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

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (January 2022): Indicator have transferred Clive Rees's The Blockhouse to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Powerhouse Films". The 1080P is wonderfully rich in heavy grain textures. It has dominant earthy tones and dark grays adding to the film's atmosphere. Much of the film has very low lighting and this is well realized by the heavy grain. The image is fairly consistent without damage. 

NOTE: We have added 27 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Indicator use a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Blockhouse has aggressive war-related sounds - notably the beginning - with sequences that come through with impacting depth. The film's score is by Stanley Myers (The Greek Tycoon, The Wind, The Wilby Conspiracy, Eureka, Cimino's The Deer Hunter, Roeg's Insignificance, Harold Becker's The Boost, Pete Walker House of Mortal Sin and Frightmare, etc.)  adding to the film's ennui. No crooning from Aznavour. Indicator offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Indicator Blu-ray offers many supplements starting with a new 6-minute interview with star Leon Lissek remembering the shoot, a new 13-minute interview with the director Clive Rees's son and widow, Fred Rees and Gilda Rees discussing the film’s turbulent production history, a new 12-minute interview with production manager Matthew Raymond recalling procuring a Spitfire for the opening battle, a new 18-minute interview with executive producer Kent Walwin on the many challenges of making a low-budget war film and 10-minutes in a new interview with electrician Peter Bloor on the perils of powering a shoot deep underground. Indicator include the 1945 short "The Channel Islands 1940-1945" produced by the Crown Film Unit which sees Channel Islanders re-enact incidents from the German occupation during World War II. Lastly, is another of their image galleries of promotional and publicity material and the package has a limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay, contemporary news reports on the event that inspired the film, archival interviews with star Peter Sellers and director Clive Rees, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.

Clive Rees's The Blockhouse is described by Peter Sellers as "... a film for the connoisseurs of cinema, it's a very heavy movie. It could easily put you on a downer... Clive Rees, who directed it, is brilliant, every bit as good as Stanley Kubrick." High praise, indeed. It's a fascinating film - almost experimental - involving being entombed with years of sustenance, conflicts, claustrophobia, and dealing with mortality. It's a film I enjoyed more and more the deeper I got into the story. The Indicator Blu-ray is at their usual high level of completeness bringing us another piece of cinema that deserves to be discussed and revisited. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze