Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 6, 2018

Indie filmmaker Greydon Clark's fifteenth feature Dance Macabre is notable for being the first American-Russian co-production released following the end of the Cold War. The movie has a storied history that is considerably more interesting than its own narrative. I'd highly recommend listening to Clark's full-length commentary after you've seen the film and also consider picking up his self-published memoir, On the Cheap: My Life in Low Budget Filmmaking, which is available on Amazon and through Clark's official website. In both audio and text versions, Clark covers his screenplay, the film's financing, pre-production, production, post-production and distribution. In short, Dance Macabre was intended as a follow-up vehicle for Robert England after playing dual lead roles in Dwight Little's The Phantom of the Opera (1989). Dance Macabre was initially titled The Phantom of the Opera 2: Terror in Manhattan but locales changed after Menahem Golan and 21st Century Film Corp. hired Clark to write the script. Dance Macabre isn't a sequel to Phantom but I'm sure many will derive parallels between the two.

Choreographer Anthony Wager (Robert Englund) has opened a new ballet academy (the Ballet Russe) in Saint Petersburg. With doors finally open to enter the Motherland, the academy has attracted contestants whose origins are American, British, French, and German. Anthony is particularly fixated with one Jessica Anderson (Michelle Zeitlin), who reminds him of one of his extraordinary pupils from years ago. Also keeping a watchful eye on Jessica is an older woman known as the Madame and Olga, a strict ballet mistress whose played by Irina Davidoff. It becomes a sorrowful and worrisome time for aspiring ballerinas when girls from the troupe begin disappearing.

Englund skillfully plays two roles and it didn't take me very long to tell who the other character was. Although Dance Macabre is a plodding and predictable horror thriller, it's worth seeing for Englund's performances, which are terrific. Less successful is the editing and the way the camera moves in on Anthony as he both reminisces about a love in his past life and the resemblance that he sees in Jessica. But Jessica doesn't look all that much like Anthony's former muse and he hasn't even seen her dance yet. Further adding to the film's confusion is when Clark tries to give the some audience misdirection as he crosscuts between four locations simultaneously in moments leading up to a murder. He thinks this will add ambiguity to the perpetrator's identity but he only belabors the plot. Also disappointing is the subplot involving Russian photojournalist Alexander Petrov (Alexander Sergeyev) who takes pictures of Anthony, Madame, and the performance troupe. The sly Alexander seems keen on uncovering something suspicious but his detective role is undercut by the mysterious romantic that Clark paints him as. Dance Macabre turns into a soap opera when Alexander tries to maintain a clandestine affair with Jessica that isn't really secret to someone like Anthony. The synth-driven score by Dan Slider doesn't really enhance any suspense that the film is able to generate. Dance Macabre wasn't direct-to-video, as some have speculated. It did play with other low-budget titles in Santa Monica, California for a brief stint. The Los Angeles Daily News called it "a sort of Psycho meets Suspiria ballet bloodbath."

Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For many years, the little-seen Dance Macabre was only available on VHS until MGM pressed a made-on-demand disc in 2015. I haven't seen the DVD-r but Matt Hough of Home Theater Forum watched it a few years ago. He observed: "Sharpness is just fine apart from long shots and the usual soft focus glamour photography for the leading lady. Color isn't especially vibrant and even appears a little dated, but flesh tones are natural enough. Black levels are only average, and there is a fair amount of dust and dirt that crops up throughout the presentation." The transfer on this Shout! Factory BD-25 is very likely pulled from similar materials. Prior to the menu loading, Shout! displays the following message: "The following presentation was sourced from the best available film elements." The composite print culled together by Shout! is all over the map. Reds and greens are generally pleasing. Other hues are drab as the film shows its age. DNR is non-existent but contrast is below average. See Screenshot #17 of Anthony coming thorough the doors. This shot is intentionally dark but the murkiness obscures the figure as it gradually comes into focus and towards the camera. Detail seems improved over the DVD, though. However, there are trickles of specs, artifacts, and other blemishes throughout. Grain is ever-present but its unevenly scattered across the frame and mosquito noise stands out. I also noticed a snippet where the image seemed either squeezed or stretched. Shout! posted an explanation for this anomaly on its website: "Due to an unforeseen issue with the only existing HD master of this film, there was a brief 10-second clip that had to be replaced with an upconverted SD source. We apologize for the abnormality, but in the interest of getting this cult classic out to the fans, we decided to release it with this fix and not cut this portion out of the film." The 96-minute feature sports an average bitrate of 25499 kbps.

Shout! has included its standard twelve scene selections. (The MGM MOD boasts ten chapters.)

Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! Factory has a wonderful job of remastering Dance Macabre's stereo sound track. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (1653 kbps, 24-bit) sounds flawless to my ears. The classical ballet numbers created an enveloping melodic soundscape in the center of my home theater. Performances of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake in the film are sweet and soothing. By contrast, the electronic sounds emanating from Dan Slider's score sound pretty flat. Dialogue is generally clear and audible at normal listening levels.

The film has been effectively subtitled with English SDH.

Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Commentary with Writer/Director Greydon Clark - an extremely informative and anecdote-heavy track from Clark, who doesn't disappoint. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Interview with Actor Robert Englund (16:58, 1080p) - the legendary horror actor recalls the circumstances that led to Dance Macabre and the "Freddy mania" frequenting the streets in Saint Petersburg. Englund correctly remembers what he first told Michael Janusonis of the Providence Journal: "I walked down Nevsky Prospect and Freddy posters were being sold right next to Madonna posters." In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Theatrical Trailer (2:05, 1080p) - this trailer was left off the MGM. Beware that it contains several plot spoilers so don't watch if you've never seen the film! In English, not subtitled.

Dance Macabre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kudos to Shout! Factory for releasing this little known cult film with a famous actor that headlines everyone. Indeed, this title is intended for fans of both Robert Englund and director Greydon Clark. Though I'm hard on Shout! for not doing more with this dated transfer, it's an achievement in itself that it got released on Blu-ray, not to mention the additions of an outstanding commentary by Clark and a very good interview with Englund. Dance Macabre is by-the-numbers and doesn't break any new ground. But it's RECOMMENDED, especially to see Englund in another one of his non-Nightmare roles.