The Bloody Brood Blu-ray

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

Directed by Julian Roffman
Canada 1959

Two years before directing the 3-D cult favorite The Mask (1961), Julian Roffman made his feature directorial debut with this early canuxploitation film, The Bloody Brood (1959). When his brother turns up dead after eating a hamburger laced with ground glass, Cliff (Jack Betts) sets out to investigate the murder, venturing into the underground world of beatnik culture and its sinister underbelly of drugs and vice. Peter Falk (TV’s Columbo) makes his feature debut as Nico, sinister mentor and drug-dealer to the tuned-in kids of the beat generation. This 60th anniversary release has been newly mastered from archival 35mm elements, and showcases the moody cinematography of d.p. Eugen Schüfftan, who would two years later win an Academy Award® for his cinematography of The Hustler (1961, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White). — Jason Pichonsky.

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At the start of his film career and just a year before his appearance in Murder, Inc. would get him Academy Award notice, Peter Falk played Nico, the strung-out, emotionally dead psychopath who leads a group of societal misfits in this sick and slick, low-budget crime drama. Cliff (Jack Betts) is an ordinary young man determined to find out who murdered his kid brother by giving him a hamburger mixed with ground glass. Detective McLeod (Robert Christie), who is supposed to be investigating the case, is woefully inept, but Cliff has Ellie (Barbara Lord), a woman with problems of her own, willing to help him out. Eventually, the murder is traced to Nico and his henchmen as Cliff begins to sort out how the crime was committed. Although the dialogue is surface deep, just like the characters, the direction (Julian Roffman), the acting, and the repulsive nature of the content of this crime drama make up for any deficiencies.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 1959

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:11:04.301
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 27,252,901,254 bytes Feature: 17,243,428,416 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 27,252,901,254 bytes Feature: 17,243,428,416 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • “Beatniks and Broken Glass: Remembering The Bloody Brood” (2019, 16:03) • Audio Commentary by Paul Corupe of Canuxploitation.com and Film Historian Jason Pichonsky • FDR Hyde Park (1949, 16:15, directed by Julian Roffman) with commentary by the director’s son, Peter Roffman • Freedom To Read (1954, 14:12, directed by Julian Roffman) • Theatrical trailer (1:50) Blu-ray Release Date: October 15th, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2019): Kino have transferred Julian Roffman's The Bloody Brood to Blu-ray. It is in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio and sneaks into dual-layered territory with solid bitrate. It is advertised as from "newly mastered from archival 35mm elements". The source has many frame specific marks (see the last capture sample.) Contrast can vary a bit but is more pleasing than not and grain textures surface every now and again. It is a fairly inconsistent HD presentation but it wasn't so varied as to be bothersome. I thought some scenes looked brilliant - others may be a bit compromised.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a linear PCM 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It has a score credited to Harry Freedman (The Pyx), and some bongo drum and similar beatnik-oriented music. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Kino add many new extras. We get an audio commentary by Paul Corupe of the Canuxploitation website and film historian Jason Pichonsky. They are very knowledgeable and discuss the director, Julian Roffman, with some recorded words from his son, Peter, about the McCarthy era etc.. They cover Canadian content, Falk and some of the cast. It's very good. “Beatniks and Broken Glass: Remembering The Bloody Brood” is a new 1/4 hour piece with Peter Roffman discussing his father's work, specifically The Bloody Brood and showing some photographic portraits and memorabilia. There are two short films directed by Julian Roffman; FDR Hyde Park from 1949 with an optional commentary by Peter. IMDb describes the film as: "The life and work of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelty are vividly recalled in this Pictorial Films production through a moving photographic study of his home. All the things and places pertinent to FDR at Hyde Park, New York are shown in the film , handsomely and reverently directed and photographed by Jullian Roffman. Accompanying the pictorial record is a commentary by Norman Rose and some excellent music composed and conducted by Irving Landau". Freedom To Read a documentary from 1954, also running about 1/4 hour. Lastly is a theatrical trailer for The Bloody Brood.

I thought The Bloody Brood was more a crime-drama with beatnik characters than a true 'beatnik film' having elements of A Bucket of Blood, In Cold Blood and Richard Fleischer's Compulsion. Julian Roffman's measured pace was suspenseful and the eclectic-ness of the surroundings and disaffected moral ambiguity intriguing. The commentary really helped encourage appreciation and this is a fine Blu-ray package for any interested, or Peter Falk fans (he's excellent), in this rarely seen effort.