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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Celia: Child of Terror" )

 

directed by Ann Turner
Australia 1989

 

Celia (also known as Celia: Child of Terror) is a 1988 Australian drama film written and directed by Ann Turner. Set in rural Australia in the 1950s amidst the Red Scare and a rabbit plague, it stars Rebecca Smart as troubled nine year old Celia as the movie follows her descent into madness. Turner won the Grand Prix award at the 1989 Créteil International Women's Film Festival and for her part as Alice Tanner, Victoria Longley won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award from the Australian Film Institute.

Excerpt from Wickipedia HERE

 

Set in mid 1950s Australia, with the fear of communism in the air, Ann Turner's refreshingly unsentimental debut feature depicts a long hot summer seen through the eyes and over-active imagination of nine-year-old Celia.

Shaken by the death of her beloved Grandmother, Celia finds herself adrift between the cruel games and rituals of childhood and the incomprehensible world of grown-ups. With monstrous creatures stalking her dreams by night, those imagined terrors blur by day with the banal brutality of the adult world and lead to tragic and shocking consequences.

Presented from a stunning new 2K restoration, this dark fable of childhood's end ranks alongside Lord of the Flies, The 400 Blows, Stand By Me and Pan’s Labyrinth.

Excerpt of review from Excerpt from theSecondRunDVD.com located HERE located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 18th, 1989 (Australia)

Reviews                                                 More Reviews                                      DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL vs. Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gary Tooze and Eric Cotenas for the DVD Screen Caps!

Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS CAPTURES:

Distribution

Second Run DVD

Region 0 - PAL

Scorpion Releasing
Region 0 - NTSC

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Runtime 1:38:42 (4% PAL speedup) 1:42:52 1:43:19.208
Video

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.97 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 7.17 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,463,991,783 bytes

Feature: 30,323,976,192 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.96 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

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

Bitrate:

Second Run DVD

 

Bitrate:

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater)

 

Bitrate:

Blu-ray

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo

English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo

LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles none none English, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Second Run DVD

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Interview with Anne Turner (13:40)
• Photo Gallery
• 16-page liner notes booklet with photos and essay by Michael Brooke and Joy Damousi

DVD Release Date: March 30th, 2009
Amaray

Chapters 12
 

Release Information:
Studio: Scorpion Releasing

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.75:1

Edition Details:
• Sunday Show Interview (4:3; 7:04)
• Ann Turner Audio Interview (16:9; 10:57)
• German Trailer (1:53)
• Trailers for THE MONSTER CLUB, GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS, DEATH SHIP, THE UNSEEN, and THE SURVIVOR
• Playable with optional 'Katarina's Nightmare Theater' introduction and postscript by Katarina Leigh
• Waters

 

DVD Release Date: 26 February 25th, 2013
Amaray

Chapters 16

Release Information:
Studio:
Second Run

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,463,991,783 bytes

Feature: 30,323,976,192 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.96 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Celia's World (2021): a new, exclusive and expansive hour-long documentary on the film's background and legacy made by specially for this release by Ann Turner. (1:01:23)
• A filmed interview with director Ann Turner. (14:16)
• There's Something About ‘Celia’ (2021): Alexander Heller-Nicholas, author of 1000 Women in Horror, in conversation with Maria Lewis at the Australian Centre for Moving Image, Melbourne. (17:39)
• Extensive photo gallery.
• Booklet featuring essays by film historian Michael Brooke and professor Joy Damousi, and ‘The Hobyahs’, a traditional folktale featured in the film.


Blu-ray Release Date:
October 25th, 2021
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

Comments

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

ADDITION: Second Run Blu-ray (October 2021): Second Run have transferred Ann Turner's Celia to Blu-ray. Their DVD came out in 2009 and the 2013 Strand Releasing SD transfer is probably a direct port. This marvelous 1080P rendering "presented from a new 2K restoration by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia." This is a miraculous upgrade with colors becoming brighter, prominent and detail rising as compared to the muddier DVDs. Please see our compared screen captures below.    

NOTE: We have added 28 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Second Run use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Celia has few aggressive moments but a score credited to Chris Neal, that is heightens the suspenseful 'imagination' sequences. On this Region FREE Blu-ray Second Run offer optional English subtitles.

The Second Run Blu-ray has some great extras - additional to their own 2009 DVD. Celia's World is a new (2021), hour-long exclusive and expansive documentary on the film's background and legacy made by specially for this release by Ann Turner. It's filled with input form many and is a detailed examination of the film 30+ years later. Second Run include the same 1/4 hour filmed interview with director Ann Turner that was found on their previous DVD. New is There's Something About ‘Celia’ - a 20-minute conversation with Alexander Heller-Nicholas, author of 1000 Women in Horror and Maria Lewis at the Australian Centre for Moving Image, Melbourne. It is revealing. There is also an extensive photo gallery and the package still has the booklet featuring essays by film historian Michael Brooke and professor Joy Damousi, and ‘The Hobyahs’, a traditional folktale featured in the film. Ohhh to have an Adrian Martin commentary to go along - but alas not provided.

Indeed, there is 'something about Celia'. The character's fruitful and dark imagination is misunderstood, but fascinating in her odd and intriguing maturation process. Subtle, and not so subtle, themes of communism and its relationship to the exploding rabbit population in Australia - both inciting fear - all  expressed as a balance to the awkwardness of Celia's coming-of-age in Ann Turner's delightfully layered debut feature. Second Run's world-premiere, Region FREE, Blu-ray is a must own - for the films wonderful unique qualities, the remarkable advancement in a/v, plus the new documentary and edifying conversation supplements. Plus the liner notes booklet and previous Ann Turner interview. This has our highest recommendation!   

***

(February 2013) Scorpion Releasing's dual-layer, progressive, anamorphic transfer appears to be derived from the same master as the Second Run edition (and presumably the Australian disc). Extras have been carried over from the region 4 Australian release, including a vintage TV show profile of the film and brief interview with the director (much better than the equivalent sound-byte interviews on American "entertainment shows") as well as a more recent audio interview with the director in which she discusses the scape-goating metaphors in the film. The British disc features a different on-camera interview with the director as well as a sixteen-page booklet.

It appears that either no English trailer was created or could be found since only a German trailer (highlighting the dramatic aspects rather than the horrific ones) is included. Scorpion's artwork uses the American video release title CELIA: CHILD OF TERROR, emphasizing the fantasy horror elements over the tragic drama. The introduction and post-script by "Katarina's Nightmare Theater" hostess Katarina Leigh Waters addresses the film's misleading promotion stateside and highlights the other credits of the film's cast. Trailers for other Scorpion Releasing titles are also included.

Gary on the Second Run DVD release: The dual-layered, anamorphic and progressively transferred effort from Second Run looks quite strong. We can thank them again for another clandestine and desirable film - this one took me by surprise as a quasi-masterpiece with a creepy aura and political underpinnings - extremely enjoyable.

The transfer, obviously representative of the source material is one of the better from Second Run - detail is strong - noise minimal and there is even some grain visible. I had no issues with the 1.78 framed image.

The 2.0 channel audio is unremarkable and the Aussie accents are not overpowering so the lack of optional subtitles isn't fatal for most.

Supplements include a decent 13-minute interview with director Ann Turner, a superfluous photo gallery and some keen-o liner notes with interesting essays by Michael Brooke and Joy Damousi.

This is a very cool film - one I am so glad to have watched. It's another great choice by Second Run and we hope they continue to bring us these formidable gems. Surely recommended!

 - Eric Cotenas

 


DVD Menus
(Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)
 

 
 

 

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 


Subtitle Sample - Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

 

Screen Captures

 

Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

Scorpion Releasing (Katarina's Nightmare Theater) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE

 


 
Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS CAPTURES:

Distribution

Second Run DVD

Region 0 - PAL

Scorpion Releasing
Region 0 - NTSC

Second Run - Region FREE - Blu-ray




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