DEEP RED (1975) 3-Disc Set Limited to 5000 from Arrow Video UK
Directed by: Dario Argento
Starring: David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi
DEEP RED is my absolute favorite horror film ever made. If you listen to Exorcast then you already know this. I wasn’t overly impressed with Arrow’s packaging with this release but I will get into that a little later.
With every DEEP RED release I always hope they get better and better in every aspect. Arrow’s previous blu-ray release wasn’t the greatest. It had the awesome window box slipcase and artwork, but the sound and transfer wasn’t spectacular, which was the case with most of the early Arrow releases. Never the less I still bought them all! Aside from the HELLRAISER and VIDEODROME sets this was the first Arrow UK release I have picked up in a very long time. The Arrow US stuff has all looked amazing which gave me some hope.
So to start off Arrow gave both the international and the directors cuts of the film new 4K transfers and they do look amazing. Normally on older films I don’t care as much about the transfer because sometimes I prefer the grime, but I must say this film has never, ever looked better in my eyes. I have fallen in love with DEEP RED all over again. The picture looks perfect. It was like seeing it for the first time. The black gloves, the overly red blood, everything was perfect. The sound has also been improved over their previous release. I just couldn’t resist not to crank GOBLIN’s amazing score while watching the film. It even woke my son up in the middle of the night, bad parenting…maybe, but it was totally worth it. I have only watched the director’s cut but I can only imagine that the international cut looks and sounds just as good.
This already may be my favorite release of the year and it will be hard to top in my eyes. As I said before though I was not impressed with the packaging. Arrow has done some great packaging recently with those hard, sturdy slip cases. I feel like if any film deserves something like that, it’s DEEP RED. That is my opinion though. Most of those releases have been double features, but VIDEODROME got that release from Arrow, damnit.
This release went out of print before its street date. It sold out on preorders alone. That’s pretty intense, but you can still snag it for a decent price on eBay for around $75.00.
A full break down of the special features on the set are;
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of two versions of the film
- Original Italian soundtrack in DTS-HD MA mono 1.0 and lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio, and original English soundtrack in DTS-HD MA mono 1.0*
- English subtitles for the Italian Soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the English Soundtrack
- Limited Edition Soundtrack CD
- 6 x postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
- Reversible fold-out poster featuring two original artworks
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
- Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film and an archive piece by critic Alan Jones, illustrated with original archive stills
For collectors this is a must have! I would absolutely pay $100.00 for this in a heartbeat if I had too. For me it’s a great release and a must own.
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