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(aka "The Inquisitor" )
directed by Stuart Gordon
USA/Italy 1991
Baker Antonio (Jonathan
Fuller, ARCADE) and his wife Maria (Rona Di Ricci, THE
PENITENT) head to the city center to peddle their wares
despite her misgivings about the Inquisition's public
displays of the punishment of heretics. They witness in
horror the whipping and subsequent burning of a suspected
witch (Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, DOLLS). When the witch's son is
also whipped, Maria tries to intervene and finds herself
accused of witchcraft by the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada
(Lance Henriksen, PUMPKINHEAD). Unable to admit his lust for
Maria, Torquemada tortures her in an attempt to get a
confession out of her that she has bewitched him. While
Antonio tries to infiltrate the castle's dungeon to rescue
Maria, her cellmate Esmeralda - a real white witch -
(Frances Bay, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) teaches her to
withstand her torments and harness her own latent powers;
however, Antonio is captured and Torquemada aims to torture
him to get Maria to confess. |
Poster
Theatrical Release: 27 June 1991 (USA)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
88 Films - Region 0 - PAL vs. 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the DVD Review!
1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
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Box Cover |
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Distribution |
88 Films Region 0 - PAL |
88 Films Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:33:24 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:36:41.000 |
Video |
1.31:1 Original Aspect Ratio |
1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 24,181,093,737 bytesFeature: 20,912,762,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.5 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Blu-ray |
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo |
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2057 kbps 5.1 / 48
kHz / 2057 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps /
16-bit) LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
Subtitles | none | none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Studio: 88 Films Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 24,181,093,737 bytesFeature: 20,912,762,880 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.5 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
• VIDEOZONE Behind the Scenes (26:02) Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12 |
Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.
ADDITION: 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray (July 2013): Hard to believe this is the same company that produced the DVD a little more than a year ago. This new Blu-ray is in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio - which would appear to be accurate to the theatrical, and the DVD to be open-matte. So we lose information on the top and bottom and gain on the right edge. Skin tones warm considerably and the overall image becomes much darker. Contrast has more layers and if I was to guess (and it would be only a guess) I suspect that this new Blu-ray is close to the original appearance. The image is richer, with some grain showing, and the darker look adds to the evil atmosphere.
Audio offers both a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround bump at 2057 kbps or a linear PCM 2.0 channel at 1536 kbps. The separation in the surround were not crisp but there was substantial depth. The score is by Richard Brand (From Beyond, Re-Animator) and his heavy orchestrations and Gregorian-style vocals certainly benefits from the lossless sounding earthy and resonant. Like the DVD there are no subtitles offered.
NOTE: While I would have expected this to be region FREE - the Blu-ray had trouble playing on my Region 'A'-locked Oppo - hence.
We get some different extras from the DVD with an 8/5 minutes interview with Stuart Gordon, a much longer VIDEOZONE Behind the Scenes - running 26-minutes, a trailer for The Pit and the Pendulum and one for Gordon's Castle Freak. ***
ON THE DVD: Lucky 88's
progressive, dual-layer transfer is clean and attractive, but
fine detail is lacking. It is likely sourced from an SD master
as only PUPPET MASTER, SUBSPECIES, and CASTLE FREAK have thus
far received HD remastering (reviews suggest that Echo Bridge's
current US DVD - and its accompanying "digital copy" - of PIT is
also sourced from an older master). Although it had a few
theatrical engagements, the transfer here rarely looks
matte-able to 1.85:1, so it may be slightly cropped on the
sides. The 93 minute is slightly longer than previous BBFC
submissions, although they were not listed as being cut. The
running time is consistent with a PAL speedup of the reported 97
minute US running time (the Australian DVD runs 92m 50s).
Although recorded in Ultra-Stereo, the mix is not particularly
enveloping (even when it comes to Richard Band's orchestral
score, which sounded much more lively on Moonstone Record's own
long OOP CD soundtrack).
The US VHS and laserdisc release of the film were distributed during the lucrative days of Full Moon's distribution deal with Paramount. The US DVD from Koch (which reportedly bore the title card "THE INQUISITOR" despite the original title on the box) is long out of print. |
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) 88 Films - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) 88 Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
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1) 88 Films 2)
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Distribution |
88 Films Region 0 - PAL |
88 Films Region FREE - Blu-ray |
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