THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) (Severin Blu-ray Review)

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1) 
Director: Robert Fuest
Cast: William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino, John Travolta

I first caught up with this Satanic panic drive-in classic when it was released by Dark Sky Films back in 2006 on DVD, it totally caught be surprise, a cool little slice of satanic cinema with an all-star 70's cast and directed by Robert Fuest, a wonderful director who brought us The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), not to mention the involvement of Anton Lavey, the founder of the Church of Satan!

It all begins on a rainy night with Mark Preston (Star Trek's William Shatner) and his mother (Ida Lupino, The Food of the Gods) waiting for his father to return home, when he does he has no eyes and begins melting into a multi-colored glob of goo! Mark's mom is later kidnapped by a local Satanic cult led by Jonathon Corbis (Ernest Borgnine, Escape from New York)who wants a satanic tome that the Preston family has kept hidden away for years, it would grant the cult-leader favor with Beelzebub and make him all-powerful!

When Mark himself becomes ensnared by the cult his younger brother Tom (Tom Skerrit, M*A*S*H) comes to his aid, along with his wife Julie (Joan Prather, Big Bad Mama) and occult expert Dr. Richards, played by Eddie Albert of TV's Green Acres. Working against the group are the local sheriff played by Keenan Wynn (Piranha) who is in tight with the Satanist, including a very young John Travolta in his first movie, though it is a small role.

The satanic thrills come fast and furious in this briskly paced drive-in b-movie classic, aided by some very goopy and surprisingly grotesque special effects from Tom Burman  (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and crew, including Borgnine being transformed into a horned, goat-headed manifestation of evil, who also gets his own goopy transformation. There's also a cool scene where Shatner is rendered eyeless, the make-up effects look quite a bit like the mask from Halloween (1978) which modeled after a Shatner/Captain Kirk Star Trek mask, I thought was pretty nifty. This one has always suffered a bit from a plot that seems to evaporate a bit, I always get list, not in the complicated plot, but in the lack of a clear one, but that's never deterred me from partaking in the satanic fun, plus we get some cool atmospheric and creepy cinematography from Álex Phillips Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia). 

Audio/Video: The Devil's Rain (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films, the new HD restoration (from an non-specific source) looks very nice, there's a nice but inconsistent layer of film grain, details aren't overly abundant and the image can be soft, but overall this is a nice upgrade compared to by 2006 DVD, even with a few unsightly emulsion scratches. Audio comes by way of an English language DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 track with optional English subtitles. The audio is clean and crisp, I wouldn't say the mix was overly dynamic by any means but it does the job.

Onto the extras Severin have grabbed the devil by the horns with this one, offering up a plethora of extras, beginning with a director's commentary ported over from the 2006 Dark Sky release. Then onto the new stuff, brand new interviews with the cast and crew, including an 11-min chat with Skerritt who spins a tale of how he got started in the business, originally wanting to be a director, scoring a few writing gigs and his early career, making this movie and laughing quite a bit when asked about the involvement of Anton Lavey, which he seems to find mildly amusing. FX artist Tom Burman shows up for a brief 5-min interview discussing the goopy effects created for the film and how the melting people were achieved, it's cool.  

Well established Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (Blade Runner, Jurassic Park) speaks about landing her first job as a script supervisor on this very film by pretty much conning her way into it, and also being bilingual helped, as the film was shot in Mexico with a Mexican crew and with an English director and an American cast. 

The Church of Satan gets some representation on two featurettes, one with the current High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan speaking about Lavey's involvement on the film, plus LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton, speaking about her relationship with the Lavey, and his time on the film with the cast. There's also a vintage '75 interview with Shatner who speaks about the possibility of a Star Trek movie opportunity, and if that was something he'd be interested in, and what that might mean for his career... he made a wise move accepting the eventual offer! Another very cool extra is an interview with director/actor Daniel Roebuck (River's Edge) who showcases his vintage horror collection while detailing his own trip to the drive-in with his mom to see The Devil's Rain, and what his mom did for him to secure a prize at the screening, fun stuff. The disc is finished up with a theatrical trailer, TV spots and a poster and still gallery.    

This single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with  sleeve of reversible artwork, which looks awesome on both sides, I believe the a-side is the original movie poster, with a cool variant on the b-side. 

