Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 20, 2018

Is there a gloved and masked killer preventing a release of Blood and Black Lace that is beyond reproach? Arrow took a swing at this title with their version just a little over two years ago, one that engendered some controversy due to its aspect ratio. VCI hasn't had the best track record with its high definition releases, and so its own version of Blood and Black Lace may be met with skepticism from the very start. But VCI, while perhaps still struggling (if not quite as much) in the technical arena with this particular high definition release, at least has upped the ante at least a little by including two new commentaries on their release.

For those needing a refresher course on this film's plot dynamics, I encourage you to read Svet's Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray review of the UK Arrow version, which is for all intents and purposes identical to Arrow's release for the domestic American market.

Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blood and Black Lace is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of VCI with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There are going to be pluses and minuses to this version for many fans of this film, with one of the potential pluses being the wider aspect ratio, for those who were bothered by Arrow's framing. I've tried to come close to duplicating at least a few frames from the screenshots accompanying my Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray review of the Arrow version so that those interested can contrast and compare and come to their own conclusions about what if any information on the sides and/or tops and bottoms of the frame is different in the two versions. However, those who do compare the two versions will almost certainly notice what I personally think are two deficits to this presentation: what appears to be some pretty aggressive filtering and some odd color timing with what to my eyes looks like some boosted purples and/or blues. In terms of the filtering, simply compare some of the similar screenshots and it's pretty apparent there's a much more organic looking grain field on the Arrow version, but to be fair, there is grain apparent on the VCI version, it's just kind of oddly transitory at times. It's fairly noticeable in some of the mist strewn scenes (where maybe the mist itself "helps"), but a lot of the film looks pretty waxy. In terms of the color timing, one of the best examples can be seen by comparing screenshot 1 of this review with screenshot 2 of the Arrow version, and you can readily see the purplish tint to both flesh tones and even the background wall. Perhaps understandably, this grading actually tends to make the vivid reds in this presentation even more florid at times (though not always — compare the red phone in screenshot 2 of this version with screenshot 3 of the Arrow version). It should be noted that some fans were not pleased with the color timing on the Arrow version, but I have to say for me personally the Arrow version looks more natural overall. I also noticed no major encoding/compression issues on this release as per several previous VCI Blu-ray outings. I frankly struggled a bit with how to properly score this version. I can easily some fans thinking it deserves not much more than a 2.5, but while this is not optimal by any stretch, it shows some definite improvement in VCI's technical presentation, and so I'm giving it a 3.0 as a kind of "encouragement" score. My actual feeling is probably more in the 2.75 range.

Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Only the English language track is available on this release via LPCM 2.0 mono. Quite similarly to the Arrow release, the soundtrack here is kind of tinny sounding and shows some audible distortion in the upper midrange which tends to be most apparent during music cues. As should be expected, sync is often quite loose, but dialogue makes it through the age related wear and tear gauntlet pretty easily. The release also offers optional English and Spanish subtitles.

Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Kat Ellinger Commentary starts with Ellinger mentioning she doesn't want to duplicate any of Tim Lucas' comments on this film, and then she branches off into a number of contextualizing analyses.


• David Del Valle and C. Courtney Joyner Commentary is a bit "chattier", but for my money overall the more consistently entertaining of the two commentaries. Some may recall that Del Valle of course was featured on the Arrow release of this film with an appealing set of pieces on Cameron Mitchell.


• American Cut vs. European Uncut (1080p; 27:31) goes step by step through the more graphic sequences of the film, offering the censored American version followed by the "warts (and/or blood) and all" European version.


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 5:38)


• Music Score by Composer Carlo Rustichelli (7:27) offers a few minutes of fairly tinny sounding audio delivered via LPCM 2.0 and credited as coming from the Alan Upchurch collection.


• Blood and Black Lace HD Trailer (1080p; 3:21)


• American Titles (1080p; 1:53)

Blood and Black Lace Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Those bothered by the aspect ratio on Arrow's release of this legendary giallo may well want to check out this version, even if the presentation here isn't optimal. VCI is also offering two commentaries that are interesting in their own ways.