Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Almost Human Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 6, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi/Tomas Milian Collection box set.

In one of several worthwhile supplements Severin has aggregated for Violent Streets, commentators Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson make the case that director Umberto Lenzi may not have achieved the renown of some of his contemporaries at least in part perhaps due to the fact that, at least according to Howarth and Thompson, his directorial style wasn't "flashy" enough, though the fact that Howarth's book about Lenzi includes the word kinetic in its title might subliminally undercut this thesis, one way or the other. There is a certain stolid quality to some of Lenzi's work, to be sure, but there are also at least moments of flourishes, but one way or the other, when you have a star like Tomas Milián snarling in front of the camera, how much additional "style" do you really need? Milián is a near feral presence in all five films Severin has aggregated in this appealing new collection culled from Lenzi's rather impressively long filmography. Some of the supplementary interviews with Lenzi included on the various discs in this set might suggest that his relationship with Milián may not have always been smooth sailing, so to speak, and in a way I was reminded (perhaps only due to it very recently passing through my review queue courtesy of a bonus feature on Arrow's release of Black Sunday) some remarks by John Frankenheimer speaking to his evidently intermittently stormy relationship with Burt Lancaster, another leading man with a somewhat feral presence. One way or the other, much as with the Frankenheimer - Lancaster collaborations, Lenzi and Milián formed a viscerally compelling symbiotic unit for whatever reason, and the five films collected here offer more than abundant proof of the energy the duo brought to some admittedly at times otherwise pedestrian efforts. Severin has perhaps sweetened the pot for a certain demographic by including soundtrack CDs with some of the films.

Milián is at least an appealing anti-hero in some of the films included in Violent Streets, but in Almost Human he is an unrepentant "son of a 'rhymes with witch'", as commentators Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth term him, though without using that rhyming conceit. If one is permitted to ferret out a bit of subtext in some of the interviews with Umberto Lenzi that are included on every disc in the Violent Streets set, one might be tempted to say that Milián himself may have qualified for that description, at least by Lenzi, who almost seems resigned in some of his comments to the "shenanigans" (for want of a better word) that Milián evidently was infamous for engaging in on set, including rampant improvisation and at times a swinging pendulum of behaviors that almost sound like manic depressive episodes in either/both directions. That underlying tension no doubt contributes to the visceral intensity of Almost Human, but also just as inarguably probably lends an undeniably chaotic feeling to this story.

As with several of the titles in the Violent Streets collection, Almost Human received a previous release on Blu-ray, in this particular case courtesy of Code Red back in 2018, and for a plot recap as well as a general reaction to the film and that version's technical aspects, I recommend those interested read Svet Atanasov's Almost Human Blu-ray review. While I'm not immune to some of the issues with the story and presentation that Svet addresses in his review, as I often state, different reviewers means different opinions, and in this case judging from Svet's critique, I may be a bit more of a fan of the film than he is.

Almost Human Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Almost Human is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The back cover doesn't offer much technical information other than "now scanned uncut from the original negative". This is an appealingly organic looking presentation that preserves a healthy layer of grain while also offering some generally commendable detail levels throughout both changing locations (interior and exterior) and lighting conditions. The color timing is just slightly variable on occasion, with some intermittent skewing toward browns that may indicate some slight fading. Some very minor age related wear and tear can be spotted by the eagle eyed, including some brief nicks and specs, but overall the transfer is without any significant damage.

Almost Human Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Almost Human features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono options in either English or Italian. As with some of the other dual language tracks included in Violent Streets, to my ears there wasn't a huge difference between the two on this particular disc, though I'd argue that the English track has a brighter high end, something that's perhaps most noticeable during some of the underscore. Ennio Morricone's score is interesting, not necessarily what some might think of as "standard" for this often surprising composer, but its propulsive, percussive aspects are well represented on both tracks and the accompanying soundtrack CD. Dialogue is presented clearly and cleanly throughout. Optional English subtitles for both versions are available.

Almost Human Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi is in Italian with English subtitles.


• Audio Commentary with Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, author of Make Them Die Slowly: The Kinetic Cinema of Umberto Lenzi


• Violent Milan (HD; 29:01) is an interview with director Umberto Lenzi. Subtitled in English.


• Milian Unleashed (HD; 25:51) is an interview with actor Tomas Milian. This comes with a spoiler warning. In English.


• A History of Violence (HD; 37:44) is an interview with Ernesto Gastaldi. Subtitled in English.


• Italian American Gangster (HD; 5:30) is an interview with actor Henry Silva.


• Trailer (HD; 3:23)


• A Soundtrack CD is included.

Almost Human Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are any number of pretty disturbing elements at play in Almost Human, but Milián's animalistic portrayal of bad guy Giulio Sacchi is unforgettable (for better or worse). Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.