6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
In this allegory on capitalism, director of a known car corporation invites one of his employees to his country villa to give him the good news. He just got promoted. However, the old man is not what he seems and promotion has a price.
Starring: Adolfo Celi, Geraldine Hooper, Giuliano EsperatiVideo 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 | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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?).
They Have Changed Their Faces 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 in 2K from the best existing 35mm elements", but a prefatory text card further clarifies that:
They Have Changed Their Face has been mastered and restored in 2K from the only known element in existence, a severely dye faded 35mm positive print. All best effort has been given to this presentation, and we hhope it does not detract from your viewing experience.Despite the seeming oddity of how that last sentence is phrased, Severin's efforts for this presentation are actually not bad, considering, and especially when stacked up the considerably more problematic video appearance of Jekyll. Yes, things are noticeably faded here, with a kind of drab brown undertone permeating the proceedings as a result, but there still is color, however skewed it may be at times. Probably the most noticeable problems with the palette occur in some of the outdoor material, but a lot of the interior scenes, especially framings featuring mostly faces, offer generally relatively secure tonal reproduction. Detail levels also tend to fare best in what I'm assuming were more easily controlled interior setbound scenes. Some of the outdoor material is definitely hazy (not due to weather conditions). There's quite a bit of admittedly mostly minor age related wear and tear on display. My score is 3.25.
As with Jekyll in particular, the sound side of things is better than the video, with this disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track providing capable support for a film that frankly doesn't have a very "baroque" sound design. Both Amedeo Tommasi's underscore and that aforementioned piano sequence sound reasonably full bodied, and some of the ambient environmental effects in and around Nosferatu's castle are offered effectively. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Il Figlio di Dracula (The Son of Dracula) (HD; 20:34)
- Giro Giro Tondo (Ring Around the Rosie) (HD; 11:14)
- Il Cantico Delle Creature (The Canticle of the Creature) (HD; 5:16)
- Short Subject Documentaries Directed by Corrado Farina (HD; 1:24:16) is a fun if kind of weird combination of shorts, including subjects as diverse as Saint Francis of Assisi and Freud and smoking. No cigar jokes, please.
- Commercials Directed by Corrado Farina (HD; 9:32)
Both Jekyll and They Have Changed Their Face prove how really interesting "updated" versions of venerable stories can be. This outing doesn't have the quasi-hallucinogenic fervor of Jekyll, but it has a distinctly moody ambience. It just could have used a few more jolts and a recognition that most folks are going to know the "surprises" going in. Video has some inherent deficits which are described above, but audio is fine and this has some of the most interesting supplements in Severin's set. With caveats noted, Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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