Arrow Video Tenebrae [Blu-ray]

Dario Argento's 'Tenebrae, (1982) is a deliciously superb demonstration of a Giallo film experience at its best. Dario Argento is credited with launching the genre back in 1970 with his 'The Bird With The Crystal Plumage' starring Tony Musante, which is set in Rome.As you put the disc into your dvd player, and before you even hit the play button, you're already getting a synopsis of what you're about to watch with some key highlights flashed before you, including the infamous scene of the unseen killer ripping out pages from a book and shoving them into the mouth of a young woman, before she is slashed across the throat and murdered.Some twelve years later Argento, and having been accused by some in the media as a criminal, a misogynist and even a murder for the sheer amount of screen violence (Especially towards women) that he shows in his films, decided to exhaust his demons by playing up to the very criticism that he was being accused of. The result being 'Tenebrae.'The film stars Anthony Franciosa (In one of his best roles ever) who plays the part of Peter Neal an American author of a novel called 'Tenebre' which is about a serial killer that is looking to rid society of human perversion. At least this is John Steiner's impression, playing a gay character called Christiano Berti as he is about to interview the author for his TV book review. When you've watched the entire film you will refer to various little moments in the movie such as here, where Argento is really enjoying himself at the viewers expense. As you will understand from Peter Neal's explanation to Detective Giermani a little bit later in the film "When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," which is a line borrowed from a Sherlock Holmes storyline.The film has Argento's preferred electronic sound tracks which add dramatic emphasis at various key moments throughout the film, and this is from the ex Goblin Claudio Simonetti and partners Pignatelli & Morante. (You can catch him later on in the film extra's as Goblin play in Glasgow in 2011, the main music from 'Tenebrae' as well as Argento's 'Phenomena' a/k/a 'Creepers.')Arrow have put together a superb HD release of this classic and controversial film, in all its uncut glory, which has bright colours in excellent clarity splashed with huge dollops of blood red, and quite a high body count. The film has one or two moments that doesn't quite add up in the logic sense but, on the whole if you allow yourself to go along with the ride you're in for one hell of a treat. Argento fans will know what I'm talking about but, if you are an Argento fan of his work then this Blue-Ray, if you don't already own it, should be high on your want list. There is a wealth of extra material on the disc which includes two separate analytical scene by scene commentaries by the UK's Kim Newman & Alan Jones as well as an American Argento expert Thomas Rostock, as well as lots of other stuff.

This review is aimed at those of you who have already seen 'Tenebrae', wondering about the quality of the blu ray transfer.After being absolutely stunned by the Arrow blu ray of 'Zombi 2' (aka 'Zombie Flesh Eaters') - it was like watching a different film when compared to every other version I've seen (from the Vipco VHS -say no more - to the US DVD entitled 'Zombies'), I felt confident enough to give Arrow's version of 'Tenebrae' a go, despite some negative comments here about the disc.I originally saw 'Tenebrae' theatrically when it was first released, owned a VHS, then later a Medusa DVD imported from Italy. The latter was fairly unimpressive. In my opinion, there is no reason why 'Tenebrae' should not look great on BD - though comments about Italian standard transfers do seem relevant here. But the BD of 'Suspiria' is gorgeous and imagine what a challenge the intense colours of thqt film were for visual engineers - and a quick glance at Arrow's BD of 'Inferno' (which I've not looked at in detail yet, admittedly) made me nod with satisfaction.Another reviewer notes how clear the second scene (Peter Neale - played by Anthony Franciosca - cycling to the airport) is. This is true, it looks great - however, there is a really noticeable dip in quality as soon as we cut to the first interior scene at the airport itself, the picture is full of noise. This continues pretty much throughout.'Tenebrae' is a very light film - even the night scenes are very bright, which makes for an interesting contrast with 'Suspiria' and 'Inferno'. This lightness suits both the early 80s fashions and Argento's comment that the film is set in a future that is less populous and therefore more affluent - although the mis-en-scene arguably implies this, nowhere in the film is it stated that the story is set in the future, rendering a categorisation of the film as Science Fiction as inadmissible (shame, as this would have made 'Tenebrae' even more interesting and might have prevented the film from 'dating' for those sad individuals who can't understand that things are of their time and that films are not immediately below par if they weren't made 3 minutes ago and don't look the same as everything else that has been released in the last 10 minutes). Sadly, the very brightness of 'Tenebrae' means that picture noise is every bit as visible as it is in a darker film and it's very distracting, especially when one can see that the overall picture is much clearer than any DVD issue. 'Tenebrae' should look pristine, I'm afraid, Arrow...I'm concluding that either Arrow didn't have great material to work with, or that they've simply botched it. I've not yet seen any overseas BD releases of 'Tenebrae', but as far as I'm concerned, I'm not satisfied with this release at all. Shame, as there are some nice extras, though the commentary sees Newman is particularly detractive mood, continually pointing out the highly unlikely elements in the plot (which we're all aware of, but can suspend disbelief so easily since this is such a great film, whereas some later and very early Argento features expect too much of us) being a bit more schoolboyish than usual- Alan Jones is as 'on it' as ever re Argento as ever, revealing some fascinating details about the film. Shame the commentary didn't have a more objective moderator alongside Jones, though I do agree with Newman that 'Tenebrae' was the last truly great film from Argento.One treat is the excerpt from a recent Goblin gig, which makes me want to buy their 2 disc DVD (if you've not heard the 'Live in Roma' double CD attributed to new Goblin, just buy it).Finally, the film seems uncut as far as I can tell, which is great news, but if you're thinking 'that's it, I now have a definitive hi def version of 'Tenebrae'', you'll be disappointed. HOWEVER, the good news is that Arrow have tackled these problems and are issuing a new Steelbook edition of 'Tenebrae' late in 2013 (available exclusively from Zavvi) - this upgraded transfer has apparently eradicated the noise on the picture (I've heard this from an informed insider). Presumably, once the 4,000 copy run of the steelbook is exhausted, Arrow may reissue the improved transfer in a standard edition. Fingers crossed!