline to a wildly satirical film.
De Palma's black comedy is a pretty madcap satire, but even that satire throws some punches, there's very real commentary about pornography, slumlords, revolutionaries, and also about Vietnam and the how that affected soldiers returning to normal life. This must have been incredibly shocking for the era, I cannot imagine general audiences watching that scene of Gerrit Graham painting his body and cock with black paint and not getting stirred one way or the other about, shock or awe. The film was a commercial failure when it arrived in the cinema, but watching it now I couldn't help but be impressed with how delightfully self-referential it is, it's very winky in a wonderful way, even in this early era De Palma was in full control of his craft, it's not as refined perhaps, but it's raw and powerful, and as I said, showcasing many of the obsessions De Palma would hone to perfection with later film; the fascination with voyeurism and surveillance technologies, his Hitchcockian tendencies as exemplified by the opening credits and his candid camera porno idea, which are lifts from Read Window. Also forward looking is De Niro, so wonderful in an offbeat comic role, but this also seems like a dry run for the Travis Buckle character he played in Scorsese's Taxi Driver a few years later, an alienated loner Vietnam vet with demented obsessions and internal logic is scuzzy NYC, it's pretty interesting stuff.
Audio/Video: Hi, Mom! (1970) gets a superb release on UHD from Radiance, making it's worldwide 4K UHD debut, offering a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, presented in Dolby Vision HDR10, in the 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The source looks wonderful, nary a blemish to distract the eye, the film grain is nicely resolved, it does change between 16mm and 35mm so the grain structures are not exactly uniform throughout, but still resolves naturally. The textures of vintage clothing, decor and facial details look terrific. The Dolby Vision HDR10 color-grade is sublime, the period colors are vibrant, black are deep, and depth and clarity easily surpass the what the accompanying Blu-ray can offer. Audio comes by way English PCM 1.0 mono with optional English subtitle. This is a heavily dialogue oriented presentation, so I appreciate that the dialogue is nicely prioritized in the mix, the range is slightly narrow, but it sounded appropriate for a low-budget production of this era.
Extras start off with a new Audio commentary by writer Travis Woods (2026) that is full of trivia nuggets and notes about the cast and crew, his language and approach is often more academic than I typically enjoy, but I found it a solid listen. There's also a new 12-min Interview with critic Ellen E. Jones (2026) who talks about how De Palma's signature style and themes are present are all evident in this early film.
An interesting inclusion is the 76-min Son of Greetings: Behind the Scenes of Hi, Mom!, offering a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the film being shot, this was filmed by Peter Davis. Another highlight is the inclusion of the 85-min
Dionysus in ‘69 (1970)- an experimental theater production of Euripides' 'The Bacchae', directed by Richard Schechner and filmed by Brian de Palma, it's a radical environmental play that not only breaks the fourth wall but goes out into the audience, presented here using De Palma's signature split screen. Extras are finished-up with a 10-min Archival interview with co-writer Charles Hirsch (2018) who talks about the challenges making a scrappy low-budget film, the ways they secured locations and equipment, and general memories of making it it NYC, plus the 2-minute Trailer.
The 2-disc UHD/Blu-ray Limited Edition of 5000 release arrives in a clear, full-height Scanavo keepcase with one of those over/under dual-hubs, with a Reversible Wrap featuring artwork based on original posters, plus the signature Removable OBI Strip which leaves the packaging free of certificates and markings. Inside there is a 24-Page Limited Edition Illustrated Booklet featuring new writing by Matt Zoller Seitz by way of the essay 'The Medium Is The Message: The Interplay Of Ideas In Brian De Palma's Him Mom!', as well as cast and crew information, and notes about the transfer.
- New 4K restoration from the original camera negative, presented in Dolby Vision HDR
- 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature; world premiere on 4K UHD
- Uncompressed mono audio
- Audio Commentary by writer Travis Woods (2026)
- Interview with critic Ellen E. Jones (2026, 12:23)
- Son of Greetings: Behind the Scenes of Hi, Mom! (76:29)
- Dionysus in ‘69 - an experimental theater production of Euripides' 'The Bacchae', filmed by Brian de Palma (1970, 85:27)
- Archival interview with co-writer Charles Hirsch (2018, 9:41)
- Trailer (1:56)
- Reversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original posters
- 24-Page Limited Edition Illustrated Booklet featuring new writing by Matt Zoller Seitz
- Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Screenshots from the Radiance Blu-ray:
Buy it!
#ad
