All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 19, 2017

Sergio Martino's "All the Colors of the Dark" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label Shameless Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a brand new video interview with director Sergio Martino; new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan; and Michéle De Angelis' short film "Doors". In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the Italian track. Region-B "locked".

What makes Sergio Martino’s All the Colors of the Dark attractive is the fact that it basically flips a number of conventional genre rules while at the same time it carefully expands the playing field where its characters are dispatched. The film has appeared on a number of reputable giallo lists, but it is really an experimental project that reminds of the work of Jean Rollin. (In the early ‘70s, in France Rollin was already doing the exact same type of experimental work, but with Gothic horror as his starting point. Martino’s starting point was the crime genre).

The elegant Edwige Fenech plays a young woman named Jane Harrison who lives in a decent area in London and is trying to recover from an awful miscarriage. But it has been awfully difficult. Her partner (George Hilton) has been eager to restore balance in her life and help her heal, but his insistence that she can quickly cure herself with very large doses of vitamins has actually made her feel even worse. Meanwhile, Jane’s sister Barbara (Nieves Navarro) has also been trying to build a case that the answer to her misery is a long and expensive therapy course that will be managed by her boss, a prominent psychiatrist. So instead of being close to the people that love her, Jane has been spending more time with alone, wandering the streets and hoping that the fresh air will calm her nerves.

In the building where she lives Jane eventually bumps into a sexy neighbor (Marina Malfatti) who invites her to have tea at her apartment and suggests that perhaps she ought to try a Sabbath – which turns out to be some Black Magic ritual organized by a secret sect. The desperate girl foolishly agrees and soon after her life spins out of control.

The fact that All the Colors of the Dark will end up being a twisted mind-bender becomes painfully obvious as soon as Jane’s nightmares begin overlapping with reality. After that the film rejects the conventional rules that define crime thrillers and heads in a completely different direction. So whether you end up liking it will almost certainly be determined here, where Martino opens up his bag of tricks to create an entirely new type of atmosphere that will ultimately change the identity of the entire film. (This is probably the right time to mention that Adrian Lyne’s great psychological thriller Jacob’s Ladder does a whole range of the same things that this film does in the first act, but eventually re-embraces conventional logic to deliver a powerful message).

The leads are quite good, or at least for this type of film, but it has to be pointed out that there are quite a few segments where some try too hard to hype up the sense of paranoia that emerges after that mysterious man with the spooky eyes connects with Jane with awkward statements or bizarre looks. The most effective material is actually the one where silence or some random sounds and noises are allowed to enhance the atmosphere.

The music score from maestro Bruno Nicolai is an essential element of the film’s narrative. Over the years many articles have been written to praise its brilliance, and the only thing that I can add is that it is indeed rightfully considered to be one of the best ever created for a genre film of this caliber.

*If you are planning to see All the Colors of the Dark for the first time, it is a very good idea to avoid the various vintage trailers that are floating around as they spoil all of the crucial segments.

All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sergio Martino's All the Colors of the Dark arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shameless Entertainment.

The master that was used to source the release comes with opening titles in Spanish and Italian subtitles -- which is not unusual as the film had a Spanish coproducer, though it is quite bizarre that the Italian subtitles for the titles cannot be turned off -- but it almost looks like some reconstruction work was done. Whatever the case might be, the quality of the opening credits is far from optimal and it is actually different from that of the rest of the film. I don't know if an interpositive was accessed or another element a generation away from it, but it is pretty clear that density levels are not optimal so you are essentially looking at a remaster, not an elaborate restoration where someone worked with the OCN. This being said, I actually like the quality of the master and think that it is a much better option than the various Italian masters that these types of films have been served with in recent years. Unfortunately, the quality of the technical presentation here is below average and a lot of the obvious benefits are actually lost. For example, the grain often looks very smeary and there are numerous segments where large patches with artifacts are very easy to spot (you can see an example in screencapture #14). Furthermore, because the film has a very unique stylistic appearance where light/highlights are managed in special ways there are all sorts of different nuances that are essential, but they also appear compromised. On a positive side, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments, but even on a standard TV size screen the visuals basically appear very loose with plenty of moving artifacts all over the place that routinely overwhelm the grain. The color palette is acceptable, but ideally saturation and nuances should be better. Image stability is good. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track.

I viewed the film with the original English track. The dialog is easy to follow and clarity is always good, but there is very light background hiss that is present throughout the entire film. It never becomes distracting, but if the audio is fully remastered it will be removed and stability, balance and fluidity will be substantially improved. Depth is not impressive, but considering the fact that the entire track was overdubbed this isn't surprising.

All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer Reel - a collection of trailers for other Shameless Entertainment releases.

• Doors - this short film directed by Michéle De Angelis in 2012 shares some common elements with All the Colors of the Dark. Starring Maja Andonovska, Ivan Jerchich, and Ratka Radmanovic. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Dark is the Color - in this new video interview, director Sergio Martino discusses his early years in the film business, the events preceding the emergence of his first thriller The Case of the Scorpion's Tail, the production history of All of the Colors of the Dark and some interesting editing choices that were made at the time, the creation of the opening credits, the film's reception in Rome and elsewhere, etc. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (33 min).

• Audio Commentary - in this new audio commentary, Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan discuss the era in which All the Colors of the Dark emerged, the film's unusual narrative structured, its style and atmosphere, Sergio Martino's professional relationship with Edwige Fenech, etc.

• Reversible Cover - reversible cover with alternative cover art.

All the Colours of the Dark Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby is routinely brought up when Sergio Martino's All the Colors of the Dark is discussed, but I think that these two films are very different. Martino's thriller juggles various genre elements in the same manner that many of Jean Rollin's films from the '70s do, though obviously while heading in a completely different direction. I think that it still looks quite impressive and Bruno Nicolai's masterful score seems to have aged even better. This recent release of All the Colors of the Dark could have been quite the treat, but regrettably the technical presentation is far from convincing. On the other hand, there is an outstanding new video interview with Sergio Martino that covers his most productive periods. I can only recommend that you consider a purchase if you really like the film and, more importantly, find the release heavily discounted.