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

ADDITION: Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray (March 2025): Deaf Crocodile have transferred Robert Wynne-Simmons's The Outcasts to Blu-ray. The film is on a dual-layered disc with a high bitrate. Opening text screens tell us :"The Outcasts was shot on 16mm film stock and enlarged to 35mm for its original release. This digital restoration was created from 35mm sound and picture negatives preserved at the IFI Irish Film Archive. This 2K restoration has been created by the IFI Irish Film Archive through IFI's Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann with support from the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) and the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.". It has a raw, earthy aesthetic that immerses you in pre-Famine rural Ireland. Shot on location in County Kerry, The Outcasts leans into the rugged, untamed landscape - with muddy fields, windswept hills, and stone-walled cottages under overcast skies. Cinematographer Seamus Deasy (camera operator credit on Saving Private Ryan) uses natural light to emphasize the bleakness: muted grays, browns, and greens dominate, with the occasional flicker of firelight or a rare burst of color from a costume or the fleeting Irish sun. The 2024 restoration by the Irish Film Institute sharpens these details, bringing out the texture of the sodden earth and weathered faces without losing the film’s gritty authenticity. The visual tone mirrors folk horror traditions - evoking The Wicker Man meets a damp Celtic twilight. Interiors are cramped and shadowy, lit by candles or weak daylight seeping through small windows, creating a claustrophobic intimacy. Costumes are simple and period-specific: rough woolens, shawls, and muddy boots for the villagers, contrasting with Scarf Michael’s slightly otherworldly presence - his dark cloak and wild hair hint at his mystical nature without overplaying it. The 16mm-shot image is rife with rich grain and colors (notable greens) are deep and textured in 1080P. The HD presentation is lush and absolutely supports the film viewing experience. 

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Amusingly the extras start with this caveat: "The included special features are not rated and are for entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual speakers and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Deaf Crocodile Films, Inc., or any of its affiliates, partners, subsidiaries, parent companies, licensors, former teachers, aunts, uncles, cousins, clergy, siblings, parents, grand parents, great-grand parents, local officials, favorite baristas, hair stylists, the guy at the car wash, masseurs, waiters, or most importantly any current or future robot overlords.".

