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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2021): Kino have also transferred Roger Corman's The Tomb of Ligeia to Blu-ray. It compares very favorably to the 2014 Arrow Blu-ray (part of their Vincent Price Six Gothic Tales - reviewed HERE) with slightly deeper colors and richer black levels. It appears to be the same source with the same light vertical scratches and the Kino marginally higher bitrate may account for the less-noticeable improvement. It still looks slightly faded beside The Raven, but we can assume this is a function of the source. The Kino 1080P is as consistent as the Arrow ands the two provide as good an HD presentation as we can expect from this format.

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel (16-bit) in the original English language. It is eclipsed by the 24-bit LPCM 1.0 channel mono of the Arrow Blu-ray. Like the video, it will be less-noticeable to most fans of the film - purists may appreciate the Arrow audio transfer slightly more. The Tomb of Ligeia has aggressive moments as well as some creepy silences. There is modest depth and a wonderful score by Kenneth V. Jones (The Siege of Pinchgut, Maroc 7, The Projected Man, Psyche 59, Ten Seconds to Hell, Tower of Evil, Tomb of Legeia, The Horse's Mouth)  sounding clean adding to the haunting moods via the lossless transfer. The Arrow has an isolated music and effects score option. The Kino also offers optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a the same two commentaries on the Arrow - by star Elizabeth Shepherd hosted by Roy Frumkes, with the second by director Corman. Kino add a new, third commentary by Tim Lucas, who, btw, is writing a novel on Roger Corman's work entitled The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes which will be available later in 2021. This is at Tim's usual well-researched level discussing pronunciation of 'Ligeia', how the black cat doesn't appear in Poe's original story but was adapted by screenwriter Robert Towne relating to Poe's short story "The Black Cat" from 1843. He tells us the name Ligeia was first used by Edgar Allan Poe's in his early poem "Al Aaraaf" first published in 1829. Tim identifies the opening credit paintings by Peter Hallett and Francis Rodger. He discusses the cast and crew including Arthur Grant's cinematography, Towne's screenplay and his 'wax effigy' theory etc. etc.. This commentary is fully detailed - finding fascinating minutia on the production, Poe, Corman and much more, that you would be unlikely to find anywhere in one space. Kino add a Trailers from Hell episode with Joe Dante, a trailer for The Tomb of Ligeia and the package offers a limited edition O-Card slipcase.  

Roger Corman's The Tomb of Ligeia is debatably the best of his Poe cycle, as discussed by David Del Valle on The Raven commentary. It's about a man's obsession with his deceased wife. This psychologically separates him from his new bride. All set in an atmosphere dripping with Gothic appeal and plenty of outdoor sequences. Certainly re-watchable on many levels. The Kino Blu-ray has comparable a/v to the Arrow, it loses the interviews and isolated score, but adds a gold-standard Tim Lucas commentary along with the previous 2 existing commentaries. It's a great package that Corman, Poe and Vincent Price fans will find desirable. Certainly recommended!

Gary Tooze