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

ADDITION: Umbrella Blu-ray (April 2024): Umbrella have transferred Edward Dmytryk's Bluebeard to Blu-ray. It is on a dual-layered disc with a very high bitrate. It has moments of looking quite good and others that are less remarkable. There is some noisy grain, bright colors, occasional depth - although contrast can waver a bit. Overall the 1080P was pleasing if not stellar. I don't know that this has been on the Blu-ray format ever before.

NOTE: We have added 66 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Umbrella use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. Bluebeard has lesser-seen aggression although post-gore is shown briefly. The murders are fairly passive, outdoor rifle shot, a guillotine, fire etc. but the audio is mostly notable for the score by Ennio Morricone (The Cold Eyes of Fear, Grand Slam, Revolver, The Great Silence, Who Saw Her Die?, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, Luna, Danger Diabolik, Two Mules For Sister Sara, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The French Conspiracy, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.) and, uncredited, Maria Pia Fusco (Emmanuelle in America, Tinto Brass' "Salon Kitty") sounding clean with reasonably consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Umbrella offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Umbrella Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian David Del Valle (author of Lost Horizons Beneath the Hollywood Sign) and film historian/producer Daniel Marino (son of NFL QB legend.) They describe Bluebeard as a delicious, Gothic, kitsch horror film - unusual for Richard Burton. They discuss the popularity of these genre in the early 70's with comparisons to Grande Guignol, details on producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind, plenty on Burton, Edward Dmytryk, the McCarthy era, the real 'Bluebeard'-based legend and much more. There is an observation that Bluebeard has a nod to The Two Mrs. Carrolls where the murdered wives are painted on canvas by the killer - as well as Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon. It's great commentary filling the time with cast / era tidbits. Marino impresses again and Del Valle has always been a favorite. New is 10-minutes with Kim Newman (author of Classic Monsters Unleashed) giving us a keen overview with "Burton & Taylor - Exploitation Stars!" with the famous couple appearing in a few bizarre, fringe, experimental and genre films. Included is a 20-minute 'Richard Burton Exploitation' trailer reel showing many of those efforts including Candy, The Medusa Touch, Villain, Bluebeard, The Klansman, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and The Wild Geese. There is a "Stills Gallery", TV Spots and a trailer plus an Easter Egg with 8-minutes of rough "Behind the Scenes" video of a Serta Mattress commercial with Joey Heatherton.     

Edward Dmytryk's Bluebeard has Richard Burton and a bevy of beautiful actresses including 70's sex symbols Joey Heatherton + Raquel Welch (One Million Years BC,) Italian beauty Virna Lisi (How to Murder Your Wife), French actress + model Nathalie Delon (5 year wife of Alain Delon), Italian fashion model Marilù Tolo, German Karin Schubert (a pornographic actress in the 1980s), giallo and Spanish-Italian horror film actress Agostina Belli (Scream of the Demon Lover), and, Austrian-born, softcore, genre, 'B'-actress Sybil Danning (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Reform School Girls.) There are exploitation aspects - there is a lot of nudity (every gal except Welch and Delon) and a fun mix of sexual deviations (lesbianism, S+M, impotence etc.), black comedy, horror and social commentary. It's a little scattered but a bona-fide 70's artifact. I agree with the commentary that 'bedroom eyes' Joey Heatherton didn't get enough credit for her fine performance in Bluebeard but, unfortunately, this wouldn't be her vehicle to super-stardom. She's still with us at 79-years old. Plenty of titillation and always great to see Burton get intense. I would have been fine with just 'Raquel Welch as a promiscuous Nun'. The Umbrella Blu-ray has it all from the film in 1080P, a commentary, new Kim Newman piece, and an ancient TV-related Easter Egg. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze