6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Sylvia, an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother.
Starring: Mimsy Farmer, Maurizio Bonuglia, Mario Scaccia, Jho Jhenkins, Nike ArrighiHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 78% |
Mystery | 21% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
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: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Francesco Barilli's "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video. The supplemental features on the release include arhcival program with Francesco Barilli; short film; and fully restored international trailer. In English or Italian, with optional English subtiltes. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Perfume of the Lady in Black arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video.
The technical presentation of The Perfume of the Lady in Black is enormously frustrating. It appears that sometime in the past the film was fully restored, and clearly from a very nice element, but the party that did the hard work used one of these notorious scanners that adds the dreaded 'scanner noise'. As a result, now the film produces visuals that look very clean but do not have a proper organic appearance. In fact, many are even poorer than the ones you would get from a decent DVD release. What is even more frustrating is that the same party, or another, color graded the master incredibly well. So, all visuals look very clean and boast wonderful, very nicely balanced primaries and supporting nuances, but also look harsh and smeary. What a shame. On large screen, only an occasional close-up here and there reveals how beautiful the film could have looked with a proper grain structure, which easily could have been retained. Image stability is excellent. (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).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian track.
The Perfume of the Lady in Black should be viewed with the English track because Mimsy Farmer and most other actors that have meaningful parts in it utter their lines in English. However, as it is usually the case with these tracks that were made for Italian genre films, you should expect to hear overdubbing that is a bit uneven. If you love these films and collect them, you should know by now that this is an inherited limitation they all share. This being said, dynamic intensity is quite good. In fact, The Perfume of the Lady in Black has several sequences with rather impressive dynamic contrasts. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.
Sadly, Francsco Barilli is probably right that films like his directorial debut, The Perfume of the Lady in Black, will never be made again. Why? For multiple reasons. In the 1970s, these types of projects could easily get funded and young directors, like Barilli, had all the freedom they needed to be creative and impress. This is why so many of these films are now considered cult -- they were bold and different. While flawed, The Perfume of the Lady in Black is very much worth seeing because it is one such film, bold and different. Unfortunately, even though it was fully restored, it does not have a proper organic appearance. If you want Raro Video's release in your library, consider picking it up only when it is on sale.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Non si sevizia un paperino
1972
Cosa avete fatto a Solange?
1972
La bestia uccide a sangue freddo / Asylum Erotica
1971
Le foto di Gioia / Slipcover in Original Pressing
1987
Solamente nero
1978
Featuring The Girl Who Knew Too Much / La ragazza che sapeva troppo
1963
Standard Edition
1982
1980
Limited Edition to 3000
1971
Tutti i colori del buio
1972
I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale / Carnal Violence
1973
Special Edition | La morte accarezza a mezzanotte
1972
Nude per l'assassino
1975
Special Edition | La morte cammina con i tacchi alti
1971
L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo
1970
Profondo rosso
1975
Chi l'ha vista morire?
1972
1974
Sei donne per l'assassino
1964
Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate
1971