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Robert Fuest
- Confessions Of Tom - Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt (11 min) HD
- The Devil's Makeup - Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman (5 min) HD - 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner (4 min) HD 
- First Stop Durango - Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana (15 min) HD 
- Consulting with the Devil - A Conversation with the High Priest and High Priestess of the Church of Satan (10 min) HD 
- Hail Satan! - Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton (8 min) HD 
- Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil's Rain (11 min) HD 
- On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots (8 min) HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
- TV Spots (2 min) HD 
- Poster/Still Gallery(8 min) HD 

The Devil's Rain (1975) is a fun slice of evil 70's cinema, it's not the strongest story but the performances are good and the special effects are surprisingly gooey, which is what makes this so memorable, trust me, it ain't the story! This would make a fun hail-Satan triple-feature with The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975) or a fun Borgnine scenery-chewing triple play with Willard (1971) and Deadly Blessing (1981).  I never really thought I needed to upgrade my old DVD of this one, but watching this Severin Blu-ray I can say that the A/V upgrade is very nice and the plentiful extras actually make the movie more enjoyable. 

HAIL SATAN! Drive-in shocker THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from SEVERIN FILMS!

THE DEVIL'S RAIN (1975) 

1500 Strictly Limited Numbered Slipcase Available

First HD Release Oozing With New Extras!

One Of The Most Notorious Drive-In Shockers Of The ‘70s

Now Restored In HD For The First Time Ever!

Severin Films invites you to spend your Halloween chanting “Hail Satan!” as they bring THE DEVIL’S RAIN pouring down onto home theater screens across North America, soaking horror fans in the wet, heavy bile excreted by the Devil himself! Each copy of the movie comes with reversible cover art and limited, numbered edition slipcase (only 1500 units) with alternate artwork are be available exclusively from the Severin webstore.

Take an all-star cast – including William Shatner, Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert, Keenan Wynn, Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino and even John Travolta in his movie debut – at their most hellishly over-the- top. Add one of the most visually inventive filmmakers of the era – director Robert Fuest, of THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES fame – and thrust them into an insane tale of rural occult carnage, featuring Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey as Technical Advisor. Watch in infernal awe as it all hurtles towards the most eye-popping, flesh-melting finale in grindhouse history. Now experience this devilishly infamous classic as you’ve never seen or heard it before, restored in HD for the first time ever and oozing with all-new Extras approved by Lucifer himself!

In addition to this devilish release of the film, Severin has also collaborated with the Church of Satan and it’s merchandising operation iSatanist to produce a stylish pendant necklace recreating the stained glass window from the church seen in the film, available at the Severin Films store or as part of the Prince Of The Abyss bundle.

Pre-Order Available Now!

Prince of the Abyss Bundle Blu With Limited Slip Case & Pendant - $33.00
Devil's Rain Blu with Limited Slip Case - $23.99
Devil's Rain Blu + Pendant - $31.00
Devil's Rain Blu only - $19.99
Devil's Rain DVD - $17.99
Devil's Rain Corbus Pendant - $13.00

*Limited Edition (1,500) slipcase available only through www.Severin-Films.com

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary With Director Robert Fuest
- Confessions Of Tom - Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt
- The Devil's Makeup - Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman
- 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner
- First Stop Durango - Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana
- Consulting with the Devil - A Conversation with the High Priest & High Priestess of the Church of Satan
- Hail Satan! - Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton
- Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil's Rain
- On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Poster/Still Gallery

Corbis Pendant (Front)

Corbis Pendant (Back)

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.  

SUN, SAND AND SWEAT (1983-1985) 4-MOVIE COLLECTION (Blu-ray Review)

SUN, SAND AND SWEAT (1983-1985) 

4-MOVIE COLLECTION

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A
Duration: 391 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Dgital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 
Directors: James Bridges , George Bowers, Mark Griffiths, Sean S. Cunningham
Cast: Johnny Depp, Rob Morrow, John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis, David Knell, Perry King, Grant Cramer, Teal Roberts

Mill Creek Entertainment have put together a four-film collection of classic '80s boner-jams guaranteed to please anyone who was a horny teen or adolescent in the '80s. This one brings together three juggernauts of heavy petting from the post-Porky's era and adds in the John Travolta - Jamie Lee Curtis aerobic drama Perfect (1985), which features some '80s hard bodies but falls short of the boner-popping awesomeness of Spring Break (1983), Hardbodies (1984) and Private Resort (1985). The '80s were a very special time, a decade oozing with cheesy comedies, among them were an arousing sub genre of cinema I fondly refer to as boner-jams, movies that often dealt with teens on spring break and were loaded with copious amounts of nudity.  Late night cable was overstuffed with these back in the day, and I loved them. If I was cruising cable channels after hours and Hardbodies was airing I would watch in teen-ecstasy with no small amount of pant-swelling anticipation. In an age before the Internet and 24 hour porn these teen sex-comedies were my only source for spank-bank masturbation fuel.

