Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Glitch! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 30, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Nico Mastorakis Collection from Arrow Video.

Arrow Video has been cultivating a really rather sweet relationship with Greek writer and director Nico Mastorakis for several years, bringing out any number of Mastorakis' films, including .com for Murder , Nightmare at Noon, Death Has Blue Eyes, The Wind, The Zero Boys, Hired to Kill and Island of Death. It's perhaps worth noting that as with this release, Mastorakis tends to provide his own masters, which may "cut out the middle man" and facilitate releases. Mastorakis quite frequently uses some incredibly luscious Greek locations for films that might otherwise not be much above what the back cover of this release overtly mentions as "B movie" levels, and that's once again the case with the sextet of films offered in this nicely packaged new set. That said, even when the films stray from the stunning Greek locations, there's another kind of "scenery" regularly on hand in these films courtesy of a bevy of beautiful women, often in little to no clothing. This collection has a rather broad range of subject matter as well as tonal proclivities, and makes a pretty cogent case that Mastorakis can be at least decently facile in any number of genres.

Glitch! is a suitable double feature with its disc mate Terminal Exposure if for no other reason than that (and forgive me for the forthcoming pun/double entendre) both films feature two boobs (as in idiots) surrounded by a bunch of other boobs (as in the female anatomy type). If Terminal Exposure found two would be photographers inadvertently capturing evidence of a crime, this film posits two party hearty idiots (let just be honest) who decide to rob a mansion while the owner is ostensibly away, only to then get swept up in a mis-scheduled casting call at the estate (that's where the second kind of boob shows up). Mix in the sudden appearance of some Mafioso types, and the film descends into sheer lunacy. There's some decent comedy here, much of it based in the stupidity of the focal characters, but Mastorakis doesn't completely miss the mark in terms of trying to update the frenetic sensibility of a screwball outing.

Glitch! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Glitch! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet (really more of a pamphlet this time around) has the following generic information on all the transfers, which are lumped together on one informational page, as follows:

The Time Traveller, Sky High, Glitch!, Ninja Academy and The Naked Truth are presented in their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 audio.

Terminal Exposure is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with stereo audio.

The high definition masters were provided by Nico Mastorakis.

This is another somewhat variable looking presentation that has moments of really rather nice suffusion and some good overall detail levels (see screenshot 2), but which can regress into a relatively rougher, less vivid, and less detailed appearance (see screenshot 1, among others). Once again, as with a number of the other films in Arrow's Mastorakis set, outdoor material tends to pop the best, and there are some appealing deep blue skies and dark green palm trees in several scenes. Some interior material may not fare quite as impressively. This film features once of the heavier grain fields in the Mastorakis set.

Glitch! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Glitch! features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. As with the other films that have these two choices, it's in the outdoor vignettes as well as some of the scoring choices that the surround track on this film really kicks into action. Some of the farcical material as the mansion becomes more and more crowded with interlopers also offers good opportunities for sound effects engaging the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Glitch! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged Terminal Exposure and Glitch! together on one disc. All of the films in this set feature "self interviews" by Mastorakis detailing that particular film's production, as well as other supplements, as follows:

• Nicol's Self Interviews: Terminal Exposure (HD; 12:07)


• Nico's Self Interviews: Glitch! (HD; 17:07)


• Trailers

  Terminal Exposure (HD; 3:51)

  
  

  Glitch! (HD; 3:29)

Glitch! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mastorakis frankly doesn't always seem to know how to stage his comedies, and the whirlwind screwball sensibility that he seems to be aiming for here certainly doesn't have the flair of a, say, Howard Hawks, or even a, say, Peter Bogdanovich. There are some scattered laughs here, and this film offers an even larger female to male ratio, for those interested in such things. Technical merits are generally solid and the "self interviews" by Mastorakis very enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.