Black Widow Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Black Widow Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2015

One of the staples of film noir is the provocative, seductive and inescapable femme fatale, but Black Widow, despite its apparently singular titular figure, actually provides a whole slew of femmes fatales, albeit all in the guise (and/or disguises) of a machinating character played by Theresa Russell. Russell’s murderous character assumes a variety of identities throughout the film, moving from victim to victim like someone simply exchanging handbags to be more fashionable. In one of the interesting sidebars to Ronald Bass’ well constructed screenplay, the “real” identity of Catharine (as this review will mostly refer to her) is never actually revealed, for Catharine has spent much of her adult life hiding “reality” behind a variety of wigs, makeup and other accoutrements which are meant to give her (if not her spouses) a new lease on life. The film begins in the wake of the death of just such a spouse, and it actually initially seems like Catharine is indeed a properly grieving widow. The fact that Black Widow’s title sequence has hinted at Catharine’s adventures with makeup at least provides a little subliminal clue that all is not exactly as it may seem, and soon enough it’s revealed that Catharine is in fact a serial murderer, a conniving if (fatally) attractive woman who targets rich men, marries them, and then calmly poisons them, having figured out a way to make their deaths look like a little known syndrome that causes people to die in their sleep. Black Widow was directed by Bob Rafelson, still probably best remembered for Five Easy Pieces, but who several years prior to Black Widow had attempted to reinvigorate the noir genre with his remake of one of the most iconic entries in the idiom, The Postman Always Rings Twice. Interestingly, Black Widow plays with noir tropes (including that aforementioned femme fatale aspect) without ever really indulging in them in a traditional way. In fact whereas many if not most noirs find the femme fatale leading a hapless schlub down the veritable garden path to his demise, Black Widow instead posits a quasi-sexual intensity between Catharine and another female, a suspicious investigator named Alex Barnes (Debra Winger). A great deal of Black Widow plays out as a cat and mouse game between Catharine and Alex, as Alex finagles her way into Catharine’s good graces in order to bring her to justice.

The ingenuity of screenwriters to embrace what are often picayune elements in everyday life can often be amazing, and nowhere more so than in the twisted annals of film noir. Who would have thought, for example, that an insurance phrase like Double Indemnity could have entered the public lexicon to such a degree, especially when invested with the malevolent intent that Billy Wilder’s iconic film gave it? Similarly, how many people have ever heard about “Ondine’s Curse”, the sleeping death syndrome that is supposedly the cause of expiration for Catharine’s spouses? My hunch is even those familiar with Ondine: Royal Ballet (and/or Ondine) would be aware of it, and perhaps due at least in part to the fact that Black Widow is a kind of strangely half forgotten film, the sickness probably still hasn’t attained the iconic status that things like the insurance term have. Still, it’s Ondine’s Curse that initially tugs at the fringes of Alex’s suspicions with regard to a supposed mob hit she's looking into, before she’s even really investigating a series of similar deaths that ultimately bring her to Catharine’s lair.

Meanwhile Catharine has adopted a number of alter egos (not to mention hair styles and fashion senses) and taken two more unsuspecting guys (played by Dennis Hopper and Nicol Williamson) to their graves. She already has a new man named Paul (Sami Frey) in her sights, but in the meantime Alex has started to look into the supposedly unconnected series of deaths of rich men, coming to the conclusion that they’re all the handiwork of one (newly and increasingly) rich woman, namely Catharine herself.

That sets up the main section of the film, where Alex manages to get into Catharine’s good graces in Hawaii, while also perhaps getting sucked into a quasi-ménage à trois with Catharine and Paul, whether willingly or unwillingly. There’s sexual tension by the bucketful as Black Widow progresses, and it’s interesting to note that it works very much in a “three way” aspect, with both women more or less competing for Paul’s attentions, but with an obvious subtext between Catharine and Alex which gives the film a certain piquant undertone.

A lot of newsprint and/or bandwidth has been devoted to the supposed “disappearance” of Debra Winger (Rosanna Arquette made Winger the titular if not actual centerpiece of her documentary on women in film, Searching for Debra Winger), but the same could very well be said of Theresa Russell, who has (like Winger) continued to work without ever attracting the same sort of attention she did early in her career (again, like Winger). Black Widow provides a pretty florid showcase for Russell, who gets to lapse in and out of any number of various personae. Winger has perhaps the harder role, though, needing to maintain interest in a more circumspect manner. The two play off of each other beautifully, and the cat and mouse aspect of the plot sustains quite a bit of tension, at least up until a pretty lackluster (and completely predictable) denouement. Director Bob Rafelson slathers on the symbolism a bit heavily (there’s the whole “split personality” aspect of Catharine’s bifurcated image in a mirror which begins the film, and the less said about the volcano in the background of one love scene, the better), but the film is rather breathlessly paced and unexpectedly scenic for a supposed noir.

Black Widow Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Black Widow is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Elements are in excellent condition, with only very minimal age related anomalies like dirt and the occasional speckle dotting the landscape. The palette looks very fresh and naturally appealing, especially once the film segues to Hawaii, where bright floral hues predominate, and scenes like a scuba diving sequence offer a number of unusual colors. Detail is quite good in close-ups, though overall sharpness is somewhat variable. The opening scenes of Alex in an office which sports weirdly green tinted windows through which light is filtered gives those sequences a kind of sickly pallor, though detail isn't really materially affected. Shadow detail is commendable even in some pretty dimly lit scenes. Grain is fairly heavy at times, but resolves naturally and engenders no compression issues whatsoever.

Black Widow Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Widow features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which more than capably supports the film's dialogue and effects. One of the film's stronger elements is its moody score by Michael Small, and that sounds excellent in the lossless rendering. Fidelity is fine and there are no issues of any kind to warrant concern.

Black Widow Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• TV Spots (480i; 1:35)


• Original Theatrical Trailer (480i; 2:00)


• Audio Commentary features Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman.

Black Widow Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Black Widow starts out neatly twisting noir tropes for its own purposes, which may be one reason why some find the film's pretty traditional wrap up less than fulfilling. Still, the film is a showcase for the inimitable talents of Russell and Winger, and their interplay helps Black Widow overcome any incipient hurdles. Technical merits are generally very good, and Black Widow comes Recommended.