The Amazing Mr. X DVD

(aka 'The Spiritualist')

Directed by Bernard Vorhaus
USA 1948

THE AMAZING MR. X is a very misleading title for one of the most haunting and original film noirs ever released. It gives the impression of a diabolical criminal genius on the rampage or perhaps a comedy about a milquetoast with fantastic powers. The movie is neither of these. It's a stunningly beautiful and unpredictable look at the phoney spiritualism racket as well as ghosts both real and imagined. An immediate favorable comparison can be made to the works of Val Lewton. THE AMAZING MR. X straddles the line between Lewton's gothic but plausible horrors and great film noir works like MURDER MY SWEET and OUT OF THE PAST.
Is it a ghost story? A romance? A crime tale? The answer is, it is all of these things and more.

Excerpt of Dr. Mality's review at SciFi Cinema located HERE

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Theatrical Release: July 29th, 1948

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DVD Review: Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:17:54
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.56 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • 2-page insert with comments by Jim Arena DVD Release Date: July 18th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

I believe this is in the Public Domain so there are plenty of other, very weak, DVD editions available (from companies like Alpha or in homemade compilation DVDs etc.) , but this appears to be the best of the lot. There is damage, mostly in the form of speckles and light to heavy scratches but overall image quality is acceptable. The Image Entertainment transfer is progressive with minor artifacts. Audio is expectantly weak but borderline acceptable. There are no subtitle options.

Although a new release for Image in July 2006, it still has no extras (aside from the liner notes) and only 2 chapter menus.

Not a deal, but by Image Entertainments usual gouging standards this is marked for an enticing purchase. The film is right out of left field but has some exceptional camera work by John Alton giving it a very strong atmospheric feel - I am a sucker for Cathy O'Donnell - that's what sold me and I wasn't disappointed in my viewing at all.

Gary W. Tooze

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