PRIVATE RESORT (1985) 

Rating: R
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: George Bowers 
Cast: Johnny Depp, Ron Morrow, Emily Longstreth

Synopsis: Jack and Ben check in at a posh Florida resort, planning to spend every hour in hot pursuit of babes. But their plans hit a major detour when they try to bed the wife of a conniving jewel thief. They'll have to outsmart him, a nasty security guard and an obnoxious jock if they're ever going to get a moment alone with the girl of their dreams!

Private Resort stars Johnny Depp and Rob Morrow as teen dudes who prowl a local resort looking for sex, a movie littered with scene after scene of topless women. It was everything a teen could hope for from an '80s boner-comedy, plus it mixed in a goody subplot involving a inept jewel thief called The Maestro, played by Hector Elizondo, and a near nude scene from Leslie Easterbrook from Police Academy, which might be worth the price of admission alone. I am sure Johnny Depp is ashamed of this one, coming right on the heels of A Nightmare on Elm Street and a few years before his star-making turn in Oliver Stone's Platoon. Private resort is a standard teen sex comedy, perfectly throwaway and delightfully cheesy. 

HARDBODIES (1984)

Rating: R
Duration:87 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Mark Griffiths 
Cast: Grant Cramer, Teal Roberts, Gary Wood, Michael Rappaport, Roberta Collins

Synopsis: When three middle-aged geezers move into a swinging beach house, they hire a young stud to teach them how to score with the local beauties.'80s band Vixen and hundreds of Southern California's hottest swimsuit models co-star in the legendary cult comedy.

Hardbodies always seemed to me to be the flagship boner-jam movie, with a sort of creepy set-up of three middle-aged divorced men who enlist teen surfer dude Scotty Palmer who helps them pick-up young ladies on the beach in California. Scotty is played by Grant Cramer of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame, and the movie paints him as a sort of con man with a way with the ladies, which the three divorced men exploit to their advantage. However, when Scotty begins to develop real feelings for a new girl in his life he tries to change his ways, but in a movie loaded with breasts and buns it will not be easy. 

The movie also co-stars one Courtney Gains of Children of the Corn and The 'Burbs fame as Scotty's best mate Rags, a righteous '80s dude and one goofy looking sumbitch. Watching it again the movie has not aged well, but does well as a tawdry piece of '80s trash cinema, with an endless parade of topless young women, which is sort of what this set is all about. 

SPRING BREAK (1983)

Rating: R
Duration: 102 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Cast: David Knell, Perry Lang, Paul Land

Synopsis: Adam and Nelson are naive college students who have come to Fort Lauderdale to perform these rites of Spring Break. Due to a mix-up, the boys end up in the same room with a pair of experienced guys from New York who coach the boys on the finer points of seduction - with mixed results.

Spring Break (1983) comes by way of director Sean S. Cunningham who most will know brought us the Friday the 13th, this teen-sex comedy is sandwiched in-between Friday the 13th (1980) and the teen-thriller New Kids (1985), the movie is about a pair of teen-dweebs named Nelson (David Nell) and Adam (Perry Lang) who arrive in Fort Lauderale to reap the horny rewards of spring break. They find that they have to share their small hotel room with a pair of party-animals named Stu (Steve Bassette) and O.T. (Paul Land), two skilled pussy-hounds who take the nerds under their wings, learning them in the ways of bedding strange women.

Along the way the four find themselves involved in an effort to save the hotel from a buy-out scheme by the crooked brother-in-law of the owner, a plot involving the step-father of Nelson and a shady building inspector. This one is tame in the nudity department compared to Private resort and Hardbodies, dare I say even nuanced to a degree with a story with an an actual arc, it's not quite American Graffitti, but it is not too far removed from The Last American Virgin. It also features the best soundtrack of the set, with tunes from NRBQ, .38 Special and a bonafide theme song from Cheap Trick, which is not their best stuff. The movie is fun, there's a sweetness to it, a vibe that reminded me a bit of Caddyshack, with a sweet love interest, and of course the prerequisite amount of boobies.

