1.78:1 Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,086,574,510 bytes

Feature: 13,824,055,296 bytes

Video Bitrate: 19.20 Mbps

Total Bitrate: 29.92 Mbps

Codec: VC-1 Video / 1080i

Edition Details:
• Commentary with Bruce G. Hallenbeck
• Commentary with Christopher Lee + Jay Slater

• Commentary with director John Moxey

• Interview with Christopher Lee (45:09)
• Interview with director John Moxey (26:23)
• Interview with actress Venetia Stevenson (19:31)
• Trailer (1:33)
• Photo Gallery (3:16)
• Liner Notes by Mike Kenny (4:00)

Blu-ray Release Date: March 29th, 2016
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters: 13

Edition Details:
• Audio commentary by film critic Jonathan Rigby, author of English Gothic: Classic Horror Cinema 1897-2015 and Christopher Lee: An Authorized Screen History, recorded exclusively for this release
• Audio commentary by director John Llewellyn Moxey
• Audio commentary by actor Christopher Lee

• Horror Hotel (1:16:18.907 - 19,340,068,416 bytes - 29.91 Mbps)
• Archive interview with John Llewellyn Moxey (26:25)
• Archive interview with Christopher Lee, conducted by critic Brad Stevens (45:13) - Behind the Scenes (16:37)
• Archive interview with actor Venetia Stevenson (19:36)
• Trailer (1:33)

• Gallery (0:34)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Vic Pratt

DVD included

Blu-ray Release Date: April 24th, 2017
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters: 18

ADDITION: Arrow (4K Restoration) - Region 'B' Blu-ray - April 2017: Just a few brief comments about the "New 4K digital restoration by the Cohen Film Collection and the BFI" before I head off - and will post more later. Arrow seem to have gone in the other direction brightening their 4K restored image, it appears perhaps slightly boosted beside the dull VCI, and it has a negligible waxiness however grain is visible - and IS progressive and in the correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio - showing more information at the bottom of the frame. It looks solid in-motion... even standing very close. It's certainly better than the VCI.

The linear PCM is 24-bit and, therefore, also advances upon the VCI's 16-bit. This uncompressed does a superior job with the film's sound requirements which are fairly extensive with plenty of effects, screams, fire and, along with the occasional Gregorian chant. The score is by Douglas Gamley (Madhouse, The Land That Time Forgot, The Beast Must Die, Asylum, And Now the Screaming Starts) and works well with the film's encompassing atmosphere of darkness and fog. There are optional English subtitles (sample below) and the Arrow Blu-ray disc  is region 'B'-locked.

Extras look the same, including Horror House (with a Cohen Media logo) in progressive HD, the Christopher Lee + Jay Slater interview  etc. but Arrow add a new commentary by Jonathan Rigby that I look forward to indulging in this evening. A DVD is included and the package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys, and the first pressings receive an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Vic Pratt.

So far, the Arrow does not seem perfect but it's a grand step beyond the VCI Blu-ray. It looks very pleasing in-motion. More later...

***

The restoration, in co-operation with The British Film Institute, looks marvelous on the dual-layered SD transfer - taken from the 35mm original source. It gets the British title, which has an extra 2-minutes (during the brilliantly choreographed villagers cursing at the 1692 Witch-burning.)

Scintillating layered contrast in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio and detail is crisp with plenty of depth. The image is progressive. It looks very impressive. I was shocked that it was from VCI.  

The mono sound is decent and consistent supporting the score by Douglas Gamley (Madhouse, The Land That Time Forgot, The Beast Must Die, Asylum, And Now the Screaming Starts) and adds further atmosphere to the spooky small-village surroundings. There are no subtitles on the DVD but dialogue is always clear and accents are not, at all, heavy.

And it's not over - this DVD just keeps on giving with absolutely stacked extras - not one but two commentary tracks - from John Moxey (his first theatrical feature as director) and a second by Christopher Lee. They are both very worthwhile but Lee is so impressive in his knowledge and intimate stories. I thought I'd recognized the name John Llewellyn Moxey before - I'm a big Kolchak fan and he directed the original film The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin. Great stuff. Then we get interviews with both of them Christopher Lee for 3/4 of an hour talking about working with a multitude of directors including Orson Welles (the incomplete Moby Dick production), Nicholas Ray, Raoul Walsh and more. Wonderfully informative. We get almost a 1/2 hour with John Moxey who comes across as a smart horror buff and overall gregarious chap. There is also an interview with the photogenic beauty Venetia Stevenson (inquisitive student Nan Barlow in the film) for almost 20-minutes. She was married to both Don Everly (The Everly Brothers fame) and Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story) and is the former mother-in-law of Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)! We get a trailer, photo gallery and a handful of scrolling text biographies plus a rolling 'thank you' listing. This has everything but liner notes... and it was made back in 2001!

Okay - immense value in this package - let's talk about the film. The black and white supplements the fog-shrouded atmosphere and the brief Gothic opening - evokes Hammer. Then we have the mysterious village Wicker Man-esque residents and the graveyard ending finale with spontaneously combustible monks is nothing short of genius. Let's get this to Blu-ray... now (VCI says it's coming!)! This DVD (slow menu animations though) gets our highest recommendation! I guess I'm only 14 years late on this coverage! For $-value - it's the best I have reviewed in years!  

  - Gary Tooze