NAKED OVER THE FENCE (1973)
2-Disc Limited Edition
Blu-ray + CD Combo
Label: Cult Epics
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: Dutch LPCM 2.0 Mono, DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Frans Weisz
Cast: Rijk de Gooyer, Sylvia Kristel, Jon Bluming, Jennifer Willems
In the offbeat Dutch comedy-thriller Naked Over the Fence (1973) Amsterdam-based pinball arcade owner Rick Lemming (Rijk de Gooyer, Nosferatu the Vampyre) lives above his arcade and rents a room to cute schoolteacher named Penny (Jennifer Willemss, The Burglar). He lives is a simple life and enjoys spending his free time feeding pigeons on his rooftop while watching the sunset. His best friend Ed (Jon Bluming, Turkish Delight) is a karate instructor who is dating pop-singer named Lilly Lilly (Sylvia Kristel, Mysteries), and all their lives tale a left turn for the worse when Ed and Lilly are hired to act in an art film (wink, wink) that is shooting in a studio right next to the arcade. While on set Lilly and Ed realize they're involved with a seedy porno flick and flee the set to the consternation of the financier, director and cameraman. They escape by climbing naked over the wooden fence that separates the studio and the arcade - hence the title - where they encounter Rick who had been spying on the filming through a peephole in the fence.
The next day the owner of the studio where the film was being shot is found dead, his corpse stuck in the overhead power lines of the mass public transit system. Suspecting that something is definitely odd about the whole situation both Rick and Ed attempt to recover the film footage in hopes of stopping it from ever seeing the light of day, with Rick going full-on giallo-style amateur sleuth to get to the bottom of the increasingly increasingly convoluted murder mystery which involve several bad-apples working behind-the-scenes at a television studio, and a pair of menacing twin street-toughs.
Frans Weisz’s sexy comedy-thriller Naked Over the Fence (aka Naakt over de Schutting) was the first major Dutch starring role of Sylvia Kristel, coming right before she blew up on the world stage thank to the erotic masterpiece Emmanuelle. In it she plays a short-coiffed platinum blond pop-singer, she doesn't have a whole lot to do but she strikes a mesmerizing figure as the sexy chanteuse, crooning the song "Hey, A Letter came Today", which Kristel actually sang vocals on, it's kitschy little pop tune.
The film offers some sexy delights but it not a prime slice of erotica, instead it's a quirky giallo-lite romp that manages to breezily mash-up comedy, murder mystery, musical numbers and karate-action into an airy cinematic confection that I found quite entertaining. Of course it's always a thrill to see Kristel, and her sexy pop-singer is magnetic even in the short dose were given, but I absolutely loved Rijk de Gooyer as the reluctant and plenty sarcastic sleuth; the guy just wants to hang out on his roof and feed the pigeons and watch some sunsets but he's pulled into this murder mystery out of a sense of duty and well-being toward his friend Ed, but only after the urging of his new tenant turned love interest. Outside of the quirky giallo vibe of the film highlights include a pretty exciting tram pursuit and the super groovy a score by Ruud Bos.
Audio/Video: Naked Over the Fence (Naakt over de Schutting) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Cult Epics with a brand new 4K HD scan and restoration sourced from original 35mm film negative. The source looks terrific, it's a well authored disc with natural looking film grain, colors are robust, and there's a good amount of detail and texture in the close-ups, with some modest depth and clarity. Audio comes by way of both uncompressed Dutch language LPCM 2.0 Mono or DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. Its clean and well-balanced, offering issue free sound reproduction
Cult Epics provide a solid set of extras beginning with Audio Commentary by Frans Weisz biographer Harry Hosman who gives a thorough accounting of Weisz life and career plus plenty of information about the cast, crew and production.
The 15-min Behind-the-Scenes of Naked Over the Fence (1978), this is 16mm footage shot by producer Rob de Mee during production which shows prep for the TV musical studio scene with Kristel rehearsing her musical number.
Radio Interview with Frans Weisz is an 8-min interview on KRO from 2014 with the director who speaks about the production, certain difficulties between the screenwriter and himself, the strange way Kristel came to appear in the film, as well as touching on few of his other films like The Burglar, Charlotte, and Happy Days Are Here Again. The 12-min B-Movie Orchestra + Interview with composer Ruud Bos (VPRO, 2015) features the composer on a morning talk show chatting about his process of composing and interactions with different directors, and at the end of the interview we get an enjoyable full band performance with B-Movie Orchestra featuring tunes from the film intercut with footage from the film.
The disc extras are capped off with a 2-min Promotional Gallery with poster artworks and lobby card, and a Sylvia Kristel Film Trailers reel featuring Naked Over The Fence (4 min), Frank & Eva (2 min), Julia (2 min), Pastorale 1943 (2 min), Mysteries (3 min), and Playing With Fire (1 min) - all of which are available on Blu-ray from the fine folks at Cult Epics.
The limited edition 2-disc version arrives in a clear Viva Elite keepcase with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork, while not reversible the other side features an alternate artwork with the Dutch title and a CD soundtrack track list, plus an attractive slipcover with unique artwork that highlights Kristel's character. It also includes an exclusive CD soundtrack licensed from Universal Music Netherlands, featuring the score by composer Ruud Bos which is pretty groovy, easily my favorite Dutch film score, and it features "Hey, A Letter came Today" with Sylvia Kristel on vocals which features prominently in the film.
Special Features:
- New 4K HD Transfer (from original negative) & Restoration
- Audio Commentary by Frans Weisz biographer Harry Hosman
- Behind-the-Scenes of Naked Over the Fence (1978) (14 min)
- Radio Interview with Frans Weisz (KRO, 2014) (8 min)
- B-Movie Orchestra + Interview with composer Ruud Bos (VPRO, 2015) (12 min)
- Promotional Gallery (2 min)
- Sylvia Kristel Film Trailers (15 min)
- Limited Edition of 1000 Blu-ray copies includes Exclusive CD Soundtrack by Ruud Bos, Slipcase & Double-Sided Sleeve