PERFECT (1985)

Rating: R
Duration: 120 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: James Bridges 
Cast: John Travolta, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anne De Salvo, Marilu Henner, Laraine Newman

Synopsis: Based on a series of Rolling Stone articles by Aaron Latham, this romance was set in the world of L.A.'s hip fitness scene. Rolling Stone reporter Adam Lawrence (John Travolta) comes to L.A. to write a story about a prominent businessman who's been arrested for drug dealing (shades of the John DeLorean scandal). He's also decided to research a piece on the exercise fad and how health clubs have become the "singles bars of the '80s." His boss (real-life Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner as himself) OK's the project. At a club called The Sports Connection, an incognito Adam meets the regulars, including promiscuous Linda (Laraine Newman), airhead Sally (Marilu Henner) and aerobics instructor Jessie (Jamie Lee Curtis), a former Olympic swimmer. Adam and Jessie begin a romance, but it ends when she discovers that he's there to trash her and the club in print. Conflicted, Adam wrestles with publishing the story, but the final decision isn't his.

Perfect is based on true-life story about a Rolling Stone journalist (John Tavolta) who is writing an article on how 80's L.A. fitness clubs are the new singles spot, when he falls for a aerobic instructor played by Jaime Lee Curtis (John Carpenter's Halloween). There is no nudity and no horny teens anywhere to be found, but I will say that the short-coiffed Curtis rocked the spandex and has some nice moves, with both her and Travolta turning is decent performances, but the movie just did nothing for me - this was the dud of the bunch, and it did not belong on this teen-lust collection. 

The Sun, Sand and Sweat 4-movie collection from Mill Creek is a ton of boner-jam fun, three of the four movies are loaded with copious amounts of horny teen fantasies, and as a child of the '80s these were my cumming-of-age movies, and they look pretty good in HD. I wish they would have excised Perfect in favor of another trashy slice of '80s boner-comedy but the other three are top-notch '80s cheese. This can be picked-up for about $10, which is cheaper than what you can buy the now out-of-print Spring Break DVD for on Amazon or eBay. 3/5 

Blu-ray Review: BLOW OUT (1981)

BLOW OUT (1981)

Label: Arrow Video 
Region Code: B
Duration: 108 Minutes
Audio: English LPCM Audio English with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: 1080p Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow

Brian De Palma’s rarely did it better that with this visceral thriller from 1981 brilliantly shot by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond with a fantastic performances from John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow. It starts of wonderfully as we are thrown into a screening of the low-budget slasher Coed Frenzy with some great Halloween-esque POV camera work, it's deliciously plump with lurid images, gratuitous nudity and creepy stalking, as the camera tracks the slasher's movements at a college dormitory he works his way from voyeuristic peeping to stalking a co-ed in the steamy shower room, as the perp is about to plunge his blade into her voluptuous body she gives out the most groan-inducing scream you've ever heard, it's hilariously awful. 

We are pulled out of the film and it's revealed that a b-movie producer and his soundman Terry (John Travolta) has been tasked with capturing a more horrific scream and to come up with some less generic wind effects to lay over the film. To this end he heads out to the local park late one night to record some sounds effects when he witnesses a car lose control and careen into the nearby creek, the entire episode is caught on audio. Terry dives into the icy waters and drags a young woman named Sally (Nancy Allen, Dressed to Kill) from the submerged car to safety, we discover that the deceased driver of the car was the Governor and a Presidential hopeful and Sally was a paid escort, the whole affair definitely smacks of an inversion of the Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick incident in '69. Afterward Terry listens to his audio recording of the incident and hears what he believes to be a gunshot just before the car tire blew out and it lost control before plunging into the drink, and the intrigue begins. 

Also figuring into the mystery are a seedy private eye with a name that just sounds so appropriately bottom-feederish, Manny Karp (Dennis Franz),  who just happened to be at the park the same night with a high-speed camera and catches the whole thing on a series of pictures. In a fantastic pre-Dexter appearance John Lithgow's Burke attempts to cover-up the assassination by staging a series of serial killings attributed to "the Liberty Bell Strangler". Jack befriends Sally at the hospital and the two begins sleuthing the assassination themselves when the cops prove expectantly useless, both are unaware they are being stalked by Burke, as the film plays out it's quite the nail-biter, the devastating rooftop finale is exquisite, this is a damn fine thriller. 

i think this is Travolta's finest work, he's a flawed protagonist, a very Hitchcockian character, just an ordinary guy caught up in a murderous web of intrigue and   Nancy Allen's Sally as Travolta's wide-eyed love interest is sorta a ditsy dame but with a pure heart, perhaps a bit annoying but pretty sympathetic and you completely feel for her character, the love story is never over-sugary, it's sorta cute and innocent. 

Blow Out is a superb and cynical thriller and it gets better with each viewing, it's helped in no small part by Zsigmond's gorgeous cinematography,he just pulls you right in and we get many of Brian De Palma's signature techniques, there's no shortage of spinning pans, split-screen, the split diopter lens and intricate tracking shots, this including a wonderfully slasher-riffic tracking shot at the start of the film which was lensed by the inventor of the steadicam, Garret Brown.  I love De Palma's voyeuristic  tendencies and there's a lot to enjoy here visually, this is great stuff.  Blow Out is completely engrossing watch, it's has great suspense, a tragic love story, a commentary on low-budget filmmmaking and a weird slasher element. It has pretty much everything you want from a thriller and probably a bit more plus it's a gorgeous film. 

Blu-ray: Blow Out comes to Blu-ray in the UK from Arrow Video with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in 1080p and it's gorgeous. I have the Criterion disc and at a glance it would appear to be the same director approved restored transfer, colors are true, there's some nice depth and clarity to the image and a fine layer of natural films grain, this is a very pleasing presentation. 

Audio is presented in English LPCM Audio English with Optional English SDH Subtitles and it does the job without resorting to an artificial 5.1 surround mix though to be honest that would have been nice, too. The film sports some very nice sound design but the uncompressed stereo track is nice with a good balance of dialogue, effects and Pino Donaggio's wonderful score come through crisply. 

Onto the Fiction Factory produced special features we get some great retrospective interviews with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, Nancy Allen producer George Litto and on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman plus a theatrical trailer, it's great stuff and on par with Criterion's selection of extras. 

Black and White in Colour: An Interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (27:41) is a lengthy interview as the cinematographer touches on the red, white and blue theme featured throughout the film, something I never quite realized before. He also speaks of De Palma's love for the split diaptor lens, , the Garret Brown steadicam shot, shooting the Liberty Day Parade sequence. 

Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on Blow Out (21:28), still quite a looker the starlet recalls the reception of the film upon release, the process that lead to working with  Travolta post-Carrie and her characters "rag doll" persona plus Ann Roth's costuming. She also goes into filming the underwater scenes despite her claustrophobia, working with John Lithgow and her character's fate plus dealing with some of the more scathing reviews of the film. 

Return to Philadelphia: An interview with Producer George Litto (18:37) features the always entertaining producer reflecting on the trio of films he produced with De Palma, securing financing with only a seven-page outline, casting the film, the theft of several reels of films during production and Al Pacino almost landing the lead.  

Multi-tracking Blow Out (28:06) features composer Pino Donaggio  speaking about his early career as a recording artist, scoring the film after original composer Bernard Hermann passed away, his use of synthesizers and orchestration. The interview is conducted in Italian with English subtitles.  

Features are finished-up with a Original Theatrical Trailer (1:45) and a gallery of on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman. If I were going to nit-pick the edition it would be that it does not include a Brian De Palma short film. Arrow's Blu-ray of Obsession (1976) included both Wonton's Wake (1962) and The Responsive Eye (1966) while Criterion's Blow Out (1981) featured Murder a la Mod (1967), otherwise this is on par with the Criterion edition in A/V and features.

Special Features:
- Black and White in Colour: An Interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (27:41)
- Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on Blow Out (21:28)
- Return to Philadelphia: An interview with Producer George Litto (18:37)
- Multi-tracking Blow Out (28:06)
- A gallery of on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:45)

Verdict: A truly suspenseful watch from start to finish, Brian De Palma's Blow Out (1982) is the director's finest moment, it all comes together right here and Arrow's Blu-ray is top notch. Brian De Palma fans should be in a state of nirvana knowing that Arrow are also bringing The Fury (1978), Sisters (1973), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Phantom of the Paradise (1974) to Blu-ray in the very near future! Arrow's Blow Out gets a high recommend, essential. 4.5 Outta 5