6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Creepy tale about a sorrowful night passed in a nightmarish castle, so the house of the demon. Many horror elements are mixed with erotic atmosphere.
Starring: Edmund Purdom, Rosalba Neri, Robert Woods, Ferdinando Poggi, Carla ManciniHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 88% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's Danza Macabra: Volume Two — The Italian Gothic
Collection.
Severin released Danza
Macabra: Volume One — The Italian Gothic Collection in 2023, and as I mentioned in our Danza Macabra: Volume One — The Italian Gothic Collection Blu-ray
review, it was maybe just a little strange that the collection did not include the film from which it culled its very title. That situation
has been rectified with this "new, improved" Volume Two, which includes not just the two alternate versions of Danza Macabra / Castle of Blood,
both offered in 4K UHD and 1080 presentations, but three other somewhat later Italian gothic offerings (in 1080) as well. As usual, Severin has
aggregated some really appealing supplements to help sweeten the pot (cauldron?).
The Devil's Lover is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The back cover of this release states this was "scanned uncut in 2K from the vault negative for the first time ever in America". A prefatory text card offers a bit more information (which is somewhat variant from the back cover), as follows:
The following presentation of The Devil's Love is a new 4K scan from the 35mm original camera negative, within which were 12 frames of black around the hour mark. After consultation with several Euro-gothic historians and archivists, it was agreed that it would be best to retain the film's integrity by maintaing this anomaly with in the new master.First things first: my hunch is based on the beautiful detail levels present here, that this was indeed a 4K scan (as always, anyone with authoritative verifiable information is encouraged to private message me, and I'll happily update things here). The brief moment of black occurred circal 59:27 according to my timecode, and it is best they didn't remove anything, as the underscore continues through it for the brief second or so (probably less) it's on screen. Otherwise, this is a pretty ravishing looking presentation of a little remembered cult item. The palette is almost always nicely suffused, and primaries in particular pop extremely well, notably virtually all of the reds. Detail levels are also excellent throughout, aided by the repeated use of close-ups. Grain resolves naturally. My score is 4.75.
The Devil's Lover features another nicely full bodied DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which is generally in line with the other audio offerings in this set. This film has some rather enjoyable underscoring by Elvio Monti (also offered on a bonus soundtrack CD included with the Blu-ray disc), and that sounds nicely bright (with no brashness or stridency) and full bodied. A lot of the outdoor material has at least fitful placement of ambient environmental effects in the background. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Neri in any movie is probably a potent selling point for some, and she's, um, front(al?) and center here, as gorgeous as ever, but she's simply not served by story that is really remarkably dull considering its set up. Purdom also is given very little to do, also kind of weird considering the "character" he's playing. On the plus side, this release offers sterling technical merits for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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