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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Out of Contention")

 

Directed by Herschel Daugherty
USA 1972

 

The Phone Is Not the Only Thing That’s Dead in Susan’s House!

 

Elizabeth Montgomery (TV’s Bewitched, The Legend of Lizzie Borden) gives a brilliant dramatic performance in the nerve-jangling made-for-TV thriller The Victim. Well-to-do San Franciscan Kate (Montgomery) travels to her sister Susan’s remote home only to find Susan missing—and as a fierce storm rages outside, Kate’s night of terror begins. Eileen Heckart (The Bad Seed), Sue Ane Langdon (Frankie and Johnny) and George Maharis (The Satan Bug) co-star in this suspenseful tale of a dark and stormy night, expertly orchestrated by veteran television director Herschel Daugherty (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Star Trek: The Original Series) and written by Merwin Gerard (TV’s The Screaming Woman) from a short story by McKnight Malmar.

***

Essentially, the story would concern a young woman who has ‘disappeared.’ While those who watch the film can come to the logical conclusion that she has been murdered, it never explicitly shows the crime and we do not learn that until a little later in the movie. As far as Montgomery’s character is concerned, something has happened to her sister and she means to find out. Queue up the quiet, spooky house, the creepy maid and all the strange events that take place and it creates a recipe for a very successful thriller.

Excerpt from TheTellTaleMind located HERE

Posters

Television Premiere: November 14th, 1972

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:14:24.293        
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,589,378,339 bytes

Feature: 20,573,761,536 bytes

Video Bitrate: 33.20 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,589,378,339 bytes

Feature: 20,573,761,536 bytes

Video Bitrate: 33.20 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Author Amanda Reyes
Newly Commissioned Art by Vince Evans


Blu-ray Release Date:
October 5th, 2021
Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase

Chapters 7

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2021): Kino have transferred Herschel Daugherty's The Victim to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 2K Master". It looks authentic to the source and production - which has some inconsistencies. It appears to be weaknesses in the filming, editing rather than the fault of the 1080P transfer with a high bitrate. Generally it looks solid with a few very impressive sequences (close-ups.)  

NOTE: We have added 46 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. The Victim has a persistent rain storm throughout, a sequence with a car but overall is fairly modest in terms of depth. The score is by Gil Melle (The Andromeda Strain, The Deliberate Stranger, Frankenstein: The True Story, 7 episodes of Kolchak the Night Stalker, Colossus: The Forbin Project, You'll Like My Mother, The Sentinel and The Organization), sounding occasionally ominous and atmospheric supporting the rising tension and mystery. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Amanda Reyes (author of Are You In The House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999.)  She talks a lot about Elizabeth Montgomery, Eileen Heckart (Burnt Offerings), Sue Ane Langdon (some may remember her from 3 appearances in Perry Mason), George Maharis (Route 66) and the McNight Malmar short story, the location (Carmel, Monterrey CA), Hitchcock connections, the shooting schedule and much more. She talks a mile a minute and covers a lot of ground. There is a slipcase with appealing new artwork.   

The Victim has appeal with icon Elizabeth Montgomery - the daughter of Robert Montgomery (Ride the Pink Horse.) She has huge nostalgic appeal from her exposure in TV’s Bewitched. Millions of young men had a crush on her including myself. She was remarkably attractive and talented. The Victim is reminiscent of other TV genre-crossovers with female leads; Night Terror with Valerie Harper, Dying Room Only with Cloris Leachman etc. and it uses atmospheric tropes like being alone in a potentially haunted house with a heavy rain storm and a hidden murder that only we are privy to throughout most of the running time. It's short but entertaining. The the Kino Blu-ray has the Elizabeth Montgomery TV film in 1080P and a data-filled commentary. Plenty of fans will enjoy the nostalgic trip back almost 50-years - certainly appropriate as the opening of a rainy Friday night Double Bill.

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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