6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Two hippies find themselves on the run from the law and soon end up going undercover in a villa owned by a mysterious woman.
Starring: Ornella Muti, Ray Lovelock, Irene Papas, Sal Borgese, Umberto RahoForeign | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Umberto Lenzi's "An Ideal Place to Kill" a.k.a. "Oasis of Fear" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include restored vintage trailer for the film; exclusibe new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson; video interview with director Umberto Lenzi; and more. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the Italian track. Region-Free.
Now we have to improvise
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, An Ideal Place to Kill arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.
I wonder if the new 2K master that was used to produce this release might have been prepared by the same folks that delivered the recent 2K master for Lenzi's Paranoia because they look very similar. The color grading jobs in particular have been done with the exact same awareness of detail, and when projected now these films reveal equally striking healthy ranges of primaries and supporting nuances.
I have an older R2 DVD release of In Ideal Place to Kill -- which was released in the United Kingdom under the alternative title Oasis of Fear -- and was able to do some quick comparisons. The new 2K master offers such a dramatic improvement in quality that from time to time it feels like the upgrade is from VHS to 4K Blu-ray. Delineation, clarity, and especially depth are simply spectacular on the Blu-ray release, plus there are some pretty dramatic improvements in terms of stability. The darker footage revelas the most striking upticks in quality -- simply because on the DVD transfer this is where the visuals become flatter and even break down -- but the truth is that the entire film now has a very solid organic appearance that ensures a completely different viewing experience. I was very, very impressed because on my system this film looks like it has been given an entirely new identity. Outstanding restoration. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit) and Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit). Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track.
I viewed the film with the English track, which should be the default track because the principal actors utter their lines in English. If you choose the English track, however, you should keep in mind that there are a few very short segments that were done in Italian without English dubbing, so for these segments you will see English subtitles.
The audio is clean and stable, with some quite good ranges of dynamic nuances. Obviously, it is properly pitched as well -- it is not on the R2 DVD release -- so the music and the actors' voices sound as they should. There are no encoding anomalies to report.
An Ideal Place to Kill is one seriously misunderstood film. It is not one of Umberto Lenzi's better films either. However, the moment you realize that it was never meant to be a sexploitation gem -- which is precisely what many of its fans believe it is, and plenty of distributors wanted it to be -- it becomes quite a charmer. I always suspected that it was some sort of a compromise because it has a cheeky sense of humor the legit Italian sexploitation films from the '70s very rarely tolerated, so Lenzi's admission in the excellent video interview that it was supposed to emulate Easy Rider finally puts everything that occurs in it in proper context. I enjoy the film and always had a spot for it in my collection, which is why I was eager to take a look at Mondo Macabro's Blu-ray release. It is sourced from a stunning new 2K master that makes the film look brand new. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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