The Entity Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Entity Blu-ray Movie Review

Sidney J. Furie's The Entity (1982) has been released on Blu-ray before in several countries, including in the US by Anchor Bay, the UK by Eureka Entertainment, and Australia by Umbrella Entertainment. To read the reviews of those editions by my colleagues Marty Liebman and Dr. Svet Atanasov, please click on the hyperlinks above.

My car won't stop!

The Entity Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory brings The Entity to Blu-ray in North America for the second time with a Collector's Edition that comes with a slipcover. The film appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. While the same master that first appeared seven years ago on the AB and the subsequent BDs overseas has been reused here, there are some subtle but appreciable differences between Scream and the others. You'll notice in Screenshot #s 30 & 31 and 38 & 39 that Scream's transfer is a shade darker. In capture #38, Barbara Hershey's left cheek looks a little pinker.

Screenshot #s 1-5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = 2019 Scream Factory Collector's Edition
Screenshot #s 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, & 38 = 2012 Anchor Bay Blu-ray

The 125-minute feature comes accompanied by a dozen chapter selections.

The Entity Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream supplies three uncompressed audio tracks: a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1602 kbps, 24-bit), a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2454 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 4.1 track (2846 kbps, 24-bit). Brett Cameron oversaw the audio restoration for the 4.1 mix. The AB has a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 remix and I thought this new 5.1 DTS-HD MA was more active along the satellite speakers. Dialogue is comprehensible throughout the presentation.

Composer Charles Bernstein's musical motifs for the Entity's unseen presence is the most memorable aspect of the film's soundscape. Bernstein began experimenting with several synths in the early '80s and wove the electronic elements with those of a small orchestra. His famous "thrasher" motif, which signals the Entity's attack on its female prey, pulsates with a strong bass, electric guitar, and drums/percussion. Listening to it on the Blu-ray is one of the lossless tracks' main highlights. Bernstein also wrote a foreboding theme on piano that plays over the main titles and is reprised over the end credits.

Like the AB, the feature comes with optional English SDH.

The Entity Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW Audio Commentary with Author/Filmmaker Daniel Kremer - Kremer is the author of the auteur study, Sidney J. Furie: Life and Films (University Press of Kentucky, 2015). He's obviously very knowledgeable about Furie's body of work and it shows here. Kremer forges a number of formal, stylistic, and thematic connections between The Entity and his other films. His comments are really only screen-specific a handful of times. Though he's prepared, Kremer utters a lot of vocalized pauses and would have been better served if he scripted verbatim so he doesn't veer off course. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Inner Strength – An Interview with Actress Barbara Hershey (19:29, 1080p) - Hershey recalls the risks she took to play a rather thankless central role but one that she exhibited courage and fortitude. She describes how the psychiatric vs. paranormal relationship intrigued her enough to star in the film. She also goes into how she performed some of the most difficult scenes. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Seeing Is Believing – An Interview with Actor David Labiosa (13:31, 1080p) - Labiosa delvers a mini-bio of growing up in a poor Brooklyn neighborhood. He recalls the telefilm titled Death Penalty (1980) that he co-starred in opposite Colleen Dewhurst, which was his breakthrough role. He also reminisces on appearing in the TV series Falcon Crest. It was the strong TV work that garnered Labiosa the role of Carla's son Billy in The Entity. He talks about the differences in his character as they were written in the novel in contrast to the script and on screen. He remembers scenes that were deleted and conflicts he had with producer Harold Schneider. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW High Dread – An Interview with Composer Charles Bernstein (16:59, 1080p) - Bernstein goes over the films he scored prior to The Entity and how he was a neophyte to the horror genre. He describes how he devised certain musical motifs and their instrumentation. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Spirits & Sprocket Holes – An Interview with Editor Frank J. Urioste (12:08, 1080p) - Urioste says he was brought in by Furie to help edit a sequence in The Entity that the crew was having trouble with. He brings up the real-life events that inspired the film. Urioste remembers watching the first day's dailies and the curtain in the cutting room starting to tear! He also recounts at least two other odd disturbances of flies infesting the editing room. He shares stories from around the set and gives his opinion of the ending. In English, not subtitled.

• Trailers From Hell – The Entity with Audio Commentary by Luca Guadagnino (2:19, 1080p) - Guadagnino introduces and narrates the Fox trailer included on this disc. The Italian filmmaker speaks in English; not subtitled.

• The Entity Files (27:30, upscaled to 1080i) - a fascinating program by a parapsychologist who investigated real-life paranormal cases. This first appeared on Anchor Bay's DVD in early 2000s. In English, not subtitled.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1:23, upconverted to 1080p) - a cropped trailer from Fox's vault that sports a mediocre picture.

• Original TV Spots (0:59) - two TV spots that are sourced from a videocassette.

• Original Radio Spots (1:02) - two eerily-sounding radio spots that aired to promote The Entity.

• Still Gallery (2:09, 1080p) - the first sixteen stills are high-res color photos (mostly of Hershey); the last eleven comprise a mix of posters, newspaper ads, and covers to the novel and VHS releases.

The Entity Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I first learned about The Entity while watching a TV special on Siskel & Ebert devoted to each critic's "Guilty Pleasures." In retrospect, The Entity has had a profound effect on horror films that's followed it, especially Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). There seems to be individual shots and whole scenes that were patterned off Furie's film. (Billy even reminds me of Tina's boyfriend.) I wouldn't categorize The Entity as a guilty pleasure or a cult film. It's a bonafide classic that took huge chances back in 1982. As I've been reading Frank De Felitta's eponymous book, I visualized how he adapted the material into a script and Furie then transferred it to the screen. The movie follows its literary antecedent closely, albeit in condensed form.

This Collector's Edition from Scream Factory would have been the definitive version of the film had the dated print underwent a new 4K scan. It does offer the best selection of lossless audio (re)mixes that the other BDs don't have. I greatly enjoyed listening to Daniel Kremer's feature-length commentary and plan to again. Scream has recorded four new interviews, each of which are worth a listen. If you didn't grab this over the summer, it's worth a purchase. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.