6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
A family of vampires takes over an estate known as Carfax Abbey. Since inbreeding is destroying the family line, they need new blood to keep the family going, so they set out to find new sources.
Starring: Berwick Kaler, Susan Heard, Colin Gordon, Robert Dahdah, Gavin ReedHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Note: This film is available as part of
The Dungeon of Andy Milligan.
Lovers of what might be charitably termed Grade Z Cinema have had a number of outstanding releases by a variety of labels over the past few
years.
Arrow has offered fans surprisingly deluxe-ified (that's a word, I insist) editions of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast and Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection, among others, while Severin Films has gotten
into
exploring this decidedly
odd nook and/or cranny with releases like
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection. Severin's back with more, um, "masterpieces" with this inventively packaged homage to the
late Andy Milligan, a kinda sorta auteur whose professional life had more than its fair share of hurdles, and whose personal life
unfortunately
ended up not being much better. The 14 films (with one bonus film in HD, Toga Party) aggregated in this set are exploitation outings at
their "finest" (?), which means those with more
patrician tastes are probably well advised to steer completely clear of this release. Those with grittier sensibilities will find some at times oddly
entertaining
movies and Severin's usual supply of appealing supplements.
The Body Beneath is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Severin's booklet included with this release has the following information on the transfer:
Nightbirds and The Body Beneath are 2K restoration sourced from their 16mm original camera reversal elements.There's an agreeably gritty organic appearance to this presentation that is especially evident in some of the more brightly lit outdoor material. Detail levels are surprisingly fulsome throughout large portions of the film, which textures on fabrics nicely rendered. The palette is also nicely robust a lot of the time, and primaries register especially strongly throughout. There is some extremely bad damage on display at around the one hour mark which is not extremely long lived but which is impossible not to notice (see screenshot 9). My score is 2.75.
The Body Beneath features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono which may be marginally better than some of the others in this set in terms of amplitude spikes and valleys, but which still has a slightly bright sound in the upper registers in particular. Dialogue is mostly clearly presented, but optional English subtitles can help to elide any difficulties in that regard.
The Body Beneath offers a field day for some of the actors, notably Gavin Reed, though the Milligan tendency toward, um, energetic performances may end up grating on some sensibilities after a while. This is one of many presentations in this set that are constrained by the inherent limitations of the source elements, but while there's some pretty bad damage on display, there's also a nicely organic appearance and a reasonably intact palette. The commentary provides some added interest for those who are considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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