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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (September 2019): "Baby Blood" is presented on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a maxed-out bitrate. First things first, this is a stunning transfer from Kino. The 1.85:1 1080p HD Master (little else about the transfer is described in the press release) shows Criterion-level attention to clarity and contrast, with very fine decipherable detail in almost every shot. I also can't stress enough how strong the contrast is during night shots (or scenes taking place in darkly lit corners). This strong transfer results in very bloody reds and life-like greens/blues, and there is a very fine film grain present throughout the running time. Fantastic stuff from Kino.

The film is presented with two different audio options, either a 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 original French language track, or a lossy Dolby track in dubbed English. The former is obviously the better choice, with the effective creepy score from Carlos Acciari (this would appear to be Acciari's only cinematic score). There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

This new Blu-ray features an audio commentary from Film Historian Lee Gambin and Film Critic Jarret Gahan. The two have a great rapport (as seen, or heard rather, on their equally enthralling yak-track for "Link"), and have clearly done their research. Whether covering the the 'Mother-horror' sub-genre and its various tropes, or the animals and trainers (also appearing as actors), Gambin and Gahan present it all with ease, not to mention a sense of humor. They start off by discussing their early viewings of the film on VHS, and how much better this presentation is (it really is hard not to be in awe of this transfer). At one point the two note that the opening animal-as-harbinger of death/disease is reminiscent of the husky that appears at the start of Carpenter's "The Thing", and then go on to state that Robak claims that his film does not borrow from any other in the genre... sure (to be fair, horror deals with archetypes and the collective unconscious, so I suppose that one could just accidentally end up repeating imagery/plot points without 'borrowing' it. There are only so many stories to tell.) The only other extras here are some trailers, one for the film and then four other creepy films ("Nightmare Beach", "Rawhead Rex", "Night Angel", and "Link").

As described in Kino Lorber's press release, "this French shocker is now presented totally uncut and uncensored with all its infamous womb-raiding, gore-spewing and flesh-baring beautifully restored in HD!" That may just give you a taste of what you're in for here. What one might not gather from that choice set of descriptors is that this is a rather effective horror film with some serious chops (pardon the pun). To say Kino's Blu-ray release features a fine transfer is an understatement. Fans of this film should rejoice that this gore-soaked strange horror film has arrived in such fashion. To the squeamish, proceed with caution.  

Colin Zavitz