6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A rich and lonely American widow befriends two young people whose motives become suspect.
Starring: Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, Colette Descombes, Tino Carraro, Lilla BrignoneHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 94% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Musical | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 CD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Umberto Lenzi's "Orgasmo" a.k.a. "Paranoia" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth; second audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nichols; vintage trailer; and more. In English or Italian, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Orgasmo arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films.
Two versions of the film are included: the Director's Cut, which is approximately 97 minutes long, and the U.S. X-rated Cut, which is approximately 91 minutes long. However, I think that both versions offer the same viewing experience.
The new remaster that was created for the Director's Cut is a bit soft so delineation and depth obviously can be more convincing, but I like the color balance quite a lot. Yes, saturation should be better, but while viewing the film I felt that the color temperature was always right. So, with properly saturated and healthier primaries and nuances, this remaster would have been the most convincing in the box set. Depth and clarity are still decent, so viewing the film on a larger screen leaves the impression that the remaster was struck from a dated interpositive. The best news is that there are no traces of problematic digital corrections. A few white specks and blemishes remain, but there are no large and distracting cuts, damage marks, torn or warped frames to report. The encoding could have been a bit more convincing, but given the nature of the remaster, I think that it is fine. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH are provided. On the longer Director's Cut the extra footage was not dubbed in English, so if you choose to view it you will get a couple of minutes of footage in Italian with English subtitles.
The English audio is rather good. I thought that the music sounded very nice, but there are a few areas where the high-frequencies feel a tad shaky. On the other hand, the dubbing is predictably boxy and uneven at times, so keep in mind that there are inherited limitations. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.
When earlier this year British distributors 88 Films announced their release of Paranoia, I thought that we were going to get Orgasmo, and now we finally have it on Blu-ray. I like this film's style a lot, and I think that its finale is almost as brilliant as that of The Sweet Body of Deborah. While ideally Orgasmo could and should look even better on Blu-ray, I think that the current presentation is quite pleasing, just looking slightly dated. The folks at Severin Films have also included Piero Umiliani's soundtrack on a separate CD disc. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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