Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 24, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Franco Noir.

In a typically informative supplement featuring Stephen Thrower which is included on this release, Thrower makes a perhaps cautionary statement warning those who may think they know the "story" of Jess Franco to think again, at least if they presume that some of his more lurid horror and sex suffused entries which appeared throughout the sixties and seventies in particular are the sum total of Franco's filmography. Thrower in fact makes a rather cogent case that Franco in his early years was at least a relatively more mainstream director, and the two films aggregated for this release help to support that thesis. Both of the offerings in this set have style to spare and also feature storylines that would have been completely at home in any of the hard boiled post-World War II noir productions that Columbia in particular could churn out, at least initially for the American market. The fact that, depending on whether various online sources and/or a statement on the very cover of this release are cited, either Death Whistles the Blues or Rififi in the City or possibly both together were enough to convince Orson Welles to hire Franco as his assistant on Chimes at Midnight may allude to the unabashed style of these offerings, and there is a certain florid Wellesian quality to the framings of both films, and Death Whistles the Blues in particular seems willfully evocative of one of Welles' better remembered efforts.

If Welles considered Jess Franco a nascent comrade in arms, it may have been because Death Whistles the Blues has certain elements which may recall The Lady from Shanghai, including a focal character named Joao (Conrado San Martin), who is costumed suspiciously like the character Welles played in the movie starring his then wife Rita Hayworth. There are other elements which, um, reflect the Columbia noir from Welles, including a striking use of mirrors, and a plot which involves a web of deceit involving a glut of characters which threatens to swallow Joao whole. Plot probably takes second billing to mood in this piece, but the main narrative involves a woman named Lina (Perla Cristal), whose second husband Paul Vogel (Georges Rollin) may have had something to due with the presumed demise of spouse number one.

According to a statement on the back cover of this release as well as some of Thrower's comments, Death Sings the Blues was evidently based on a previous film called Murder at 45 RPM, which itself was based on a novel by the celebrated duo of Boileau-Narcejac called À cœur perdu. Boileau-Narcejac's source novels also provided inspiration for Diabolique and Vertigo. It should be noted, however, that the official credits for this film do not list Boileau-Narcejac. That said, there are some fun surprises awaiting viewers in the third act of this piece, which in their own way may recall either of the now legendary films by Alfred Hitchcock and/or Henri-Georges Clouzot.

Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Death Whistles the Blues is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release (which lumps the two films on the disc together) states both transfers "feature HD scans from the original negatives for the first time ever". This is by and large a great looking transfer, one that preserves the chiaroscuro lighting approaches, with nicely modulated gray scale and some very appealingly dark blacks. While there is some very minor damage to report, it's typically in the form of fleeting things like white specks or very minor nicks. The very opening of this presentation looked just slightly filtered and "video" like to my eyes, but things improved noticeably rather quickly, and grain resolves organically for the most part. Detail levels are generally excellent, but there are several pretty soft moments, many in the nightclub scenes, and in fact some of these moments seem due to some inartful focus pulling.

Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Death Whistles the Blues features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Spanish. The film's jazz inflected score Antón García Abril can sound just slightly tinny at times (as in the opening scene documenting a killing on a bridge), but most of the actual club material, including an all important trumpet solo, sound reasonably full bodied. I'm assuming at least parts of the film were post looped, which can lead to the oft mentioned "loose sync", but fidelity is generally fine throughout the audio presentation, with dialogue being rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Franco Noir (HD; 1:06:37) is an interesting interview with Stephen Thrower, who provides some generalist background on Franco as well as more detailed comments about the films included on this release.

Death Whistles the Blues Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of the two films in this set, Death Whistles the Blues is probably the more interesting, or at least was to me, though it is perhaps hobbled a bit with an arguably over convoluted plot. That aspect may be offset by some fun performances and a surplus of style from Franco and cinematographer Juan Mariné. Technical merits are generally solid, and the Stephen Thrower supplement is very informative. Recommended.