Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Panic Beats Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 9, 2021

Paul Naschy's "Panic Beats" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include two archival interviews with the director and exclusive new audio commentary by critics Rod Barnet and Troy Guinn. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is not a secret that even though Paul Naschy had a tremendous reputation in the horror genre’s cinematic universe in the real world quite a few people disliked him with a passion. The main reason for the drama was the fact that he had a very loose sense of humor that frequently rubbed these people the wrong way. Naschy loved playing a provocateur as well, so he wasn’t exactly a small and easy target to avoid either. He attracted attention and quite often even demanded it. This is why the overwhelming majority of his horror films are actually not straightforward horror films, but ‘teasers’ that do all kinds of interesting things to provoke and even scandalize. Simply put, the horror material in them was for his fans, while the rest was meant for his detractors.

Panic Beats is a classic example of Naschy’s cinematic modus operandi. It begins with a very atmospheric prologue which instantly creates the impression that Naschy is about to take the audience on a memorable period trip. But then the action abruptly moves to the present and the film heads in a completely different direction. Here Naschy plays a middle-aged businessman named Paul who is bringing his wife, Genevieve (Julia Saly), to a secluded mansion in the Spanish countryside whose tranquility ought to help her weak heart get strong again. Paul will stay a few days with her but needs to go back to Paris to close an important business deal. At the mansion, the guests are greeted by the elderly housekeeper Mabile (Lola Gaos), who casually mentions that Genevieve might need a bit of time to get used to the place, and then her young and very beautiful niece Julie (Frances Onvidiela). Not too long after that, Mabile also mentions an old legend about the vile knight Alaric de Marnac who lived in the area and apparently loves coming back to it every hundred years or so.

Pause. Obviously, now the film is very much in Naschy territory, so you already know exactly how it plans to entertain, don’t you? Well, while you are probably guessing a few incoming developments correctly, I can assure you that you are looking at the big picture from the wrong angle. I am going to do my best to explain why without spoiling the rest of the film for you.

Remember what I mentioned earlier about the construction of Naschy’s films -- they come with a sufficient number of thrills for his fans and quite a bit of material for his detractors. In this film, there is more of the latter but the two constantly overlap, with Naschy’s sense of humor essentially producing all of the curve balls. In other words, even though the legend about Alaric de Marnac emerges as the central piece of the narrative, in a way it is actually irrelevant because all of the interesting developments occur elsewhere. So, you are looking at a horror film that actually isn’t a horror film. Keep this in mind when you sit down to view it, and I guarantee you will have a great time with it.

The film’s biggest and most obvious weakness is the overall quality of the production. Indeed, it is frequently very easy to tell that Naschy had a small budget to work with and essentially did the best he could with it. This isn’t to imply that the film looks unbearably cheap, but it is simply not in the same league with other genre projects from the same period. (For what it’s worth, many of these ‘smaller’ genre films actually look far more attractive today precisely because they did not rely on grand visuals to build a unique atmosphere and impress. Jess Franco and Jorge Grau directed a number of such ‘smaller’ films).

Naschy used the services of cinematographer Julio Burgos, who over the years collaborated with him on a couple of other films as well.

Panic Beats Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Panic Beats arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

There are some good and bad news. I am going to separate them so that it is perfectly clear what the release gets right and what it does not.

The good: The 4K master that was prepared for this film is lovely. The visuals have very strong organic qualities and excluding a few very small blemishes and tiny flecks the entire film looks very healthy. I like the grading job as well. There are strong and stable primaries that appear convincingly balanced. The supporting nuances are healthy and just as nicely balanced. Image stability is very good. I did not see any traces of problematic digital corrections.

The bad: The encoding job is very, very disappointing. There are so many compression artifacts that in some areas it almost looks like the visuals are upscaled. You can see an example from one such area in screencapture #16, but screencapture #10 is just as bad. Needless to say, grain exposure is unconvincing, which is the reason why depth, delineation, clarity, and fluidity suffer tremendously as well. The darker footage can hide some of these problems, but there is still plenty of smearing that becomes quite distracting. All of this is very frustrating because with a proper encode this film could have looked terrific in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Panic Beats Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Spanish: LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The dialog is clear and stable. There are a few areas where it can sound a bit lifeless, but this is almost certainly an inherited limitation. (As I mentioned in our review, the film's biggest and most obvious weakness is the overall quality of the production). However, I also noticed some small but noticeable pops that could have been removed with digital tools. They are not distracting, but I have to mention their presence.

Panic Beats Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Paul Naschy on... His Life in Cinema - in this archival program, Paul Naschy discusses his background and the evolution of his career. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

• Paul Naschy - Spanish Interview - in this archival interview, Paul Naschy once again discusses his background, his love for cinema, some of the great actors that inspired him (Marlon Brando), the creation of his alias (his real name was Jacinto Molina), the distribution and conception of his films in other countries, etc. In English, not subtitled. (37 min).

• Audio Commentary - Rod Barnet and Troy Guinn from NaschyCast discuss the film's narrative construction, the character arcs that provide it with its identity, Paul Naschy's sense of humor, overlapping of different genre elements, etc.

Panic Beats Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I could tell right away where Panic Beats was heading and found it incredibly funny. It is like a Claude Chabrol film gone totally mad, really. This is probably the reason why so many people that expected it to be a conventional horror thriller ended up disliking it. It is a small film, but I think that it works really well and enjoyed it quite a lot. Mondo Macabro's release of Panic Beats is quite frustrating. It is sourced from a lovely 4K master that should have made the film shine in high-definition, but, sadly, it is poorly encoded. If you want to have it in your collection, find a way to rent and test it first, and then consider a purchase.