MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: PARANOIAC (1963) (Scream Factory Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review/Comparison)

PARANOIAC (1963)

(Collector's Edition)

Label: Scream Factory

Duration: 80 Minutes
Region Code: A

Rating: Unrated

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)

Director: Freddie Francis

Cast: Janette Scott, Alexander Davion, Oliver Reed, Sheila Burrell, Maurice Denham, Liliane Brousse

Paranoiac (1963) has the distinction of being director Freddie Francis's first film for Hammer, a tense Gothic-tinged thriller featuring adult siblings Simon Ashby (Oliver Reed, The Brood), and Eleanor (Janette Scott, The Day of the Triffids) whose lives are disturbed when a man claiming to be their long thought dead older brother Tony (Alexander Davion, The Plague of the Zombies) shows up just weeks before Simon is set to inherit their dead parent's fortune.

The parents died years earlier in a plane crash, and Tony was thought to have killed himself by leaping into the sea from a cliff on the property, leaving behind a suicide not. The sibling have since been in the care of their aunt Aunt Harriet (Sheila Burrell, Hell Is Empty), now adult Simon is a cash-poor angry drunk while the kinder Eleanor is emotionally fragile and is cared for by sexy blonde French live-in nurse named Francois (Liliane Brousse, Maniac), who is secretly Simon's lover.

The arrival of previously thought dead brother shakes things up a bit, with aunt Harriet and Simon believing him to be a con man attempting to steal the inheritance, while Eleanor accepts him as family immediately, with his presence having a positive effect on her disposition, much to the chagrin of Simon who has been not-so-secretly looking to have her committed so as to be the sole inheritor. With Tony appearing out of the shadows Simon becomes more brazen in his attempt to not only commit his sister, but actively attempt to rid himself of her and Tony via cutting the brake line on a car that nearly sends his sister careening over a cliff into the ocean.

A multi-faceted post-Psycho tale of greed and madness from Hammer Films with some Gothic atmosphere and quite good performances, especially from Reed as the cruel and conniving alcoholic brother and Scott as his emotionally frail sister. Reed chews up just the right amount of scenery when called upon, seething venom during his emotional outbursts, more so as the pot-boiler heats up and the threat of losing the inheritance to the perceived imposter becomes a serious possibility.

Audio/Video: Paranoiac (1963) arrives on Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen, advertised as being sourced from a new 2K scan from the interpositive. Grain levels are lush and consistent, the black and white cinematography showcases superior contrast, grayscale and whites. There are screenshots comparing it to the 2016 Universal Blu-ray from the Hammer Horror 8-Film Collection at the bottom of the review. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is clean and crisp and the Elisabeth Lutyens score sounds quite nice.

This is a well-stocked Collector's Edition, fist up is a brand new Audio Commentary with film historian Bruce Hallenbeck that digs deep and fills in the gaps for those nto in the know about this particular Hammer production. Then onto the new 15-min Drink to Deception – an interview with author/film historian Kim Newman who once more gets comfy on his couch surrounded by film books and telling us about the source novel, how this was a bit out of Hammer's league at the time, and touching on various elements of the production.

Also new is the 25-min A Toast to Terror – an interview with author/film historian Jonathan Rigby who gets into Reed's turn in the film, the Jimmy Sangster scripts and quite a bit more. It's always great to see Hammer authority Rigby turn up on these discs. The 28-minute The Making of Hammer’s Paranoiac hosted by author Wayne Kinsey has the host

taking us on a tour of the now dilapidated Bray Studios, touching on Hammer's history of psychological thrillers, censorship issues, the direction of Freddie Francis, and how some of the special effects shots were done - plus we get input from screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, script supervisor Pauline Harlow and assistant director Hugh Harlow, as well as an archival audio interview Oliver Reed that gets into his role. The disc is buttoned-up with a 3-min Theatrical Trailer and a 2-min Still Gallery.

The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated movie poster and a new artwork by Mark Maddox, which is also featured on the limited edition first-pressing slipcover. I'm not a huge fan of either artwork to be honest, I've always been partial to the French illustrated poster which is not represented here.

Special Features:
- NEW! 2K Scan from the Interpositive
- NEW! Audio Commentary with film historian Bruce Hallenbeck
- NEW! Drink to Deception – an interview with author/film historian Kim Newman (15 min)
- NEW! A Toast to Terror – an interview with author/film historian Jonathan Rigby (25 min)
- The Making of Hammer’s Paranoiac hosted by author Wayne Kinsey (28 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- Still Gallery (2 min)

Solidly directed by Freddie Francis (The Evil of Frankenstein) from a script by Jimmy Sangster Horror of Dracula), with handsome black and white lensing by Arthur Grant (The Devil Rides Out) and a pitch-prefect score by Elisabeth Lutyens (Never Take Candy from a Stranger). This is a Hammer psycho-thriller with an impressive pedigree, making for a delightfully demented tale of greed, lust and family secrets that is sure to please any Hammer thriller fan.

Screenshots from the Scream Factory Blu-ray: