CARRIE (1976) Collector's Edition (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

CARRIE (1976) 

2-Disc Collector's Edition 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Duration: 98 Minutes 
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Sissy Spacek, William Katt, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Edie McClurg, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer

Synopsis: Based on the best-selling Stephen King novel, this "absolutely spellbinding horror movie" (Roger Ebert) has become a pervasive, pop-culture touchstone for anyone who's ever wanted to get even. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie deliver Oscar®-nominated* performances and John Travolta and Amy Irving are terrific in this ultimate revenge fantasy that has become one of the all-time great horror classics, and is now, finally, offered as a definitive, two-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray!

At the center of the terror is Carrie (Spacek), a high school loner with no confidence, no friends... and no idea about the extent of her secret powers of telekinesis. But when her psychotic mother and sadistic classmates finally go too far, the once-shy teen becomes an unrestrained, vengeance-seeking powerhouse who, with the help of her "special gift," causes all hell to break loose in a famed cinematic frenzy of blood, fire and brimstone!

There is not a lot I can add to the choir of voices who have sung the praise of Brian De Palma's wonderful adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie (1976) through the years, a classic slice of horror that combines Brian De Palma's dazzling technical visual style with the harrowing highschool horror tale of Carrie White, a painfully shy and awkward highschool girl who is traumatized when her period happens for the first time in the gym shower room. What might have been just an embarrassing moment turns traumatic as her classmates taunt her mercilessly, it doesn't help that her mother is an unsympathetic religious nut, and her newly emerged womanhood coincides with newfound telekinetic power which culminates in a nightmare prom night scenario that is pure cinematic awesomeness. This is a movie that goes right into the crypt as a movie to be celebrated as not only a horror classic but one of the best of the Stephen King adaptations and one of De Palma's finest works. 

Audio/Video: Wowzers, the new 4K scan from Scream Factory far advances over the MGM Blu-ray from a few years ago. Colors are vibrant, the blacks are nice and deep, shadow detail is strong, and the skin tones are noticeably less ruddy and cooler looking, very rarely has a new HD scan of a movie been such an obvious improvement, but this is simply stunning work. The colors are rich and deep, with very nice saturation throughout. The image has a nice layer of film grain and along with that some improved clarity and fine detail. 

Audio options on the disc comes by way of your choice of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo or Surround 5.1 and both sounds wonderful. I still prefer the stereo track but the surround options does give a nice fullness to the fantastic Pino Donaggio score, a nice combination of lush arrangements and dramatic Bernard Herrmann Psycho-nods. Optional English subtitles are provided. 

Scream Factory improve over the MGM Blu-ray by carrying over all the extras from the special edition DVD which MGM did not do for the Blu-ray. These   include two 40-minute mini-docs Acting Carrie (43 Mins) and Visualizing Carrie  (41 Mins) with vintage interviews from Actors Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer and P.J. Soles And Art Director Jack Fisk, screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, editor Paul Hirsch and Director Brian De Palma, which are great. The original special edition was well-stacked back in the day and the material is still solid. 

Scream go above and beyond and tip the scales with over 2-hours of newly produced extras which are befitting the horror classic on its 40th anniversary. On disc one of the two-disc set we have the new 4K scan of the movie, plus we have the original theatrical trailer and franchise trailers for The Rage: Carrie 2, the 2002 Carrie TV movie plus the inferior 2013 remake. Onto disc two we have the aforementioned carry-overs from the special edition plus the new stuff.  'More Acting Carrie' is a nice update of the original 'Acting Carrie' with new interviews with Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Edie McClurg and P.J. Soles (20 minutes). Plus there are new interviews with screenwriter Lawrence Cohen (29 Mins),  Paul Hirsch (25 Mins), director of photography Mario Tosi (15 Mins),  casting director Harriet B. Helberg (16 Mins), composer Pino Donaggio (24 Mins), a six-minute piece about "Carrie: The Musical", and a new episode of Sean Clark's Horror's Hallowed Grounds (11 Mins).  On top of that we have trailers and TV spots, an image gallery, plus a text essay 'Stephen King and The 'Evolution of Carrie'. As for packaging the 2-disc Blu-ray set arrives in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, featuring the original poster artwork and a new illustration from artist Nat Marsh, with a slipcover featuring the new artwork. 

Special Features

Disc One:
- NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Negative
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2Mins) 
- Carrie Franchise Trailer Gallery (4 Mins) 
Disc Two:
- NEW More Acting Carrie – featuring interviews with Nancy Allen, Betty Buckley, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Edie McClurg and P.J. Soles (20 minutes)
- NEW Writing Carrie – an interview with screenwriter Lawrence Cohen (29 Mins) HD
- NEW Cutting Carrie – an interview with editor Paul Hirsch (25 Mins) HD 
- NEW Shooting Carrie – an interview with director of photography Mario Tosi (15 Mins) HD 
- NEW Casting Carrie –an interview with casting director Harriet B. Helberg (16 Mins) HD 
- NEW Bucket of Blood – a new interview with composer Pino Donaggio (24 Mins) HD 
- NEW Horror's Hallowed Grounds – Revisiting The Film's Original Locations (11 Mins) HD 
- Acting Carrie – Interviews With Actors Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, Piper Laurie, Priscilla Pointer and P.J. Soles And Art Director Jack Fisk And Director Brian De Palma (43 Mins) 
- Visualizing Carrie – Interviews With Brian De Palma, Jack Fisk, Lawrence D. Cohen, Paul Hirsch (41 Mins) HD 
- A Look At "Carrie: The Musical" (6 MIns) 
- TV Spots (3 Mins) 
- Radio Spots (2 Mins) 
- Still Gallery – Rare Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Posters And Lobby Cards
- Stephen King And The Evolution Of Carrie Text Gallery (17 Mins) HD 

Wow, the Scream Factory 2-disc Blu-ray Collector's Edition is jam-packed with not just a definitive 4K transfer but hours of cool extras. I remember listening to an interview with Jeff and Cliff from Scream Factory on an episode of the now defunct Killer POV podcast, they were posed the question what title had slipped through their fingers or what movie they would love to have a crack at, Carrie was at the top of the list. You could tell at the time it was a movie they wanted so badly to get their hands on, and now they have, and they've done right by it. When you watch this version of the movie you can feel and see their passion for the movie right there on the screen. This is hands-down the definitive version of the movie, case closed, sell-off your old versions and update immediately.  

CARRIE (2002) / THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 (1999)

CARRIE (2002) / THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 (1999) 

CARRIE (2002)

Label: Scream Factory
Release Date: April 14th 2015 
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 132 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video:1080p Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: David Carson
Cast: Angela Bettis, Emile de Ravin, Katharine Isabelle, Chelan Cummings 

Carrie (2002) is a NBC-TV remake of the original Stephen King story which had already been treated to a phenomenal film version directed by Brian De Palma (Dressed To Kill). I remember seeing the commercials for this but did not tune-in during the original broadcast. At the time I thought why watch a water-down version when I have the original film on top, and following the TV version of Stephen King's The Shining (1997) I was in no hurry to see yet another fantastic film ruined for TV. At the time I had not yet seen Lucky McKee's quirky indie-horror film May (2002) and was unaware of actress Angela Bettis who would be taking on the role of Carrie White. If I had seen May first it would have been a bit of a different story, her casting was an inspired choice if maybe a bit too on the nose following May. 

For the most part this version stays very true to the source material and hit many of the same beats as Brian De Palma's film with a few notable exceptions. Of course we have Carrie White (Angele Bettis, May) as the painfully awkward teen with newly emerging supernatural powers who is taunted by the popular kids at school and at home her fanatically religious mother Margaret White (Patricia Clarkson, The Woods) torments her with a twisted morality. Carrie has her first period at school in the shower having been ill prepared for menstruation by her mother she is mercilessly taunted by the popular high school girls, notably Christine "Chris" Hargensen (Emilie De Ravin, The Hills Have Eyes 2006) and Tina Blake (Katharine Isabelle, Ginger Snaps). Humiliated by the group she returns home and after discovering her daughter has officially entered womanhood with the advent of the red curse she is forced to spend time in the dreaded prayer closet.

So far its following script with the addition of a scene De Palma was unable to film to his satisfaction back in the '70s, it's an early scene during Carrie's younger years when her house is pelted by rocks falling from the sky. Unfortunately digital effects being what they were in 2002 the scene as rendered seems as if it might be an outtake from Deep Impact with flaming meteorites falling from the sky, exploding upon impact, apparently having been pulled from outer space. Patricia Clarkson is a bit too subdued in her portrayal of the formerly maniacal mother, her rage and twisted morality were a large part of the original film and to play it down to such a degree for a TV audience neutered it. Additionally, the infamous shower scene is just as downplayed, gone are the tampons being hurled at Carrie and the girls chanting "plug it up, plug it up", the end result being that it loses the traumatic edge of the original. It might be unfair but watching the remake is near impossible to do without drawing comparisons to the original, that this is a neutered TV production only emphasizes the disparity between the two, it just cannot compete with it on any level. 

Sticking to the original story we also have popular girl Sue Snell asking her boyfriend Tommy Ross (Tobias Mehler) to take Carrie to the prom, and gym coach Miss Desjarden punishing the bitchy Chris Hargensen by revoking her prom tickets, who in turn enlists her boyfriend Billy (Jesse Cadotte) to ruin prom for Carrie, it's all very familiar stuff, but the characters are just not as interesting as the first film, Chris doesn't come off as quite so evil and Billy is certainly not as charming as the wanna-get-laid stoner version Travolta brought to life. . 

This version does change it up a bit by adhering to the Stephen King novel, framing it as a police procedural that begins after the fact with a series of interrogations with sequences. At the start of the film we have Detective John Mulchaey (David Keith, White of the Eye) interviewing survivor Sue Snell (Kandyse McClure, Battlestar Galactica) and gym teacher Miss Desjarden (Rena Sofer, TVs Heroes) trying to uncover just what happened at the prom causing the death of over 200 students and staff, at this point treating Carrie White as a missing person. I didn't love this framing story or how it gave the film a standard police procedural, which doesn't really go anywhere.

I do enjoy Angela Bettis as Carrie white, bettis is appropriately awkward and skittish but slightly more empowered than Spacek take on the character, which is evidenced when mom sends her to the prayer closet only this time around she has a secret cubby where she keeps fashion magazines to pass the time, she's rebellious right from the start. Plus Bettis looks pretty good covered in pig's blood during the finale and that's about half the battle right there in my opinion, this is a revenge film and at over 120 minutes it couldn't get to the finish fast enough for me, there are a lot of pacing issues with this one. However, the telekinetic fueled finale is pretty good, once the blood is spilled the fun begin with a flurry of flame, electrocution and death. 

There are some minor differences to post-prom slaughter in the way that Carrie's mom attempts to dispatch her by drowning instead of knifing, which is not the most awful change of direction but afterward we get a miraculous resuscitation and a ridiculous Thelma and Louise styled girls on the run ending, and ending that would have lead into a new weekly TV series, which would have us root for Carrie, a protagonist who just killed 234 students and teachers... some of whom not only did nothing to her but actually helped her at some point. Stephen King had it right the first time around, the only true redemption for Carrie was her own death at the end of the story.  

This version does bring a few new twists to the story but the characters and drama comes off flat and uninspired. This TV production just has no edge and is overlong and padded for running time, there's just no way I could see revisiting this one again, the lone draw would be to see Angela Bettis in the role of Carrie, and even then it is a one and done viewing.

Audio/Video: The Scream Factory packaging mislabels the aspect ratio as full frame. What we actually end up with is a widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio that unfortunately looks like a made for TV movie from 2002. Colors are soft and subdued, the image lacks depth and fine detail and the darker scenes are a bit of murky mess. There's also some blurring during fast-action scenes. Audio options include the original DTS-HD MA 2.0 and a slightly more immersive 5.1 surround option that exports score and discreet effects to the surrounds during the finale. 

Bonus content is minimal with just a trailer and a brand-new audio commentary from director David Carson and director of photography Victor Goss, offering some scene specific commentary and speaking about the unenviable task of reworking a film that had already been done to near perfection by a master of cinema. I've always heard rumor that quite a few scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor and never aired on TV, some featuring actress Jasmine Guy (TVs Dead Like Me) as a psychic investigator, these might have made an interesting extra on the disc if they exist. 

Special Features
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director David Carson
- Trailer (2 Mins) 

THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 (1999) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 105 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Katt Shea 
Cast: Emily Bergl, John Doe, Kate Skinner, Zachary Ty Bryan, Dylan Bruno, Amy Irving, Jason London 

In this sequel to the original film Rachel (Emily Bergl, Happy Campers) is the half-sister to Carrie White from the first film, both having been fathered by the same man. Rachel's  birth mother Brenda (J. Smith-Cameron, True Blood) has been institutionalized for schizophrenia following an incident during Rachel's adolescent years. Now a troubled-teen she lives with foster parents (John Doe and Kate Skinner) and attends a Catholic high school where Sue Snell (Amy Irving reprising her role from the original film) is now a guidance counselor. Rachel's not quite as awkward as her half-sister Rachel but is sort of an outsider Goth girl, and unlike carrie she has a friend, Lisa (Mena Suvari, American Beauty). Only in movies would these two attractive young women be considered the dogs of high school society, but in a post-Scream environment this is what we got. 

Ripping a page from the headlines at the time the baddies in this film are a group of asshole jocks lead by Mark (Dylan Bruno, Numb3rs) who have created a sex-game by which they earn points for sleeping with various girls at the school, based on the very real exploits of The Spur Posse scandal from around the same time. High school jock  Eric (Zachery Ty Bryan, Brad from TVs Home Improvement) has just deflowered Rachel's friend Lisa and when she finds out about the game and how little she meant to him she throws herself from the top of the school to her death, which happens very unexpectedly, as a viewer I did not see that coming, there's very little lead-up to it.

Of course, Rachel is devastated by the suicide, sort of... no one seems overly affected by it to be honest. The incident does offer a chance for us to see Rachel's burgeoning telekinetic powers kick in though. Afterward Rachel discovers a photograph of Lisa and Zachary together which she gives to the local sheriff who investigates the jock-teen for statutory rape, which could potentially threaten his athletic scholarship. Fearing the discovery of the sex-game will ruin their future prospects the jocks pay a visit to Rachel in hopes of scaring her, but they flee once her parents arrive on scene and as her new found telekinetic powers were firing up. 

Along the way we have the jock revenge storyline plus Sue Snell's discovery of Rachel's telekinetic powers, which  leads to the revelation that Rachel is the half-sister to Carrie White died some years earlier after having burned down the school and killed hundreds of students. Additionally we also have Rachel's unlikely romance with Jesse (Jason London, Dazed and Confused), a kind-hearted jock who doesn't seem to agree with his teammates sex-games despite having participated previously.  

Enter a jealous cheerleader named Tracy (Charlotte Ayanna, Jawbreaker) who had a one-night stand with Jesse and you have a recipe for a post-Scream era version of the Stephen King story with a '90s contemporary spin, and it works way more than I would have suspected. No prom this time around, instead we have a kegger at Marc's house and a plan to humiliate Rachel with a sex tape, but as expected it ends with a telekinetic nightmare of revenge and everyone must die. 

Emily Bergl is quite good as the telekinetic Goth girl, I came into it not expecting much from her or the film but walked away pleasantly surprised. There's some fun characters thrown into the mix but no ones a standout, though it was cool to see Amy Irving reprise her role from the first film providing some connective tissue. 

The kegger massacre finale is pretty decent with plenty of cleansing fire, shattered glass and numerous teen deaths, including a satisfying crotch-evisceration, some beheadings and loads of arterial spray. 

This one looks pretty good with some keen cinematography and stylish editing that's easy on the eyes. The late-'90s score features a regrettable third wave ska cut in addition to a few sweet tunes from Fear Factory and Type O Negative, it's definitely an artifact from the late-'90s. While The Rage: Carrie 2 (2002) is an unnecessary sequel it does manage to good trashy teen fun. 

Audio/Video: The Rage: Carrie 2 is presented on a separate disc from the 2002 remake and looks quite good in HD, nice clarity and sharpness, some crispness to the image and vibrant color saturation with  decent black levels. Audio options include choice of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1 and both offer crisp presentations with the surround option is not a huge spatial improvement but does offer some use of the surrounds during the finale. 

Onto the extras we have two audio commentaries, the original 1999 Audio Commentary With Katt Shea and a brand-new Commentary With Director Katt Shea And Director Of Photography Donald Morgan, Moderated By Filmmaker David DeCoteau. There's also a trailer, additional scenes and a wacky serpentine alternate ending that was rightly excised. 

Special Features 
- NEW 2015 Audio Commentary With Director Katt Shea And Director Of Photography Donald Morgan, Moderated By Filmmaker David DeCoteau
- Original 1999 Audio Commentary With Katt Shea
- Alternate Ending With "Before And After" Special Effect Sequence (1 Mins) 
- Additional Scenes Not Seen In Theaters (7 Mins) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins) 

Unless you are a huge Angela Bettis fan you are not missing much of anything with the NBC-TV movie version of Carrie (2002), which pales in every way to the original film. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) does offer some trashy b-movie fun that at the very least is not a retread of the original material. It may not be an essential purchase but at under $20 your curiosity at least won't break the bank.  I know Cliff McMillan at Scream wanted to do a collector's edition of Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) film that didn't pan out for whatever reason, I hope this in some way opens the door for a possible future release of that one

Blu-ray Review: THE FURY (Arrow Video)

THE FURY (1978) 

Label: Arrow Video 

Release Date: October 28th 2013

Region Code: B 

Rating: 15 Certificate 

Duration: 118 Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: LPCM 2.0, 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with Optional English Subtitles

Cast: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, 

Director: Brian DePalma

Synopsis: John Cassavetes gives his most sinister performance since Rosemary’s Baby as a man who kidnaps the telepathic son of his colleague (Kirk Douglas), aiming to turn him and similarly gifted individuals into human weapons. Meanwhile, Gillian (Amy Irving), is worried enough about the destructive potential of her own powers to agree to be institutionalized - but is the Paragon Institute all that it’s cracked up to be?

Following the success of supernatural prom-scare Carrie (1973) Brian De Palma continued his exploration of the supernatural with the spy-supernatural thriller mash-up The Fury (1978), it's definitely a weird ride that begins with Robin Sandza (Andrew Stevens, The Terror Within) having a conversation about the direction of his life on a Middle Eastern resort beach with his CIA agent father Peter, played by Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory) when terrorist storm the beach in a hail of machine gunfire. The target of the attack is Peter, Kirk Douglass even at 62 years of age was looking pretty damn fit while rocking a pair of short shorts while taking out terrorists with an AK-47. It's a thrilling start to the film, action-packed and loaded with De Palma's signature moving camera, we're off to a great start.

During the attack Peter's son is protected from harm by Sandza's CIA friend Childress (John Cassavetes, Rosemary's Baby) who it turns out is not such a great friend after all, he set-up the attack in order to remove Peter and recruit Robin for a CIA-funded telekinetic murder squad. Believing his father dead Robin turns cold and disillusioned by the tragic event. Childress along with the help of seductive mentor, Dr. Susan Charles (Fiona Lewis), dope-up and brain-wash their new psychic assassin, but the process further unhinges Robin who becomes an increasingly powerful and soulless weapon.

Meanwhile, Peter who actually survived the attack is searching for his son while evading clandestine CIA agents, this plot thread leads to some weird, humorous scenarios with Peter dropping in through the window of an apartment building and holding a family a gunpoint while he disguises himself with shoe polish and a fresh set of clothes. When the CIA track his whereabouts he escapes the apartment in an age defying Bourne Identity-esque series of gymnastic escapades,  then he hijacks two off-duty police officers, one of whom is played by De Palma regular Dennis Franz (Blow Out) as Peter leads them on a wild ride through a fog drenched construction site.

Eventually Sandza tracks his son down to the Paragon Institute with the help of his girlfriend Hester (Carrie Snodgrass, Pale Rider) and the sweet, young psychic recruit Gillian (Amy Irving, Carrie). The psychic warfare prep-college is being run by Dr. Mckeever (Charles Durning, Dark Night of the Scarecrow) who always delivers a great villain when onscreen, good stuff. However, when Peter attempts to spring his psychotic son from the institute the results are expectantly tragic and psycho-kinetically explosive.


The film is a bit of a clunky mash-up, t times the spy-thriller and supernatural elements don't exactly mesh perfectly, when the two meet head-on during the finale it's fun stuff if a bit odd. The Fury is an interesting watch with some great moments, during the finale when Robin's eyes are burning iridescent blue and the psychokinetic mayhem is full-tilt it's fun stuff. Douglas is entertaining as the betrayed agent in pursuit of his son, and Cassavetes as the cold, calculating villain is fantastic, his presences is just something you can't take your eyes off. As ever Amy Irving is delightful as the naive and sympathetic telepath Gillian, a young woman recruited by the Paragon Institute, she really pulls you in, which is great because Andrew Stevens doesn't exactly make you feel anything for his character, turning in the most non-effectual performance of the film.  At nearly two hours the film struggles a bit to keep a decent pace despite De Palma's enjoyable visuals, the interesting bits just don't add up to form a cohesive story.


I think the film's biggest flaw is the script, it's incoherent at times, but De Palma's tense directing style and some strong performances keeps the weirdness flowing along while keeping head scratching to a minimum, it keeps you off balance just enough to go with it. If you think too much about what you're seeing here O think it would be detrimental to your viewing, trust me.

There are some nice effects and gore peppered throughout, including a great Scanners-esque finale, the film shares quite a bit with Cronenberg's classic, but falls a bit short on it's promise. We get the usual array of De Palma cinema magic, a great scene of Gillian escaping from the Paragon Institute plays out in beautiful slow-motion, nearly silent, the escape is successful but not without collateral damage, a victim's life ends on the shattered windshield of an out-of-control car, it's pure De Palma awesomeness. While it's not a perfect film this is supernatural spy-thriller has some nice horror elements and is worth a watch even if it struggles to maintain coherency from time to time.

Blu-ray: Earlier this year we saw a region-free Blu-ray of Brian De Palma's The Fury (1978) from US distributor Twilight Time that suffered from rampant film grain in the darker scenes, it was murky and the contrast was not great. Arrow Video have sourced a brand-new transfer from the original camera negative with an AVC encode on 1080p Blu-ray, and it's quite impressive when stacked-up against the Twilight Time Blu-ray with more robust colors and more natural skin tones, improved depth and clarity, it's quite impressive, fans are gonna be pleased.

Audio options include both the English 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM English 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles. I preferred the 4.0 with it's pleasing dynamic range, dialogue and effects are nicely balanced, plus it opens up the sound stage nicely. Dialogue is crisp and John Williams fantastic Bernard Herman-esque score sounds superb, compared to the TT Blu-ray the audio here is more intense,  we also have an isolated score and effects track to enjoy.

As with all of the recent Brian De Palma Blu-rays from Arrow we have a nice selection of Fiction Factory produced extras beginning with Blood on the Lens (27:00) an interview with Cinematographer Richard H. Klinehe speaks fondly of his only film with De Palma, remembering his experience on the set, setting-up shots, De Palma meticulous nature and commenting on the gorgeous cast, John Williams score and going into details about the specific scenes like the carnival sequence and the levitation scene.

Up next is Spinning Tale (13:38) with star Fiona Lewis who remembers the film as being ahead of it's time  and bearing the distinct De Palma stamp. She speaks briefly about her time on Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers and A Day at the Beach with Peter Sellers and not wanting to do the film after reading the script until she met with De Palma, who impressed her.  She offers some great recollections of working with John Cassevetes who was cold and dry witted, working with Andrew Stevens and being battered over the course of 24 takes of being thrown to the ground repeatedly.

The most in-depth and rounded of the features would be The Fury - A Location Journal: An interview with Sam Irvin (49:49), who at the time of the film was intern and correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine. His recounting of his De Palma fandom and time on set working with the director and interviewing the cast is fantastic and offered a lot of behind-the-scenes info ranging from stealing the estate location from the Omen II production,the make-up effects, cut scenes, and differences between the book and film. Irvin is an unabashed De Palma groupie and was totally in love with Fiona Lewis, he would go onto direct and produce quite a few films of his own including Elvira's Haunted Hills and Gods and Monsters, the entire feature is quite a love-letter to De Palma and his film.

Also included is Sam Irvin's Brian De Palma-esque short film Double Negative (17:58) a noir crime thriller about the film industry, fun stuff. There are also vintage interviews from the 1978 promotional tour, featuring Brian De Palma (6:03), producer Frank Yablans (6:52) and stars Carrie Snodgress (5:06) and Amy Irving (4:45), a collection of behind-the-scenes stills, and the theatrical trailer.

Reversible Artwork 

Not included with my review disc from Arrow but with the retail version are a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw plus a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Dumas, author of Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma and the Political Invisible, as well as a re-print of a contemporary interview with Brian De Palma, and a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma’s unrealised adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man and more, illustrated with original stills and posters.

This is a fantastic edition of a film that's received short shrift with previous DVD and Blu-ray incarnations, Arrow's Blu-ray have rectified that with a superb AV presentation with some interesting and in-depth supplement material, if you have not gone region-FREE here's yet another reason from Arrow Video to do so NOW!

Special Features:

- Brand new digital transfer of the film from the original camera negative
- Optional uncompressed mono 2.0 PCM and 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio audio
- Isolated John Williams score
-Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Blood on the Lens: An interview with Cinematographer Richard H. Kline (27:00)
- Spinning Tales: Fiona Lewis on starring in The Fury (13:38)
- The Fury - A Location Journal: An interview with Sam Irvin, intern on The Fury, author of the film’s shooting diary and then correspondent for Cinefantastique magazine (49:49)
- Original archive interviews from the 1978 promotional tour, featuring Brian De Palma (6:03), producer Frank Yablans (6:52) and stars Carrie Snodgress (5:06) and Amy Irving (4:45)
- Double Negative: A short film tribute to Brian De Palma by Sam Irvin, starring William Finley (17:58)
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes production images
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
- Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Chris Dumas, author of Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma and the Political Invisible, as well as a re-print of a contemporary interview with Brian De Palma, and a brand new interview with screenwriter John Farris on the writing of the film, his and De Palma’s unrealised adaptation of Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man and more, illustrated with original stills and posters.

Verdict:  Having just reviewed The Fury (1978) a few months ago I then stated it was not a top-tier De Palma but an interesting supernatural actioner mash-up, watching it again I was a bit more into it this time out, it's fun to see De Palma explore the supernatural themes of Carrie (1976), watching the new extras probably enhanced my viewing quite a bit, this gets a recommend. 3.5 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: THE FURY (1978)

THE FURY (1978) 

The Limited Edition Series 

Label: Twilight Time DVD

Region Code: Region FREE

Rating: R

Duration: 118 Minutes

Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: English 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with Optional English Subtitles

Cast: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Amy Irving, Andrew Stevens, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, 

Director: Brian DePalma

Following the success of 1973's supernatural prom-scare Carrie Brian DePalma continued his exploration of the supernatural with this spy-thriller mash-up, definitely a weird ride that begins with Robin Sandza (Andrew Stevens, The Terror Within) having a conversation about the direction of his life on a Middle Eastern resort beach with his CIA agent father Peter (Kirk Douglas, Paths of Glory) when terrorist storm the beach in a hail of gunfire, the target is Peter, Douglass even at 62 years of age was looking fit as a fiddle and rocking a pair of white shorty shorts while taking out terrorists and arming himself with an AK-47. It's a thrilling start to the film, action-packed and loaded with DePalma's signature moving camera.

During the attack Peter's son is protected from harm by Sandza's CIA friend Childress (John Cassavetes, Rosemary's Baby) who it turns out set-up the attack in order to take-out Peter and obtain Robin for a CIA-funded telekinetic murder squad, that bastard. Robin, believing his father dead, turns cold and disillusioned by the tragic event. The Agency with the help of seductive mentor, Dr. Susan Charles (Fiona Lewis), dope-up and brain-wash the psychic assassin, the process further unhinges Robin who becomes a powerful and soulless weapon. 

Meanwhile, Peter who actually survived the staged attack is now searching for his son while evading clandestine CIA agents, this plot thread leads to some weird, humorous scenarios with Peter dropping in through a window and holding a family a gunpoint while he disguises himself with shoe polish and a fresh set of clothes. When the CIA track his whereabouts he escapes the apartment in an age defying Bourne Identity-esque series of gymnastic feats. Fresh from this agile escape Peter hijacks two on-duty police officers, one of whom is played by DePalma regular Dennis Franz (Blow Out) as Peter leads them on a wild ride through a fog-laden construction site while escaping a CIA tail. 

Eventually Sandza tracks his son down to the Paragon Institute with the help of his girlfriend Hester (Carrie Snodgrass, Pale Rider) and a young psychic recruit Gillian (Amy Irving, Carrie). The psychic warfare prep-college is being run by Dr. Mckeever (Charles Durning, Dark Night of the Scarecrow) who always delivers a great villain when onscreen, good stuff. However, when Peter attempts to spring his psychotic son from the institute the results are expectantly tragic and psycho-kinetically explosive. 

