The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 2, 2017

José Maria Forque's "The Fox With a Velvet Tail" a.k.a. "In the Eye of the Hurricane" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include a newly restored original trailer for the film; exclusive new audio commentary with film historian and author Troy Howarth; teh documentary feature "So Sweet, So Perverse"; deleted scene; and more. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

What is happening?

I don’t know much about Spanish helmer Jose Maria Forque’s work. I discovered a couple of his films during the DVD era and the one that I thought was most curious was Beyond Erotica with David Hemmings and Alida Valli. It has a very Bunuel-esque edge but with a distinctive Italian flavor that reminds of Pasquale Festa Campanile’s work (for reference, see The Libertine). Interestingly, Forque and Campanile were actually equally prolific as directors and writers during the same period, and my gut feeling is that for the most part they were looking at the same type of material when they wished to tantalize and satirize.

The story of Forque’s The Fox With a Velvet Tail -- which apparently was also marketed as In the Eye of the Hurricane and Lusty Lovers -- is similar to that of Lucio Fulci’s Perversion Story, which came out a couple of years before it. In both films the handsome French actor Jean Sorel plays a man who has to choose between two stunningly beautiful women -- though under vastly different conditions -- and after he makes his final decision his life abruptly spins out of control. I think that Perversion Story is a more suspenseful and ultimately better scripted film, but there is plenty to like in The Fox With a Velvet Tail as well.

The majority of the events in The Fox With a Velvet Tail are seen through the eyes of the elegant socialite Ruth (Analia Gade), who has recently ended her marriage with the slightly older Miguel (Tony Kendall) and is now enjoying the company of her new and younger lover Paul (Sorel). The two have relocated to her posh villa on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast and are spending their time exploring the gorgeous beaches and each other’s bodies. Some of the most spectacular footage in the entire film is right here, where the lovers are shot as if they are in a perfect dream. However, the arrival of Miguel, who must finalize some documents with Ruth, quickly ends the lovers’ bliss and initiates a series of small but odd accidents. At first Ruth brushes them aside, but when she nearly crashes her car in a pile of rocks and then a recent acquaintance (Rosanna Yanni) of Paul appears in the area she begins to wonder if there might be a logical explanation for their reoccurrence.

There is certainly excellent logic behind everything that happens in The Fox With a Velvet Tail, but Forque, who also co-scripted the original story that the film is based on, reveals quite early a number of important details that basically identify the real intentions of the main players and the buildup begins to suffer. In fact, there is a rather big subplot that clearly hurts the suspense, instead of further enhancing the atmosphere or introducing some surpassing character transformations. (In Perversion Story there is a similar subplot in the final act but the end result is very different because it effectively alters the identities of the major players and rearranges all of the main pieces of the story). So it does feel like the film relies too much on the chemistry between its stars to get to its final destination.

Folks who appreciate the style and elegance many of these period European thrillers are known for, however, will not be disappointed. It is very easy to tell that a great deal of attention was paid to detail and even some of the supposedly more casual footage actually looks very beautiful. Additionally, the entire film is scored by one of the greatest Italian film composers from the last century, Piero Piccioni (Camille 2000, Hands Over the City).

The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, José Maria Forque's Fox With a Velvet Tail arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

I found the technical presentation incredibly frustrating. The release is scoured from a recent 4K restoration and the entire film looks strikingly healthy -- it is virtually spotless and it boasts the proper density and fluidity that new 4K jobs ensure when done right; there are no traces of problematic digital corrections either. Unfortunately, the entire film is graded in a way that basically changes its identity. I don't know where the job was done, but if I had to guess I would say that an Italian lab probably had something to do with it because the end result is every bit as unconvincing and wild as what you would see in Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. There are a few bits where color balance appears somewhat better and more natural (see screencapture #2), but elsewhere it is painfully obvious that the LUT values are off. In fact, in some cases the awkward balance becomes so distracting that it is hard to believe that someone was actually paying attention -- it is a guessing job at best. Other than that the basics are very solid. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 and Italian LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track (but they do not match the exchanges in the English dub).

I viewed the film with the English track. As it is often the case with these types of European genre films post-production overdubbing was done and there is some pretty obvious unevenness in some of the exchanges. The current mix is not to be blamed for it; it is how the dub was recorded. Also, the unevenness never becomes distracting, it just emerges as an extremely light dynamic fluctuation. There are no audio dropouts, background hiss, or digital distortions to report.

The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - restored original trailer for The Fox With a Velvet Tail. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 1080p).

• Alternate Title Sequences - fully restored. (4 min, 1080p).

• Extra Scene - this very brief scene was shot in two different versions. No audio is known to exist, but is presented here with some added music from the soundtrack. (2 min, 1080p).

• So Sweet, So Perverse - this short but quite illuminating documentary feature focuses on the evolution of the European film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s, as well as the careers of some of the beautiful female stars that appeared in various genre films that are now considered cult classics. Included in it are clips from interviews with Dagmar Lassander (The Frightened Woman), Orchidea de Santis (The Weekend Murders), Daniela Giordano (Inquisition, Bloody Friday), Brigitte Lahaie (The Escapees), and Erika Blanc (Kill, Baby... Kill!). In English and Italian, with English subtitles where necessary. (26 min, 1080p).

• Audio Commentary - in this new audio commentary, film historian and author Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films) discusses in great detail the stylistic characteristics of The Fox With a Velvet Tail, the era from which it emerged and some of the socio-cultural trends that defined it, other films that explored the similar themes and expanded thriller/gialo genres, the background and work of some of the stars, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Mondo Macabro's Blu-ray release of The Fox With a Velvet Tail.

The Fox with a Velvet Tail Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

José Maria Forque's The Fox With a Velvet Tail is exactly the type of genre film that I think fits perfectly in Mondo Macabro's catalog and I personally love discovering on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, I found this recent release to be incredibly frustrating. The film has been restored in 4K and it is very easy to tell that when the initial scan of the OCN was completed someone had a terrific material to work with, but then the film was graded by someone else, likely in an Italian lab, who was essentially guessing how it should look. So regrettably, the end result looks nothing like a period European film from the 1970s. RENT IT.