What my PS3 and HD TV were waiting for…, 2 Feb 2010

…a real chance to show just how impressive blu-ray can be.

I have numerous copies of Suspiria, from the first X-certificate ex-rental VHS through to the Anchor Bay DVD. I have watched the film more times than I care to remember. I thought I knew the film inside-out.

On my first viewing of this blu-ray release, however, I found myself thinking “never noticed that before” over and over again. The effect of most DVD to blu-ray comparisons is noticing the accentuated lines, textures and colours. This blu-ray made me notice things like subtle expressions on faces that, knowing Dario, must have been carefully directed but were easily missed on other formats. The most startling example for me is the expression on the face of Madame Blanc’s nephew during Suzy’s first encounter with witchcraft as she follows the other dancers to the Red Room. I love that scene, but never noticed that during the “blast” of light, a slight grin spreads across his face that then fades as the light fades. Perfectly timed – and incredibly creepy!

Let’s have the same again for Profondo Rosso!

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Glass 80% full, 20% empty, 29 Jan 2010

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Mr. N. A. Harrison (Nottingham, UK.) – See all my reviews

  

Arguably the best current version of Suspiria in the world. Unfortunetly it uses the same source materials as the much maligned Italian and French dvd versions, meaning that some sequences are in entirely the wrong colour scheme (ie, the finale). The sound is certainly fixed, with music cues and sound effects re-instated and dialogue levels corrected from the seriously flawed Lustig supervised Anchor Bay remix. A few scenes have contrast levels that are way too high (Olga’s hand manages to make Casper the friendly ghost look like he has a sun tan). And at one point, not just the academy, but the pavement and even Daniel and his dog are all a uniform shade of very bright pink. Hmmm. The commentary by Newman and Jones is excellent, and highly recommended. Unfortunetly I can’t say the same for the featurettes which add very little to the package. You’ve either heard it all before, or didn’t particularly want to hear it in the first place. Worth upgrading for hardcore fans but by no means a definitive release…

btw I should mention that this bd is locked to region B.

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Argento Goes Blu, 4 Feb 2010

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Erich A. Scholz III (Dallas, TX) – See all my reviews

  

Ordered this disc with some reservations — read some mixed reviews about the color, contrast, etc — but I was blown away when I put it in the player. This movie is LOUD! I was scrambling for the volume control repeatedly through the film. The music and sound design are probably two of the reasons this film is so well regarded by horror aficionados. It’s a shame that the more quiet dialog passages seem to get lost in the mix. The opening scene is breathtaking and somewhat disorienting — perfect! There are some moments where the color and the whites seems to blow out but overall this is a tight, clean presentation with bonescraping audio…some so-so extras. Super sharp picture presentation almost makes this film appear to have been made yesterday. I say “almost” because I don’t think any contemporary filmmaker can even approach Argento’s delirious, violent vision. Pity about the cheesy cover art!

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