NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (May 2022): Indicator have transferred all three 70's films from The Pemini Organisation to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K scans of the only surviving film elements by Powerhouse Films". Text screens inform us "Film materials for the Pemini Organisation's Hunted and Assassin exist thanks to the BFI National Archive, where an original 35mm distribution print of each film is preserved. As is often the case with such prints, prior to their archival preservation they had undergone physical damage through being screened multiple times. After scanning the prints at 4K resolution, the team at Final Frame Post, London, painstakingly removed or reduced thousands of instances of dirt, scratches and other imperfections, while also stabilising the image. The only extant copies of Moments appear to be a 35mm distribution print preserved by the BFI National Archive and an analogue U-matic tape owned by the filmmakers. Although both versions of the film are largely identical, the videotape contains a longer, pre-distribution cut. " It's quite weak - soft, video-like, but we have no doubts the best from the available elements. The 1080P image can marginally shift colors (skin tones) between edits, there is occasional judder and we have given examples of a few compromised frames that aren't overly visible in standard viewing - maybe a 1/2 dozen for each film. The imperfections weren't detrimental to the HD presentation viewing on my system. Hunted (1972) is just over 40-minutes and shares the first Blu-ray with the hour twenty-minute Assassin (1973.) The second Blu-ray has Moments with a max'ed out bitrate looking rough but highly watchable.

NOTE: We have added 106 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use a linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language. With modest budgets the three film's audio output is devoid of a dynamic soundstage, but gunfire, cars (screeching brakes in Assassin) etc. carry hollow depth as per the flat original production sound. Dialogue is about the level of the video with occasional imperfections - more notable on Moments - but dialogue was still audible throughout if a bit scattered at times. On Hunted the score is credited to Graham Dee and Gerry Shury (who teamed up on the 1970 In Search of Lebanon documentary included in the supplements.) On Assassin the score is by Zack Laurence (Interceptor TV Series) and on Moments it is by John Cameron (Night Watch, 1988's Jack the Ripper, The Ruling Class.) So, the sound, generally is quite acceptable if not at modern efficiency levels. It matches the video presentation. Indicator offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-rays.

The Indicator Blu-ray package offers a massive amount of extras. First we get commentaries for each film by Pemini co-founder and director Peter Crane and film historian Sam Dunn. Crane details the evolution of Pemini, his film school work, partners and many of the small hurdles they had in bringing these three Indie-ish efforts out in the space of only a couple of years. There is a lot to appreciate here. The 2nd disc Blu-ray, with Moments features an audio option of a BEHP Interview with cinematographer Wolfgang Suschitzky - archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the DoP in conversation with Bob Dunbar and Manny Yospa. There are a dozen new interview with cast, crew as well as a piece where film historian Vic Pratt charts the rise and fall of Pemini. In Search of Lebanon is the 1970 student film directed by Crane and Nigel Hodgson exploring present-day Lebanon as the living source of the Adonis myth. There are 14-minutes of deleted scenes sequences removed from release prints, a new restoration piece, image galleries, trailers with extensive behind-the-scenes, promotional and publicity materials from the Pemini archives and lastly a limited edition exclusive 80-page book featuring new essays by Peter Crane about the origins and history of Pemini, extracts from the films’ original press materials, an archival news article, new writing on In Search of Lebanon, and full film credits.    

Of the three films, I wasn't that keen on Hunted as it seemed somewhat contrived although Woodward and June Ritchie were able to stand out from the very low-budget chamber piece. However, I certainly enjoyed the inner workings of a killer-for-hire's existence in Assassin that had me occasionally thinking of The American. Ian Hendry is perfect in the part - a cold, weary killer. It was nice to briefly see Edward Judd (The Day the Earth Caught Fire.) I saw some impressive and inventive cinematography from Brian Jonson as a bonus. I also really liked Moments a lot. It's a personal tragedy interrupted by a vivacious young sweetheart - seemingly sent by fate (although we find more about that) to, initially, steer him away from his monumental depressive state. Angharad Rees is quite wonderful and I was quite smitten with her performance. These are unique grassroots films that I never would have seen (in my entire life!) without the stacked Indicator Blu-ray package. We love their cinematic diversification, commentaries, endless extras and booklet - we absolutely recommend this stellar boxset.

Gary Tooze