6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A demented nun tortures and kills patients while having a sexual relationship with another nun.
Starring: Anita Ekberg, Paola Morra, Alida Valli, Lou Castel, Massimo SeratoHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 51% |
Mystery | 18% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Italian director Giulio Berruti's "Suor Omicidi" a.k.a. "Killer Nun" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include original theatrical trailer; video interview with director Giulio Berruti; and a collection of excellent original posters, lobby cards from around the world, publicity stills, pressbook articles and ads, and VHS covers. In Italian or English, with optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Soft skin
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Giulio Berruti's Killer Nun arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.
Aside from the light scanner noise, which at this point is clear Blue Underground are not to be blamed for, I like the presentation quite a lot. Detail and clarity are obviously superior when one compares the Blu-ray and DVD releases, while colors have been effectively stabilized. However, there are select scenes where the light noise does affect background definition (see screencapture #11), though the effect is hardly as distracting as it may sound. What pleases me the most, however, is the fact that there are absolutely no traces of post-production sharpening as well as serious banding or artifacting, There is no edge flicker to report in this review either. To sum it all up, while there is clearly room for improvement (and basically this has everything to do with the light scanner noise), the presentation truly is very close to what I would consider excellent quality for this type of European genre films. Projected the film looks fine. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Blue Underground have provided optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature.
The addition of the Italian audio track to this Blu-ray release is a good enough reason to recommend an upgrade (the DVD release only had the English dub). Additionally, dynamic levels are improved and some background hiss also removed. Clarity is better and I also noticed that the music sounds crisper as well. The dialog is clean and easy to follow, while the high-frequencies are not distorted. This being said, the lossless track does have a limited dynamic amplitude, but its limitations are clearly inherited.
Giulio Berruti's Killer Nun will not appeal to viewers expecting a sleazy nunsploitation affair simply because the film was never meant to be one. Like so many other Italian genre films from the era, behind its 'shocking' visuals there is actually a very serious message.
I have really enjoyed Blue Underground's recent releases and hope that they will also consider bringing to Blu-ray some previously unreleased on DVD European genre films. Umberto Lenzi's Paranoia and So Sweet...So Perverse, Salvatore Samperi's Scandal and Nene, and especially Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Man Who Lies and Trans-Europ-Express would be great to finally have releases in North America. RECOMMENDED.
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