Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 2, 2025

Dario Argento's "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" (1971) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Shameless Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Dario Argento; new program with star Michael Brandon; archival program with writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi; vintage promotional materials; and more. In English or Italian, with optional English SDH and English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Reveal yourself to me

Roberto (Michael Brandon, Jennifer on My Mind), a rock musician, accidentally kills a stalker who has driven him crazy. He returns home to his beautiful wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer, Devil's Angels) but does not tell her what has happened. Soon after, someone enters their house and tries to kill him. The experience turns his world upside down and he begins having terrible nightmares.

Eventually, Roberto approaches an extravagant homosexual detective (Jean-Pierre Marielle, Coup de Torchon), who enthusiastically agrees to help him find out who might be interested in having him suffer -- or see him dead. The detective begins looking for answers and soon discovers important information that could explain recent events. But Roberto's enemy immediately recognizes the threat.

Meanwhile, some of Roberto’s friends die and his nightmares become unbearable. After a serious argument, Nina also leaves him. Alone and enormously frustrated, Roberto then barricades in his house and begins waiting for the killer to reveal himself.

Most Dario Argento fans have a great deal of respect for Four Flies on Grey Velvet, but this is not one of the Italian director’s better films. While stylish and deeply atmospheric, Four Flies on Grey Velvet is surprisingly chaotic, to the point of often being seriously annoying.

The narrative imitates an intense dream that gradually evolves into a nightmare and then collapses. For a while, portions of it make sense and look appealing. Roberto’s own nightmares, for instance, imply that there might be events from his past that could be linked to the dilemmas he faces in the present. When the detective appears, it also seems like some of these events will be put into play to make sense of the chaos. But as the dream becomes more and more intense, it becomes obvious that its climax would be underwhelming. And this is precisely how Four Flies on Grey Velvet ends, opting for the easiest and most banal resolution, rather than surprising with a special development.

What Four Flies on Grey Velvet does well is creating and for a while maintaining that spooky atmosphere Argento’s best films are known for. The many dark shadows and random noises, in particular, are very effective. However, once it becomes clear that the chaos will not produce an original reset, even the spooky atmosphere gradually becomes annoying.

The cast is good. Brandon’s struggle to keep his sanity, which is essentially the foundation of the narrative, never appears unnatural. One of the reasons why is because he often remains silent and lets his eyes convey to the viewer how he feels. Lengthy statements would have seriously affected the integrity of his character. Farmer, who looks stunningly beautiful without trying, is also convincing. However, Farmer is even better in Barbet Schroeder’s More, a similarly fluid film about two young people who meet in Paris and later become heroin addicts on the beautiful island of Ibiza. As usual, Marielle is excellent. The great Italian actor Bud Spencer has a small but easily forgettable cameo.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet was lensed by the great cinematographer Franco Di Giacomo, who worked with such prominent Italian directors as Marco Bellocchio (In the Name of the Father), Damiano Damiani (The Most Beautiful Wife), Bernardo Bertolucci (The Spider’s Stratagem), and the Taviani brothers (The Night of the Shooting Stars). Ennio Morricone created its soundtrack.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shameless Entertainment's 4K Blu-ray release of Four Flies on Grey Velvet does not have a Blu-ray disc with a 1080p presentation of the film. If you need one, you need to pick up this release.

The 4K Blu-ray release introduces a new 4K makeover of Four Flies on Grey Velvet sourced from the original camera negative. The 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:

"The 4K restoration of Four Flies on a Grey Velvet was carried out by the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, in collaboration with Surf Film, starting with the original Techniscope camera negative and the Italian sound negative made available by Reel One on behalf of Surf Film. The color correction was carried out under the supervision of the Director of Photography Luciano Tovoli. The processing was carried out at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory with additional color correction and HDR Dolby Vision grading by LSP Medien. The restoration was carried out with the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism."

