ADDITION: Cult - Region FREE - Blu-ray August 19': British label CultFilms has released Jean Becker's "One Deadly Summer" on a dual-layered Blu-ray. We can see vie the bitrate graph and the running time (the exact same to the 1/1000th of a second) as the previously released Bayview Blu-ray. As is the bitrate. So we can presume it is from the same D1 source but colors can look minutely richer on the newer Cult transfer. It is, essentially, the same 1080P video.

The audio on the Cult Films disc would also appear to be the same 16-bit linear PCM track that appeared on the Bayview Blu-ray. There are also optional English subtitles (white instead of Bayview's yellow) on this Blu-ray from Cult Films.

This is where it differs the most from the 2015 Bayview Blu-ray. There are two main extras on this release, one being the previously released (on the Bayview Blu-ray) 29-minute director interview, and the other being "Portrait of Screenwriter Japrisot", running around 45-minutes about the screenwriter (and novelist) used for the film. Sébastien Japrisot did the original screenplay, adaptation and wrote the dialogue for Rene Clement's Hitchcockain mystery/thriller Rider on the Rain, which I loved. There is also a second disc DVD included.

To those that missed this Blu-ray release when it appeared under the Bayview label, this new release of "One Deadly Summer" from Cult Films is very similar with different color subtitles and a supplement. Not worth a double-dip but if forced to choose I would go with the Region FREE Cult Films Blu-ray.

Colin Zavitz

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ADDITION: Bayview - Region 'A' - Blu-ray November 15': The DVD was quite strong but you can see in our comparison captures the improvement in the higher resolution. Detail is superior and the grain textures are prevalent and consistent. Generally a brighter image, still in original 1.66:1, and the 1080P is a noticeably better.

Bayview use a linear PCM 2.0 channel (16-bit) and it adds to the presentation. The score carries some depth although there isn't an abundance of aggressive effects. Georges Delerue's (Mister Johnson, Jules et Jim, The Woman Next Door, The Last Metro, Day For Night) music benefits from the uncompressed rendering creating atmosphere where there would be none. There are optional English (yellow) subtitles (see sample) and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A' disc.

Where the DVD had no supplements - there are some extras on the Blu-ray. We get a 20-minute,1983 Cannes Film Festival, interview with Isabelle Adjani and others by the sea discussing the film, her character etc. There is a 25-minute vintage interview with Becker plus another from 2007 for close to a 1/2 hour. It's discussed how Adjani was the first choice but they had to wait 2 years for her. All video supplements are, in HD, and in French with English subtitles. There is an original trailer and still photo gallery as well.