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

ADDITION: Cult Epics 4K UHD (October 2026): Cult Epics have transferred Umberto Lenzi's Kriminal to Blu-ray and 4K UHD. Kriminal comes from a new 4K scan of the original negative. It is on a dual-layered disc in HEVC 2160P with HDR10 (no Dolby Vision), and its video bitrate is over 2X that of the included Blu-ray, which is AVC 1080P, also dual-layered. Both discs share the same framing. The 4K UHD is the superior presentation, with the clearest gains in resolution and grain. The opening comic-book panels that bridge the action (“Bash!”, “Quiet Baby”) show crisper line art and visible print texture, where on the Blu-ray they look flatter and slightly softer. The UHD also brings out more fine detail in fabrics, the bandaged-face hospital scene and the busy hotel pool exterior. Grain is finer and more naturally resolved, where the 1080P tends to smooth it into mush in darker areas. The HDR10 grade gives the film’s pop-art palette, notably its saturated blues and reds, more depth, and black levels are richer. The image is clean and consistent, with no damage worth noting. Kriminal has never looked this good on home video. Angelo Lotti’s (Venus in Furs, A Black Veil for Lisa) photography favors bold primary colors and dynamic compositions that echo the comic’s panels, and Lenzi stages the action with a pace and inventiveness that belie the film’s modest budget.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review on is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software is simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation

NOTE: We have added 62 more large resolution 4K UHD captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray and 4K UHD, Cult Epics use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original Italian with optional English DUBs. The sound is clean and clear, with no hiss or crackle. Dialogue is crisp, and the swinging, jazz-tinged score (credited to Romano Mussolini,) has a lively, buoyant presence worthy of the isolated-score track Cult Epics include. The Italian track is the one to choose for authenticity. The English DUB is a fun period alternative, as many Eurospy fans know it. Cult Epics offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray and Region FREE 4K UHD.

The Cult Epics Blu-ray and 4K UHD release has high-quality, mostly new supplements. The 4K UHD carries a new audio commentary by film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, plus the original trailer. The Blu-ray repeats the commentary and adds the bulk of the supplements. Armed to the Teeth: The Cinema of Umberto Lenzi is an almost 1 1/2 hour documentary on the director’s long genre career. Camera Nostalgia runs almost 40 minutes with star Glenn Saxson, who recalls his move from the Netherlands to Italy in 1964 and his early work in commercials and photo novels. The Sound of Krime runs almost 25 minutes with Pierpaolo De Sanctis, who examines the film’s music. There is also an isolated score track running over 50 minutes, the original Italian credits, the trailer, a promotional gallery, and Cult Epics trailers for The Key, P.O. Box Tinto Brass, Don’t Play with Fire and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The package comes in a slipcase with a reversible sleeve showing the original Italian poster art. The exclusive edition is limited to 500 copies and adds lobby cards and a poster.

Umberto Lenzi's Kriminal is a gleefully amoral slice of 1960s Italian pop, a fumetti adaptation that plays like a Eurospy caper turned inside out: the hero is a thief and killer in a skeleton suit, and the film adores him for it. Lenzi, before his giallo, poliziotteschi and cannibal years (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, Spasmo, Almost Human, Eyeball, Nightmare City), directs with breezy energy, globe-hopping locations and comic-panel transitions that wink at the source material. Glenn Saxson, the Dutch-born Roel Bos who came to Italy in 1964 and worked in commercials and photo novels before taking his screen name (Django Shoots First), makes a smirking, handsome anti-hero, all sunglasses, trench coat and unapologetic charm. Spanish genre icon Helga Liné (Nightmare Castle, Horror Express, The Loreley's Grasp) adds glamour and danger, and Andrea Bosic is the dogged lawman always a step behind. The mood is captured by the moment Kriminal discovers his double-cross has yielded nothing: "So I robbed the real courier, but she didn't have any diamonds?" The swinging, jazzy score keeps the whole thing light on its feet. Cult Epics' 4K UHD, from the original negative with HDR10 and a bitrate over double the included Blu-ray's, is a revelation: tighter detail, finer grain and a richer pop-art palette, with uncompressed 24-bit Italian and English tracks. The extras are stacked: a commentary by Eugenio Ercolani (Darkening the Italian Screen: Interviews with Genre and Exploitation Directors Who Debuted in the 1950s and 1960s) and Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse Vol 2: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films,), the feature-length Lenzi documentary Armed to the Teeth, a warm interview with Saxson, a piece on the music and an isolated score. Crime has rarely looked this stylish, or paid this well. A terrific package for fans of Italian cult cinema. Great fun! Absolutely recommended.

Gary Tooze