6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Kacper, an ex-guerrilla soldier chased by a female werewolf, realizes that he is possessed by the spirit of his deceased wife Maryna. He also recognizes the same werewolf symptoms in Julia, a predatory countess who has a relationship with an Austrian officer.
Starring: Krzysztof JasinskiHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 95% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Polish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as a part of All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror.
All the Haunts Be Ours advertises itself as "the most comprehensive collection of its kind", which may initially beg the question as to "kind of
what?". But the release also comes with a front cover sobriquet
proclaiming it "a compendium of folk horror", which may then beg the next obvious question as to what exactly "folk horror" is. In that
regard, this set
begins with a fascinating and diverse documentary which has its own subtitle referencing folk horror, Woodlands Dark and Days
Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, which provides a veritable glut of clips from international films which director (and this entire set's guiding
light) Kier-La Janisse has assembled to help define the genre, but perhaps the best answer is to simply echo a certain Supreme Court Justice named
Potter Stewart who was trying to decide a case involving supposed pornography, and who famously opined, "I shall not today attempt further to define
the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I
know it when I see it. . ."
Wilczyca is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Severin's insert booklet states this was "restored in HD from the original negative by WFDIF in Warsaw". The results here are very appealing, with a solid accounting of the film's perhaps surprisingly luxe production accoutrements like fairly opulent costumes. The palette can look just a tad cool and slightly skewed toward blue at times, but that actually helps with a setting that is often overtly wintry in the outdoor scenes. Detail levels are generally excellent throughout the presentation, to the point that some of the patently gonzo gore effects in a positively Grand Guignol climax may provoke laughter instead of chills. There are a few deficits in shadow detail and some very minor age related wear and tear. Grain is on the light side, but clearly visible, and resolves naturally.
Wilczyca features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track in the original Polish. The film actually has a rather nicely layered sound design with a lot of ambient environmental effects, but things are mixed very well, and as such the mono track delivers more than capable support for what is often a pretty talky feature. When violence does erupt, it carries sufficient force to reverberate relatively well. I will say that I didn't find Jerzy Matula's score to always be helpful, but it sounds fine from a fidelity standpoint. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Of the two "were-creatures" films aggregated on this disc in All the Haunts Be Ours, Lokis: A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach is probably the more "traditional" monster movie, with a kind of Roger Corman-esque feel, while Wilczyca might be better thought of as a kind of quasi-Art House approach to some of the same material. Technical merits are solid and the interview with the director very interesting. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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