Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

They Have Changed Their Face Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 10, 2024

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?).

If Jekyll sought to reinvent one of the most legendary tales from Robert Louis Stevenson in an updated "modernist" version, They Have Changed Their Faces seeks to provide much the same service to a legendary tale by one Bram Stoker. In this version, an isolated mountaintop villa is owned by automotive impresario Giovanni Nosferatu (Adolfo Celi), where low level employee Alberto Valle (Giuliano Esperati) is summoned and is rather incredibly offered the CEO position himself. Of course, not to mix literary giants, it's a Faustian bargain and Valle uncovers not just some context about Nosferatu (hey, wasn't the surname a clue?) but himself as well.

This is really a rather brilliant reimaging of Stoker's tale in some ways, with rampant capitalism serving as a more than obvious analog for vampirism, and with an interesting and at times tense dialectic between free will and "fate" playing out. The film nonetheless is kind of a slog, since it seems to think it's keeping secrets from an audience that has already been alerted to the source material courtesy of Stoker's name in the credits. There are some fun moments throughout, though, including one kind of cheeky scene that sees Nosferatu playing an upright piano rather than a theater organ console, a la yet another legendary monster.

They Have Changed Their Face Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

They Have Changed Their Face Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

They Have Changed Their Face Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Corrado Farina Moderated by Alberto Farina is subtitled in English.


• Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of Daughters of Darkness


• The Farina Method (HD; 43:14) is an interview with film critic Alberto Farina, son of director Corrado Farina.


• Bloodsucking Capitalists (HD: 30:59) is an interview with actor Giuliano Disperati and editor / screenwriter Giulio Berruti. Subtitled in English.


• Outtakes of De Sade (HD; 6:14) is a rather fascinating aggregation of snippets that has some fun background offered via introductory text cards from Alberto Farina.


• Short Films by Corrado Farina

  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)

They Have Changed Their Face Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.