7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.7 |
Carol, a fragile, frigid young beauty begins cracking up in her London flat when left alone by her vacationing sister. She is soon haunted by specters real and imagined, and her insanity grows to a violent, hysterical pitch.
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser (I), Patrick Wymark, Yvonne FurneauxDrama | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 28% |
Surreal | 24% |
Horror | 18% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Roman Polanski's atmospheric "Repulsion" (1965) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The disc contains a new, restored high-definition transfer, approved by the director, with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are an audio commentary featuring director Polanski and Catherine Deneuve, a documentary on the making of the film, a French television documentary and more. Region-A "locked".
Terrified
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roman Polanski's Repulsion arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
Approved by Roman Polanski, this new high-definition transfer has been created on a Spirit 2K Datacine, in 2K restoration, from the original 35mm negative, a 35mm composite fine-grain master positive, and a 35mm duplicate negative. Film scanning and photochemical compositing was done at Soho Images, London. Grover Crisp was the telecine supervisor while Scott Ostrowsky was the telecine colorist. Both are from Sony Pictures.
Simply put, Criterion's Blu-ray release outperforms every other release of Repulsion that I have seen. Even the old Anchor Bay UK SDVD, which was held in high regard by many, looks notably weak next to this new Criterion release. Contrast is excellent, clarity very impressive and detail simply fantastic. The color-scheme is also superb - blacks are deep and lush while whites are gentle and natural looking. Additionally, this is a pure, unfiltered print with plenty of healthy grain. Those of you with digital projectors will also be pleased to know that Repulsion looks notably stable. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing debris, specs, or debris to report in this review. To sum it all up, Criterion's Blu-ray release is nothing short of a revelation. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" disc. Therefore, unless you have a native Region-A or Region-Free player, you will not be able to access the disc's content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English HOH subtitles for the main feature.
The English mono track has been remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack print. As a result, the dialog is crisp, clear and very easy to follow. The manner in which silence is treated throughout the film is also impressive. Furthermore, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report on this review. There are no balance issues either. Simply put, there is absolutely nothing to criticize here.
A British Horror Film - this documentary of the making of Repulsion was produced by Blue Underground UK in 2003 and features interviews with director Roman Polanski, cinematographer Gil Taylor, production designer Seamus Flanerry, producer Gene Gutowski, and executive producer Tony Tenser. The gentlemen discuss the production history of the film, what its message was and how it was perceived by the public. (25 min, 1080i/60).
Grand ecran - a documentary, directed by Claude Chabound, which originally appeared as a segment on the French television program Grand ecran on October 24, 1964. Filmed on the set of Repulsion, it features rare footage of Roman Polanski and Catherine Deneuve at work. With optional English subtitles. (22 min, 1080i/60).
Audio commentary - a commentary with director Roman Polanski and actress Catherine Deneuve, which was recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 1994. In English.
Trailers - original trailers presented in 1080p.
Booklet - a 16-page booklet containing Bill Horrigan's essay " Eye of the Storm". The author is a director of media arts at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, for which he has written on numerous visual artists, including Chris Marker, Luc Tuymans, Johan van der Keuken, Phil Collins, Sadie Benning, Mark Dion, Shirin Neshat, Kutlug Ataman, Neil Jordan, and Adi Nes.
If the rest of the distributors treated their releases like Criterion do, our job would have been so easy. Once again, I have nothing but praise for what Criterion have done with Roman Polanski's Repulsion. With the arrival of their Blu-ray disc, you could effectively discard every other commercial release of this film. It really is that simple, folks! Very Highly Recommended.
2009
1947
1968
1964
1977
Full-Length Director's Cut
2009
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
1931
1956
Tom à la ferme / English packaging / Version française
2013
1973
1955
2011
2011
1971
2011
2010
1972
2013
1966
2023