6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A retired army major comes to the aid of a young woman when her fiancé falls under the spell of a group of devil worshippers and becomes a vampire. This quirky, erotic horror film is based on Simon Raven's novel `Doctor Wears Scarlet' and features a cameo appearance by master of the genre, Peter Cushing.
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Peter Cushing, Alexander DavionHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin Films' Cushing Curiosities set.
Severin has celebrated arguably lesser known efforts featuring one of the more legendary horror actors often associated with Hammer Studios with
both
The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee
Collection and The
Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2. Now they're doing similar service for that other legendary horror actor often
associated with
Hammer Studios, and one who of course famously co-starred with Lee in any number of films. As the title of this collection may suggest, the offerings
in Cushing Curiosities are a bit peculiar at times, but that perhaps only gives them added allure for a certain demographic. Severin has
assembled an impressive array of supplements, including some excellent commentaries by Jonathan Rigby, who also contributes an incredibly
thorough overview of Cushing's career in a perfect bound booklet included with this set. Adding to the allure here are some generally solid
technical merits (with perhaps one notable exception).
Blood Suckers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The back cover of this release states this was "scanned in 2K from the original negative with additional elements from a recently discovered 35 mm valut print, including the uncut psychedelic orgy sequence, for the first time ever". This is another surprisingly great looking transfer of a cult item my hunch is very few have even heard of. This does show a bit more of a heterogeneous appearance at times, which I suspect is due at least in part to it, like the film itself, having to be cobbled together from different elements, but that said, the differences tend to be more with regard to clarity and grain resolution than with regard to an often eye popping palette. A glut of outdoor material pops beautifully throughout the presentation, with nicely suffused blue skies and some great detail on more rustic elements like stone outcroppings that turn up at various locations. My score is 4.25.
Blood Suckers features an effective DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that probably shows some of the weird quasi-editing that was necessary to get this film into some kind of reasonable shape, and so which may have a couple of inartful transitions. Bobby Richards' score sounds fine, and dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though it looked to me like some lines at least were post looped (perhaps out of necessity to help cover gaps in the narrative), and, as mentioned above, there's also quasi-narration, which also sounds fine. Optional English subtitles are available.
This is another one of those slightly gonzo efforts where the backstage drama as recounted in the commentary track in particular may be of more interest than the actual film. Technical merits are surprisingly great, and the supplements very interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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