Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

.com for Murder Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 17, 2023

Arrow Video is continuing to curate the sometimes goofy filmography of the often goofy Nico Mastorakis, and for those unacquainted with this Greek auteur, there are a number of prior Blu-ray releases from Arrow to whet appetites like Hired to Kill, Nightmare at Noon, The Wind, The Zero Boys, Death Has Blue Eyes, and Blood Tide (the last as co-writer rather then everything from producing and directing to craft services, and, yes, that's a joke). A lot of Mastorakis' films offer spooky set ups that at least hint at supernatural phenomena, and perhaps due to his Greek heritage, several of them have been set in rather exotic locations, including some in that general corner of the world. Mastorakis is quite a character, as I get into in my introductory comments in my Death Has Blue Eyes Blu-ray review, and his penchant toward self promotion (and, just possibly, the slightest whiff of self aggrandizement, not that there's anything wrong with that) may have led to .com for Murder, which Mastorakis freely admits is a "modern day" (i.e., early aughts of this century) update of the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller Dial M for Murder .

Now, anyone who is already conversant with the standard operating procedures of Nico Mastorakis may already be wondering how the relatively "slow burn" tactics of Hitchcock in Rear Window matriculate to this production, and the short answer is, they don't, at least by and large. Mastorakis is a "big" personality (not that Hitch wasn't), and his films tend to just kind of come out of the gate at full gallop and then continue to maraud around whatever course they're on to their conclusion. Here, the setup is rather quickly established, as Sondra Brummel (Nastassja Kinski), recovering from a skiing accident which has left her leg in a cast, is ensconced in a nascent "smart home" owned by her husband Ben (Roger Daltrey). Ben is more or less introduced and then not seen again, but before he basically disappears, he tutors Sondra in the pleasures (?) of online chatrooms, which is where the trouble starts.

While it's easy to look back on Rear Window now with the benefit of several decades' hindsight, it may not be quite as easy to discern some subtle ambiguities Hitchcock's tale has at its center. Is Jeff (James Stewart) simply a lonely busybody with nothing else to do but spy on his neighbors perhaps unfairly targeting apparently hapless schlub Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), or is something more sinister going on? Well, of course something sinister is going on, some would almost automatically scream, but a more objective eye may disclose some really interesting doubts the actual film might be presenting. There's nothing even remotely similar at play in .com for Murder, as it's almost instantly disclosed that there's a psychopathic madman in the chatroom going by the screenname Werther (Jeffery Dean, who needs to learn how to spell his first name, and, yes, that's another joke). And in fact the film actually begins with a quasi-homage to Psycho, in just one of several vignettes offering low-res POV kill videos that Werther supposedly shoots "live" (no pun intended).

That removes any possible misdirection or frankly suspense in a way, since it's almost instantly obvious that this is going to be a plotline getting to some kind of showdown between Sondra and Werther, though the film does at least potentially tip the odds in Sondra's favor, again from the get go, by having her be holed up in her mansion with sister Misty (Nicolette Sheridan). Along the way, an FBI agent named Matheson (Huey Lewis) gets involved, though, like any good Deus ex Machina, he only shows up in the nick of time to provide a "rescue", this after Sondra and Misty have pretty much already taken care of business themselves.

.com for Murder Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

.com for Murder is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet offers the following basic verbiage on the restoration:

.com for Murder is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 5.1 and stereo 2.0 audio. The film was restored from a 35mm interpositive and the high definition master was provided by Nico Mastorakis.

As Mastorakis himself gets into in some of the supplements on this disc, his efforts to provide some "low-res" video looking moments for Werther's POV shots led to some technical challenges, and as such, videophiles should hold their breaths for just a moment, as the film does start with one of these pretty degraded looking sequences (you can see some examples of some of the low res moments in screenshots 18 and 19 in particular). Once the film gets into its main post credits narrative, things perk up measurably both in terms of palette suffusion and especially clarity and detail levels. The film has a lot of style, and some of the scenes with Werther, which are awash in almost John Wick 4K levels of purple, are incredibly moody looking, even if they understandably don't always offer a wealth of fine detail. A lot of the footage of the interior of Sondra's house offers really good detail levels, even in some less than fulsome lighting. Grain is tightly resolved for the most part, and any age related wear and tear has been largely ameliorated if not outright eliminated. My score is 4.25.

.com for Murder Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

.com for Murder features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks, and frankly the stereo track may provide perfectly acceptable sound for many, since the film tends to take place in enclosed interior spaces where the ability to really regularly engage side and rear channels in a surround track may be limited. That said, the 5.1 track definitely opens up the soundstage in terms of both occasional placement of ambient environmental effects, but also some of the underscore by Ross Levinson (how did this film not get Daltrey and Lewis together for some kind of closing credits tune?). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

.com for Murder Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of .com for Murder (HD; 38:01) is an archival piece with a lot of behind the scenes footage and interviews.


• .com for Murder, the Unknown Story (HD; 28:10) is a newer retrospective with more production information, with more memorable anecdotes from the always entertaining Niko Mastorakis.


• Interview with Roger Daltrey (HD; 20:27) is an archival piece.


• Interview with Huey Lewis (HD; 9:56) is also an archival piece.


• Trailer (HD; 2:13)


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, Arrow provides a typically nicely appointed insert booklet, this one with a fun essay by David Flint talking about how prescient some aspects of this film were, in terms of the "dangers" lurking on the world wide web. There's also cast and crew information, technical data, and production credits. Packaging features a slipcover.

.com for Murder Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe it would have been better had Nico Mastorakis not so overtly "paid homage" to Alfred Hitchcock, because he probably can't help but come off as a "pretender" to that perceived throne. It may have been a mistake to offer the patently sociopathic Werner so soon in the story, without any other sidebar characters as are found in Rear Window. The film never really generates a ton of "fear factor", but it's polished and provides Kinski a kind of "limited mobility" showcase that may in fact remind some of Sorry, Wrong Number (note that the link points to an Australian release, since that's what I reviewed, but it looks like it's due soon in Region A from Shout! Factory). Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.