7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A British novelist travels to Spain to visit his sister. However, when he arrives he discovers that she has been murdered by a gang of devil-worshiping bandits called the Devil's Cross.
Starring: Ramiro Oliveros, Carmen Sevilla, Adolfo Marsillach, Emma Cohen, Eduardo FajardoHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 73% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Danza Macabra: Volume Three — The Spanish Gothic Collection from Severin.
Since one might assume that one of the staples of Gothic media (film or otherwise), namely dank and spooky castles, were built in the veritable days
of yore
before the advent of the convenience of modern plumbing and water supplies, perhaps it's a more
apt metaphor than usual to say that Severin is "returning to the well" for a third volume of offerings branded as Danza Macabra, after their
previous releases of
Danza Macabra: Volume One — The Italian Gothic Collection and Danza Macabra: Volume Two — The Italian Gothic Collection. As can probably be
pretty easily gleaned from the subheading of this third collection, Severin is changing countries, and is here offering Spanish Gothic productions
instead of the two previous volumes' concentration on Italian Gothic films, and with production dates ranging from 1971 to 1975 (with two films from
each year). All four films in this collection are advertised as featuring new scans of the original negative for the first time. As with the other
Danza Macabra collections, the films may be of variant interest and/or quality, but as usual Severin offers a
really handsomely designed package that contains some outstanding supplemental features.
Cross of the Devil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While not advertised as being a "worldwide Blu-ray debut" as some of the other offerings in this set are, Cross of the Devil's back cover does state that this is "the first ever English friendly home video release", one that was "scanned in 4K from the negative with English subtitles for the first time ever". A lot of this presentation is undeniably soft, though at least some of that perceived gauziness seems to be intentional, perhaps to subliminally reinforce the idea that whatever Michael is manically puffing away on may have affected his perceptions. With that same kind of dewy, refractive quality just accepted as a given, detail levels are typically quite commendable throughout, aided by Gilling's frequent use of close-ups, where things like textures on fabrics can be expressive. Some isolated outdoor and/or brightly lit material can kind of be startlingly sharp all of a sudden (see screenshot 6), something that's probably more noticeable since so much of the presentation is so intentionally filtered looking. The palette is very healthy throughout, though as with some other films in this set, the production design can sometimes favor dowdy browns, leaving real "pop" to interstitial moments. Grain resolves naturally throughout. My score is 4.25.
Cross of the Devil features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Spanish (though it certainly looks like at least some of the performers have been dubbed). This is another pleasing track that really doesn't offer anything major to complain about, though it's inherently narrow and perhaps just a tad boxy in the midrange. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Cross of the Devil never really manages to develop much narrative momentum, and this may actually let down those who see Gilling's name and who will be expecting something at least somewhat reminiscent of that vaunted Hammer ambience. There are echoes of that ambience here, but like many echoes, they can seem distant and kind of dissipate over time. Nonetheless, technical merits are generally solid and as usual Severin has assembled some outstanding supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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