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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Directed by Curtis Harrington
 USA 1967

 

The Pieces Are in Place … The Die Is Cast.

James Caan (The Godfather, Misery), Katharine Ross (The Graduate, The Legacy) and Simone Signoret (Room At The Top, Diabolique) star in this psychological thriller from the director of What’s The Matter With Helen?

Paul (Caan) and Jennifer (Ross) are a pair of wealthy Upper East Side socialites who like to amuse themselves by playing twisted and occasionally sadistic mind games. But when a mysterious woman (Signoret) shows up at their door and begins to exhibit uncanny psychic abilities, the rules change … and the stakes become higher (and deadlier) than ever before.

***

Sometimes casting itself can give away quite a lot of a movie. Simone Signoret is a respected actress with a long career, but she is most famous for one very specific and very popular movie, and if that should occur to you while watching this one, you’ll be well prepared for the directions this one will go. Furthermore, the title itself should give you a clue that you shouldn’t take too much at face value here. These types of movies can be fun; it’s an enjoyable diversion trying to figure out who is in charge, who is being manipulated, and who thinks they are in on the game but turn out to be only pawns. This one is quite satisfying....

Excerpt from Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings (Dave Sindelar) HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 17th, 1967

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Review: Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:40:19.054        
Video

2.35:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 24,129,552,335 bytes

Feature: 23,479,031,808 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.99 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

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1568 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1568 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Shout! Factory

 

2.35:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 24,129,552,335 bytes

Feature: 23,479,031,808 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Gallery (1:06)
• Trailer (2:22)


 Blu-ray Release Date: February 13th, 2018
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 9

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Shout! Factory Blu-ray (July 2020): Shout! Factory have transferred Curtis Harrington's thriller Games to Blu-ray. It is on a single-layered disc with a supportive bitrate and the image is characterized by heavy grain. Colors are fairly bright, flesh tones true and it looks very pleasing in-motion. Games is not crisp with tight visuals but that is a factor of the production and this 1080P presentation is consistent and clean. 

NOTE: We have added 68 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Shout! Factory use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. Games has minor aggression and a decent quasi-haunting score by Samuel Matlovsky (who has done mostly TV work including an episode of TOS). Composer Vic Mizzy's memorable haunted house theme is played on the organ by Simone Signoret and many will recognize it as it also appeared in the film The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966.) It supports the film well and dialogue is consistent and audible. Shout! Factory offer optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Shout! Factory Blu-ray offers only a trailer and a gallery. This is a shame because a lot could have been said about Curtis Harrington and the production, Signoret's involvement, where Caan and Ross where in their careers etc.

Curtis Harrington's Games fit the bill perfectly for me. It has Simone Signoret (immediately following her role in Sidney Lumet's The Deadly Affair), a young and quietly hunky James Caan with big things on his horizon, gorgeous Katharine Ross - even with her notable roles in The Graduate and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to come, Mrs. Sam Elliott would partake in similar genre efforts; The Legacy, Voyage of the Damned, The Stepford Wives (why isn't that on Blu-ray?) There is support from Kent Smith (Cat People) and Estelle Winwood (The Magic Sword.) All-in-all, an imperfectly twisting psychological thriller that is entertaining as heck. I loved it and the, essentially, bare-bones Shout! Factory Blu-ray is recommended based on the story, director Harrington (Night Tide), the star attraction, and being a neat genre flic with some style. Just don't over pay.

Gary Tooze

 

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Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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