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray disc and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-27 are from the Blu-ray release linked above.
Screencaptures #32-36 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

I have a couple of different DVD and Blu-ray releases of Four Flies on Grey Velvet in my library, but will only reference Shameless Entertainment's previous Blu-ray release. First, it is very easy to declare that the 4K Blu-ray release brings a superior presentation of the film because it avoids the reconstructive efforts from the previous Blu-ray release. (Both releases present the same 103-minutes version of the film). So, there are no rougher looking inserts and obvious drops in quality here. Delineation, clarity, and depth are consistently better as well. On a large screen, all visuals have notably better density levels, whose importance is just as easy to appreciate in 1080p as well. Color reproduction and balance are convincing. I think that in a couple of areas primary blue and blue nuances could have been a tad more prominent, slightly warmer as well, but the rebalancing adjustments on the 4K makeover do not alter the temperature of the visuals. In other words, there are no distracting anomalies. The Dolby Vision grade handles the many darker areas of the film well. However, I think that I like how the film looks when it is turned off. Image stability is excellent. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. The entire film looks spotless as well. My score is 4.75/5.00.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH and English subtitles are provided. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English track should be considered the original track, as the leads utter their lines in English. However, you need to keep in mind that there is still overdubbing on it, some of which is a bit funny. Clarity, sharpness, and depth are good, but there is noticeable dynamic unevenness in some areas, which is common on such tracks. The abrupt dynamic spikes and pops that were present on the reconstructed version of the film on the previous Blu-ray release are eliminated. Ennio Morricone's music adds to the desired atmosphere very well, but the dynamic contrasts that emerge are typical for the era from which the film emerged. I checked the English subtitles and cannot say that I like their size. They are practically identical to the ones found on Kino Lorber's releases. I prefer the size of the subtitles found on Criterion and Eureka Entertainment's releases.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction One - a short video introduction by writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi. In English. (1 min).

• Introduction Two - a short video introduction by actor Michael Brandon. In English. (1 min).

• Behind the Velvet Curtain - in this new program, Dario Argento reveals how Four Flies on Grey Velvet came to exist, and explains how some of his personal nightmares influenced various parts of it, how the film was shot and edited, how the quality of the performances was crucial for the type of atmosphere he wanted the film to have, etc. Argento also discusses his friendship with Bud Spencer and explains how he landed a part in the film, and comments on the quality of the soundtrack Ennio Morricone delivered. In Italian, with English subtitles. (32 min).

• The Velvet Chronicles - in this new program, star Michael Brandon explains how he was cast to play his character in Four Flies on Grey Velvet (apparently, a most unusual experience), and discusses his trip to Rome, where he met Dario Argento for the first time. Brandon also shares a lot of interesting information about his interactions with Mimsy Farmer, the shooting of some key sequences, and the mishandling of the film's publicity and its disappearance from the market for well over twenty years. In English. (41 min).

• The Art of Murder - in this archival program, writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi discusses the early stages of his career in the Italian film industry, his passion for cinema, involvement with Four Flies on Grey Velvet, and Dario Argento's legacy. There are short comments by Italian director Sergio Martino as well. In Italian, with English subtitles. (42 min).

• English Opening and End Credits - in English. (6 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is a remastered original international trailer. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a remastered original Italian trailer. Music only. (3 min).

• TV Spot - presented here is a vintage English TV spot. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials, presented with music. (6 min).

• Booklet - 30-page illustrated booklet featuring writings by Alan Jones and technical information.

• Poster - a mini-poster with vintage art.

• Cards - two collectible art cards.

• Cover - reversible cover with with vintage theatrical poster art.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet has quite the reputation, at least some of which has to do with the fact that the film was so difficult to see for a number of years. To be honest, my interest in it has always had everything to do with Mimsy Farmer, whose European films I have been trying to collect since the VHS days. It is not a bad film, but it is certainly not the lost masterpiece some of the Italian director's fans have described. This 4K Blu-ray release from Shameless Entertainment will surely close its cycle on the home video market. It introduces a good new 4K makeover, prepared under the supervision of cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, with several excellent bonus feature. A separate Blu-ray release of the 4K restoration is available as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.