On their Blu-ray, Deaf Crocodile use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Outcasts has few deep effects but there are a few. The sound design and score of The Outcasts play a crucial role in amplifying its folk horror and mystical atmosphere. The audio landscape is sparse yet evocative, rooted in the natural and cultural setting of rural Ireland in 1810. Ambient sounds - like howling wind, squelching mud, distant thunder, or the crackle of a hearth - anchor the film in its rugged environment. These organic noises aren’t just background; they heighten the sense of isolation and foreboding, making the silence between them feel heavy and tense. Dialogue is minimal and delivered in soft, lilting Irish accents, often swallowed by the vastness of the landscape, which adds to Maura’s quiet, outsider vibe. The music was credited to Stephen Cooney (The Clash of the Ash) and some parts of the score were, reportedly, composed by Robert Wynne-Simmons himself (who also wrote and directed.) It’s a haunting blend of traditional Irish folk music and eerie, minimalist tones that weave the film’s dual threads of realism and myth. Central to the soundtrack is the fiddle, reflecting Scarf Michael’s role as a fiddler and shaman. The music starts with simple, melancholic melodies - think slow reels or laments - that echo Celtic traditions, played with a raw, unpolished edge. As the story darkens, the score shifts: the fiddle takes on a wilder, more discordant quality, layered with low drones and subtle percussion that suggest something ancient and otherworldly stirring beneath the surface. Key moments - like Maura’s visions or the ritual drowning - are underscored with a mix of keening strings and faint, ghostly chants, evoking Irish sean-nós singing or even pre-Christian rituals. It’s not a loud or bombastic score; its power lies in restraint, letting the notes linger or fade into the wind, mirroring the film’s slow-burn pace. The interplay between diegetic sounds (like Scarf Michael playing his fiddle in-story) and the non-diegetic score blurs the line between reality and magic, pulling you deeper into Maura’s awakening. For a low-budget indie film, the sound and score punch above their weight, creating an immersive, unsettling mood that complements the visuals perfectly. The 2024 restoration and uncompressed transfer undoubtedly gives the audio a crisper, more defined presence without losing its rough-hewn charm. Deaf Crocodile offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray offers plenty of extras (approaching 4 hours worth!) starting with a 1.5 hour interview with director Robert Wynne-Simmons. He's a British creative polymath - composer, film director, and screenwriter - who’s left a distinctive mark on folk horror and experimental cinema. Raised in an artistic crucible, he was already a whirlwind of creativity at Lancing College in Sussex, where he churned out fifteen short films (some included here on the Blu-ray), a comedy play, a radio play, theater sketches, a novel, short stories, and even musical compositions like song themes and piano pieces - all before adulthood. The interview, conducted by Dennis Bartok, starts with this text screen "Unfortunately there were problems with Robert's mic and his audio can be difficult to understand at times. It's a wonderful conversation though and we still wanted to share it with you. Thank you for understanding." Even in his 70's Wynne-Simmons remains prolific. He’s revisited his roots with a 2022 novelization of Blood on Satan's Claw (titled The Devil’s Skin), published by Unbound, and even ventured into board games with Damnation: The Gothic Game. His work - whether film, music, or prose - consistently probes the eerie edges of human experience, blending tradition with the uncanny. A true outsider artist, he’s never chased trends, preferring to carve his own strange, timeless path. Next up is a 3/4 hour interview with composer Steve Cooney, also conducted by Bartok. Cooney is an Australian-Irish musician and composer whose innovative work has left a lasting imprint on traditional Irish music. Of Irish ancestry, with roots tracing to Tipperary, Cavan, and Galway, Cooney grew up immersed in music, picking up the didgeridoo as a teen and playing in rock bands like Bushwackers and Red Gum. In 1980, he bought a one-way ticket to Ireland, drawn by his heritage, and settled in West Kerry, where he’d transform the landscape of Irish traditional accompaniment. Nice to hear from him and his experiences. Also included on the Blu-ray is a 1/2 hour visual essay by Rod Stoneman who is a key figure in Irish cinema as a former chief executive of the Irish Film Board. He brings an insider’s perspective. His essay delves into the film’s production as a landmark in Irish filmmaking, emphasizing its role in kickstarting a modern cinematic movement. The Outcasts was the first Irish feature in 50 years. Visually, the essay - true to Stoneman’s style in works like Seeing is Believing: The Politics of the Visual - pairs his narration with archival footage, stills from the film, and location shots from County Kerry, where it was filmed. Clips of Maura (Mary Ryan) trudging through muddy fields or Scarf Michael (Mick Lally) fiddling in the mist, underscoring the film’s earthy, eerie aesthetic. Stoneman highlights how this rugged setting reflects Irish folkways, tying it to the storytelling traditions he’s long studied. He’s known for weaving personal and cultural threads into his analyses and juxtaposes the film’s pre-Famine 1810 backdrop with broader themes of superstition, gender, and ostracism - issues that resonate beyond Ireland. He reflects on the film’s legacy: a spark that lit a dormant industry, even if it remained obscure for decades until its 2024 restoration by the Irish Film Institute. Also included is The Judgment of Albion - a 27-minute experimental short film written and directed by Robert Wynne-Simmons in 1968, while he was a student at Peterhouse, Cambridge. It’s a surreal, poetic adaptation of the visionary writings of William Blake, the 18th-century English poet, painter, and mystic whose apocalyptic and prophetic works - like Jerusalem and The Book of Urizen - defy conventional storytelling. The film draws its title and core from Blake’s Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793) and elements of his Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804–1820), focusing on the mythical figure of Albion - Blake’s personification of England or humanity itself. Included are 4 early 8mm films by Robert Wynne-Simmons. "The Greatest All-Star Advertial of All Time" runs 1.5 minutes and is a madcap comic short featuring (incredibly) Charlton Heston, Michael Redgrave and a young Peter O'Toole! "Bomb Disposal" is under 5-minutes and has a cameo by Sammy Davis Jr. "L'Eredita di Diavolo" runs shy of 1/4 hour and is an eerie ghost story shot in a derelict mansion once owned by Percy and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein). "The Scrolls" is Wynne-Simmons’ most ambitious early film and has surreal overtones of 1960s series such as "The Prisoner" and "The Avengers" - running just over 25-minutes. I believe the limited deluxe edition of Deaf Crocodile's The Outcasts offers a slipcase featuring newly commissioned artwork by Andie Ferrari (see below), a 60-page illustrated book with new essays by Irish filmmaker Paul Duane (All You Need is Death) and film critic Walter Chaw (The Films of Walter Hill: Another Time, Another Place.)

Robert Wynne-Simmons's The Outcasts is an Irish folk fantasy released in 1982, set in rural County Kerry in 1810, decades before the Great Famine. It’s a slow-burning tale of Maura O’Donnell (Mary Ryan), a shy, awkward girl shunned by her superstitious village. Her life shifts when Scarf Michael (Mick Lally), a wandering fiddler with shamanic vibes, arrives at her sister Janey’s wedding. He’s a figure out of Irish myth - wild-haired, cloaked, and tied to the land’s ancient magic. As crop failures and deaths plague the community, Maura’s blamed as a witch, leading to a harrowing abduction and near-drowning. Michael’s mystical intervention saves her, sparking her transformation into a seeker of forbidden knowledge, even as it isolates her from her family. Visually, it’s a study in contrasts: the mundane grit of peasant life (mud-caked boots, smoky cabins) meets bursts of the uncanny (Michael’s ethereal rescues, Maura’s visions). The cast, including Don Foley (Anne Devlin, 1981's Tristan and Isolde) as Maura’s father and Cyril Cusack (Gone To Earth, Tam Lin, The Day of the Jackal) as a conflicted priest, grounds the fantasy in human stakes. Mick Lally’s Scarf Michael steals the show - his roguish charm and eerie stillness make him a Celtic trickster incarnate. Mary Ryan, in her only major role, brings a quiet intensity to Maura, her wide eyes tracing her arc from victim to enigma. Thematically, it’s rich with layers. It’s a feminist fable - Maura’s empowerment defies the patriarchy of church and village - but also a meditation on outsiderhood, echoing Blake’s prophetic outcasts and Yeats’ mystic wanderers. The title nods to both Maura and Michael, misfits in a world that fears the unknown. Robert Wynne-Simmons's The Outcasts is a mix of genres - perhaps too gentle for horror and too dark for fantasy. I really enjoyed it and am very happy with the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray and its stacked extras that embolden appreciation. This is absolutely recommended.

Gary Tooze