Sudden Terror Blu-ray - Susan George

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Sudden Terror" or "Eyewitness")

Directed by John Hough
UK 1970

Pins You to the Edge of Your Seat! Living on the island of Malta, Ziggy (Mark Lester, Crossed Swords) is an 11-year-old boy with an overactive imagination and a habit of telling wild lies. But when he sees the brutal assassination of a visiting African president by two rogue policemen, nobody will believe his story. Can Ziggy convince anybody that he is telling the truth before the psychotic cops are able to hunt down and murder the only eyewitness? This is no ordinary boy-who-cried-wolf story. Legendary director John Hough (Twins of Evil, The Legend of Hell House) packs Sudden Terror with plenty of tense style, stunning locations and startling violence. Susan George (Fright, Straw Dogs, Venom), Lionel Jeffries (The Quatermass Xperiment, First Men in the Moon), Jeremy Kemp (The Blue Max), Peter Vaughan (Game of Thrones), Peter Bowles (The Offence) and Tony Bonner (Quigley Down Under) co-star in this shocking and terrifying suspense-thriller featuring music by legendary British art-rock bands Fairfield Parlour and Van der Graaf Generator.

***

Ziggy (Mark Lester) is the young boy who witnesses the murder of a visiting black official by the police. Much like the boy who cried wolf, Ziggy has been known to stretch the truth and exaggerate. He is unable to convince the adults that he witnessed the killing. The murderous cops are soon on his trail as he hits the road with his sister (Susan George) and her new boyfriend (Tony Bonner). The real police soon follow, after convincing his parents that Ziggy has told the truth for once. The boys grandfather (Lionel Jeffries) is the retired Colonel, a lighthouse keeper and lovable curmudgeon. Jeremy Kemp is the police chief, and the main heavy is played by Peter Vaughan. The boyfriend's car is cornered on a treacherous cliff where the villains try to ram the vehicle to the jagged rocks below.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 1970

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Comparison:

Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover
		BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray	Network - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:32:08.856	1:31:54.000
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,516,286,854 bytes Feature: 26,156,937,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,404,769,478 bytes Feature: 20,582,264,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Kino Blu-ray:
Bitrate Network Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1558 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1558 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentaries: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Isolated Score: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,516,286,854 bytes Feature: 26,156,937,216 bytes Video Bitrate: 33.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by John Hough, and uncredited-writer/producer Bryan Forbes • Commentary by Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson • Interview with Mark Lester (5:10) • Trailer (3:11) Blu-ray Release Date: October 15th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,404,769,478 bytes Feature: 20,582,264,832 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Mark Lester interview (11:04) • Isolated music track for main feature • Theatrical trailer (3:12) • Image gallery (2:07) Blu-ray Release Date: November 16th, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Network Blu-ray (November 2020): Short story; The Network (UK) image quality appears to be from the same source (or even D1) and is almost exactly the same. We'll give Kino an edge in-motion with the higher bitrate. Audio - also 16-bit but linear PCM and may export the higher end better but a shade less in the bass. Both have optional English subtitles (see samples below.) The Network Blu-ray is Region 'B'-locked.

NOTE: We have added 20 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

The greatest difference is in the supplements - both have the same Mark Lester interview but it is extended on the Network and the UK package includes an isolated score track option, trailer and image gallery. It has no commentary where the Kino offers two.

Sudden Terror is still an effective 70's Brit thriller. Mark Lester and Susan George are great - as is Lionel Jeffries. We encourage seeing it for those interested on either side of the pond.

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ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2019): Kino have transferred John Hough's 70's thriller Sudden Terror to Blu-ray via a "Brand New 4K Master". It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It has very rough texture for the first 20-minutes but the grain becomes more consistent through the rest of the film. There are a few marks and light scratches but nothing untoward. Overall, it looks very good in-motion with true colors, layered contrast and some infrequent depth.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original English language. There is a lot of action and chase scenes in the film that have some sharp and penetrating sound effects coming through the lossless transfer. There is a rock music in the film by Fairfield Parlour (psychedelic harmony) and the English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has supplements. Admittedly, I have not had time to full listen to the two commentaries included on Kino's Blu-ray. I only sampled about 1/4 hour of each. The first is by John Hough, writer/producer Bryan Forbes and we get a second by Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson. There is also a 5-minute interview with Mark Lester where he discuss the films he made in the early 70's and how much he liked Sudden Terror as an action thriller and he said it was quite physically demanding. He jokingly states that Susan George was to old for him and how much fun he had with Lionel Jeffries. There is also a trailer and the reversible sleeve shows the film's other title (see below).