The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 5, 2018

Vicente Aranda's "The Blood Spattered Bride" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; new video program with actor Simon Andreu; new video interview with cinematographer Fernando Arribas; alternate scenes; and more. In English or Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Almost identical

It is difficult to imagine that during the early ‘70s Spanish helmer Vicente Aranda wasn’t paying attention to what Jean Rollin was doing in France. At the time Rollin was arguably the most unique horror auteur since Mario Bava and he quickly carved himself a niche in which he felt comfortable experimenting in all sorts of different ways. However, unlike Bava, Rollin was something of a rebel who did plenty of ‘bold’ films that simply weren’t good enough. (The adult films that he did under an alias, for instance, were a byproduct of precisely the same urge to go a step further than everyone else and experiment with different genres that other directors would flat-out reject). So Rollin was also too exotic of an auteur, which is why while he was alive he never had a chance of winning the hearts and minds of the mainstream crowds and critics. Aranda, it seems, was driven by a very similar desire to bridge different genres, though unlike Rollin he never emerged as a bold provocateur. In fact, even some of his most risqué films, like Amantes, revealed a degree of social awareness that is practically impossible to locate in Rollin’s films.

Aranda completed The Blood Spattered Bride exactly a year after Rollin’s The Shiver of the Vampires and these two films not only have similar narratives, but actually build pretty much the exact same type of ambience. They do, however, use their ambience differently. In The Blood Spattered Bride it is the key element that allows Aranda to give the narrative some social relevance. (Basically, behind the graphic material there is an obvious invitation to ponder the very nature of marriage in Spain and specifically the balance of power that it legitimizes between a husband and his wife). The Shiver of the Vampires does not have any such lofty ambitions, and even though it undergoes an interesting transformation, it uses its ambience to deliver mostly conventional Gothic horror thrills.

The main story of Aranda’s film is this: A girl (Maribel Martín) has just married the man (Simon Andreu) of her dreams and he has taken her back to his countryside mansion. They try to act like husband and wife, but he is so aggressive that she instantly becomes uncomfortable with him and rejects his sexual advances. Then she has a strange dream in which a beautiful woman (Alexranda Bastedo) hands her a giant dagger and urges her to free herself by killing her husband, While the disturbed bride attempts to make some sense of her intense experience the frustrated husband bumps into the woman from the dream on a secluded beach, and after he brings her back to the mansion all hell breaks loose.

The wide range of conventional genre tricks provide the film with its horror identity, but amongst them there are also plenty of red flags that identify the many flaws of the machismo behavior that Spanish culture supposedly embraces as normal. It is an interesting concept for a genre film, but some of the segments where these red flags pop up are so over-the-top that they actually seriously hurt its integrity. After the long buildup the climax is also quite underwhelming. Instead of offering an interesting twist Aranda chooses to solve the mystery with a simple character transformation that essentially confirms what has been painfully obvious for a long time.

The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Vicente Aranda's The Blood Spattered Bride arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The release is sourced from a lovely 4K remaster. Excluding a few tiny white flecks and one sequence where some light color fluttering is noticeable, the film looks gorgeous in high-definition. Clarity and especially depth are very good, and on a larger screen fluidity is also quite impressive. I also like the color grading. There is a nicely balanced selection of primaries and plenty of healthy nuances. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Image stability is very good. (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).

The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the English track. It stable and nicely rounded, though because the film was overdubbed in English some unevenness is present. Dynamic intensity is good for a film of this caliber, but it is easy to tell that the entire project was shot with a modest budget. There are no audio dropouts or distortions, but in the high-frequencies there is some room for minor stabilizations.

The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Simon Andreu: Portrait of a Professional - in this video interview, actor Simon Andreu recalls how years ago he entered the film industry and discusses some of the key films that helped him establish himself, his contribution to The Blood Spattered Bride, and interactions with director Vicente Aranda. The interview was conducted by Uwe Huber. In English, not subtitled.
  
  1. Part One: On Blood Spattered Bride (33 min).
  2. Part Two: On His Career (29 min).

• Interview with Cinematographer Fernando Arribas - in this new video interview, cinematographer Fernando Arribas discusses his early work as a camera operator and cinematographer, as well as his collaboration with Vicente Aranda on The Blood Spattered Bride. In English, not subtitled. (33 min).

• Interview with Jonathan Rigby - in this video interview, writer Jonathan Rigby (Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema) discusses some of the key differences between European and American Gothic horror films and the the type of ambience and social overtones that are present in The Blood Spattered Bride. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).

• Alternate Scenes - some of the footage below can be played silent or with background audio. Fully remastered.
  
  1. Alternate Ending (3 min).
  2. Alternate Bathroom Sequence (1 min).
  3. Alternate Hotel Room Sequence (2 min).
  4. Alternate Scenes for Spanish Release (2 min).

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary features by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan of Diabolique Magazine and their Daughters of Darkness podcast.

• Promotional Materials -
  
  1. Spanish Trailer (4 min).
  2. English Trailer (4 min).
  3. U.S. trailer - Frenzy of Blood (4 min).
  4. Radio Spots - Frenzy of Blood (5 min).

• Mondo Macabro Trailer Reel - a collection of trailers for other Blu-ray and DVD releases from Mondo Macabro's catalog. (12 min).

The Blood Spattered Bride Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

During the DVD era the Spanish branch of Warner Bros. released a number of classic Spanish films via its CineEspanol series and two of the very best that I picked up for my library were Vicente Aranda's Turkish Passion and The Bilingual Lover. Later on, I also acquired Aranda's sizzler Amantes, which by the way was released fully uncut in the United States. I expected The Blood Spattered Bride to be as good as these films, but to be honest I found it to be very predictable and ultimately quite underwhelming. It uses a good number of horror tricks to identify the many flaws of the machismo behavior that Spanish culture supposedly embraces as normal, but Aranda was definitely not in top form when he made the film and after the decent buildup this becomes painfully obvious. Mondo Macabro's recent release of The Blood Spattered Bride is sourced from a lovely 4K remaster and has a very nice selection of bonus features. I am going to recommend this release but only because I really enjoyed the long program with actor Simon Andreu. RECOMMENDED.