The film is a bit of a clunky mash-up, the  spy-thriller and supernatural elements don't exactly mesh quite perfectly, when the two meet head-on during the finale it's fun stuff if a bit odd. The Fury is an interesting watch with some great moments, during the finale when Robin's eyes are burning irradesent blue and the psychokinetic mayhem is full-tilt it's fun stuff. Douglas is quite entertaining as the betrayed agent in pursuit of his son, and Cassavetes is an calculating and intense villain, he's one of those presences you just can't take your eyes off. As ever Amy Irving is delightful as the naive and sympathetic Gillian, a young woman recruited by the Paragon Institute, really pulls you in, which is great because Andrew Stevens doesn't exactly ever make yo feel anything for his character, turning in the most non-effectual performance of the film.  At nearly two hours the film struggles a bit to keep a decent pace despite DePalma's enjoyable visuals, the interesting bits just don't add up to form a cohesive story. 

I think the film's biggest flaw is the script, it's incoherent at times, but DePalma's tense directing style and some strong performances keeps the weirdness flowing along without much scratching, it keeps you off balance just enough to go with it, thinking about it too much would be detrimental to your viewing experience, trust me. 

There's some nice effects and gore peppered throughout, including a great Scanners-esque finale, the film shares quite a bit with Cronenberg's classic, but falls a bit short on it's promise. We get the usual array of DePalma cinema magic, a great scene of Gillian escaping from the Paragon Institute plays out in beautiful slow-motion, nearly silent, the escape is successful but not without collateral damage, a victim's life ends on the shattered windshield of an out-of-control car, it's pure DePalma awesomeness. While it's not a perfect film this is supernatural spy-thriller has some nice horror elements and is worth a watch even if it struggles to maintain coherency from time to time. 

Blu-ray: Brian DePalma's The Fury (1978) comes to Blu-ray for the first time from Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer presented in widescreen (1.85:1). Having just recently thrown on the Fox DVD for a view when this Blu-ray was announced I am pleased to say it's an improvement. Colors are nicely saturated plus fine detail and sharpness are improved. One thing you will definitely notice an abundance of film grain throughout, not just a fine silted layer either, this is robust stuff. The black levels suffer a bit, definitely handling them better than the DVD but they're pretty murky and infused with grain and contrast issues. The source print is not exactly pristine either, there are minor instances of print damage with scratches, white specks, there doesn't appear to have been much of any restoration afforded the film to my eyes past a clean-up. Not to say the presentation is not generally pleasing to the eyes, the 1080p upgrade shows increased fine detail and sharpness,  while it's not on par with Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) on Blu-ray if you're a fan of the film, if you love DePalma, I can safely tell you this is worth the upgrade provided you are willing to shell out $35 for the Twilight Time edition. . 

Audio options include both the English 4.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with Optional English Subtitles. The 4.0 wins the contest quite easily with a pleasing dynamic range, dialogue and effects are nicely balanced. John Williams brassy Bernard Herman-esque score sounds nice and full, a definite upgrade from the DVD even if the surrounds don't get much of a workout.

Twilight Time have been releasing some recent Blu-rays stuffed with extras, check out Our Man Flint (1965), In Like Flint (1967), Christine (1983) and Major Dundee (1965), all of which are are dripping with great extras. Unfortunately, we don't get much in the way of extras with The Fury, what we do get is the signature Isolated Score Track, John Williams score is pretty fantastic, Williams is strongly channeling Bernard Herman and it's a joy to listen to. Also included is the Original Theatrical Trailer and an 8 pg. Collector's Booklet with Julie Kirgo's extensive liner notes which frame the film in a post-Carrie (1976) world with DePalma further exploring the occult and supernatural. While features are a bit anemic they are certainly appreciated, would have loved a commentary, interviews with the cast or crew, but the original Fox DVD had none and keeping with Twilight Time's business model they have not sourced new features, but we do get the nifty Julie Kirgo liner notes and a great isolated score.  

Special Features: 

- John Williams Isolated Score Track 

- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Collector's Booklet with Extensive Julie Kirgo Liner Notes

Verdict: Not a top-tier DePalma film by any means but an interesting supernatural actioner mash-up, it's fun to see DePalma further explore the occult following Carrie (1976), it's just not as successful a film. As usual Twilight Time's Blu-ray is limited edition of only 3,000 and available exclusively from www.screenarchives.com, so get it while you can. 3 Outta 5