Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

Whirlpool Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz.

Arrow Video continues to mine the world of cult cinema, offering releases that few fans would probably have ever even hoped would be coming out in high definition, in handsomely packaged editions that also offer some really interesting supplements. That commendable tradition on the part of Arrow continues with a new three disc set devoted to the little remembered (at least to mainstream film aficionados) Spanish director José Ramón Larraz, an exploitation auteur whose representation on Blu-ray has been arguably pretty spotty, but is at least there. Previous Blu-ray releases of Larraz's work include Symptoms, a film of Larraz’s which perhaps unexpectedly was screened at the Cannes Festival and evidently was in competition for the Palme d’Or that year. (A number of entries in our database seem to suggest there may have been some releases of Larraz films by Code Red, though none of them seem to have been reviewed yet.) The only prior domestic Blu-ray release of a film included in this particular set appears to be Blue Underground's version of Vampyres, which was released close to a decade ago.

Whirlpool is a kind of odd and frankly at times maybe even perverse mash up of elements from films like Peeping Tom, Blow-Up and The Collector, presented in a near dreamlike way so as to perhaps make some of its already provocative aspects even more shocking. Tulia (Viven Neves) is a model lured to a rural location for a shoot by budding photographer Theo (Karl Lanchbury), who is himself seemingly mentored by an older woman he calls Aunt Sara (Pia Anderson). It probably goes without saying that motives aren’t exactly pure, but when too many questions arise about a former model named Rhonda who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances, things go from bad to worse.

There’s the same voyeuristic quality prevading Whirlpool that is also undeniably part of Peeping Tom, but Larraz seems much more interested in graphically displaying sexual kinkiness than Michael Powell was, despite the brickbats Powell received at the time of Peeping Tom’s release. Whirlpool is probably intentionally hyperbolic in its depictions of various bad behaviors, something that its lo-fi ambience and dubbing tend to make seem even more lurid in a way. In that sense, Whirlpool, evidently widely derided at the time of its release as part of a needless wave of X-rated offerings, may suffice as prime grindhouse material for some.

Whirlpool Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Whirlpool is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The booklet included with this release has the following information on the restoration:

Whirlpool is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a 4K Arriscan at Lasergraphics Director at EFilm, Burbank. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London. The original mono mi was remastered from the optical negatives at Deluxe Audio Services, Hollywood.

All materials for this restoration were made available by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

A note on this version: The version presented here is the 87 minute US Theatrical Cut, in keeping with how the original camera negative was conformed. For further information regarding alternate versions of the film, please refer to the bonus feature Deviations of 'Whirlpool', included on the Blu-ray disc.

Considering the rarity of this title, I can't imagine any fan of this film not being pleased with the overall appearance of this transfer, but that said expectations should be tempered by some of the limitations of what was obviously a very low budget. The palette is remarkably robust here, with nicely vivid reds and blues, and fine detail manages to peek out even in some of the red drenched darkroom scenes. Grain is rather heavy throughout the presentation, but resolves organically. There are a few passing issues with relatively minor damage, and some slight flicker can occasionally be discerned, especially against brighter backgrounds. Some day for night footage is not especially great looking, with a slightly blue cast, and there are some deficits in shadow detail in some nighttime sequences toward the end.

Whirlpool Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Whirlpool features a nice sounding LPCM Mono track, one which provides good support for some evocative ambient environmental sounds like the splashes of oars in a lake that may have a secret or two in it. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though this appears to have been another post looped effort. This is the rare film where I'm not certain Stelvio Cipriani's music helps things, and there a few "horror" like cues, including some really high frequency minor seconds, that can sound a little brittle at times.

Whirlpool Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Obsessive Recurrence: The Early Films of Jose Larraz (1080p; 24:01) features the always enjoyable Kim Newman.


• A Curious Casting (1080p; 9:10) features actor Larry Dann recounting the odd way he got his role.


• Deviations of Whirlpool (1080p; 27:12) is an interesting piece contrasting variant versions of the film.


• Vivien Neves on BBC's Parkinson (720p; 13:19) is a talk show appearance from 1972.


• Archival Interview with Jose Larraz (1080p; 3:48)


• Image Gallery (1080p)


• US Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:53)


• Audio Commentary with Tim Lucas

Whirlpool Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Whirlpool is yet another kinky effort from Larraz, one which includes everything from lesbianism to a kind of quasi-incest to threeways to, well, murder. What's not to like? Arrow has provided a cult release with solid technical merits and some great supplements, for those who are considering a purchase.