I love Lenzi's gialli offerings, or at least the one's I have experiences! I still need to see KNIFE OF ICE and A QUIET PLACE TO KILL. SPASMO and EYEBALL are some of my more favorite gialli viewings. Two very stylish yet, odd in nature but still very effective in the payoff!
It's been a long time since I first seen his SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE (1969), was that not just recently issued on DVD again??
I absolutely loved Freda's brilliant I VAMPRI! Now, what was the deal with Bava being uncredited for with this again? I know he had something to do with the overall direction, but what's the full story on that again?
Any opinions about this more recent giallo? I've heard some bad things but when I found it dirt cheap on eBay, I couldn't resist the temptation of picking it up. Figured I need to give some of the more recent horrer/thriller stuff a chance too. Still waiting for it to arrive and I'm not quite sure what to expect of it but at least it has a pretty good cast that includes famous transsexual Eva Robins from TENEBRAE (1982) and the good-looking Elisabetta Rocchietti, who has been cropping up in a lot of horror stuff like THE THREE FACES OF TERROR (2004), DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? (2005) and THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS (2006). Not to mention supporting roles by Florinda Bolkan and Franco Nero! Anyone here seen it?
Interesting looking film out of Italy with Irish/Spanish co-financiers. Directed by Italian SFX man Stefano Bessoni.
In the 1600s, long before the invention of photography, a scientist named Girolamo Fumagalli was obsessed with the idea of reproducing images. He discovered that by killing a victim and removing the victim's eyeballs, it was possible to reproduce on paper the last image imprinted on that person's retinas. He named this technique 'thanatography'. Today, the same kind of gruesome ritual and abominable crime recurs within the walls of an international school of cinema. -imdb.com
Also stars the daughter of Charlie Chapman, Geraldine Chaplin as well as her daughter Oona.
Well, it seems this is yet another Argento flick that is taking a beating in the review department. Even die hard fans are not too pleased with this outing. Anyhow, the PAL R2 DVD is now out via a Polish company that found it important to force the Polish subs!
Looks like this will be getting a UK release first via Arrow Films! I still haven't seen this, it was on my radar during last year's Midnight Madness during the Toronto Film Fest. The disc will be released March 15th..
I'd love to grab this, but for now I'm holding off on the Blu-Ray player for now, too unstable industry right now. Plus, the multi-region player are way too expensive!
REVIEWED BY-NICK FRAME DIRECTED BY-SIDNEY J.FURIE CAST-MICHAEL CAINE, NIGEL GREEN, GUY DOLEMAN, SUE LLOYD, GORDON JACKSON, AUBREY RICHARDS and FRANK GATIFF, SOURCE- BLU-RAY November 10th, 2008/Approximate running time: 107 minutes/Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen/Rating: 12 /Sound: Dolby Digital English 5.1 & Dolby Digital English 2.0 Subtitles: English /DVD Release: ITV DVD /Region Coding: Region FREE Blu-Ray /Retail Price: £19.99
The Film
Around the time of the fledgling and successful Bond series of the 1960’s, co-producer Harry Saltzman was also involved in perhaps one of the best non-007 spy films of the era, and there were plenty of Bond rip-offs trying to cash in, namely from Italy, Spain and France.
As a result we are introduced to Agent Harry Palmer, played by Michael Caine in surprisingly only his second starring role. In a way he was to become the working class James Bond, as he is gawky in appearance, wears specs and his spy world seems to amount to dull offices, paperwork and boring assignments, with only a blue Zodiac to drive rather than a gadget laden Aston Martin. To his superiors, Harry is little more than a crook and having been court-martialled from the army, they feel he is more adept to being a spy for them, as he will fit right into that world.
The plot consists of Harry trying to locate the whereabouts of a Western scientist, but upon retrieval of said scientist, it is discovered that his memory has been wiped and Harry is put swiftly on the case to discover why!
Based on a novel by Len Deighton, The Ipcress File moves along at a great pace and is well written with convincing performances by Caine and in particular Nigel Green as his superior Major Dalby. While Bond movies embraced the special relationship of Britain and the US, Harry positively puts this relationship to the test with a clear dislike of American consumerism and more importantly his mistaken disposal of an US agent who was tailing him, so no Felix Leiter for this cockney boy.
In addition, both the camera work from director Sydney Furie and the cinematographer himself Otto Heller were at the time both revolutionary and extreme, with shots being tilted, low, high, at an angle...well you get the idea, but it works and adds to the puzzling nature of the film. Add a fantastic John Barry score to the proceedings and you have a crackling yet fascinating spy flick that perfectly captures a 60’s London going through many social changes with the classless Harry Palmer leading the way.
Transfer and Sound
Having previously only seen the washed out and badly framed DVD from Network, this 2:35:1, MPEG-2 1080p Blu-Ray from ITV DVD is a revelation, yet some reports were claiming the transfer was a huge disappointment. Although not stellar and perhaps not near the level of the 4K restored Bond movies, this is a fantastic effort and is probably as good as The Ipcress File will ever look! The colours are strong and vibrant with high levels of detail not previously seen and yes there is still some video noise and some grain but really nothing to worry about in a film from 1965, a fine job by ITV DVD! Also note that this BD is Region Free!
Two flavours on offer here sound-wise, with both DD5.1 and DD2.0 soundtracks available, there are very little differences between the two, with only minimal rear effects coming into play with the DD5.1 track. The dialogue is both clear and crisp with the fine John Barry score done a lot of justice. Removable English subtitles are also available.
Supplemental Material
Unfortunately only a Stills gallery and original trailer are available (both in HD). A little disappointing, given that the Network Special Edition had a 2nd disc full of interviews and documentaries!
THE IPCRESS FILE 
The Film
transfer was a huge disappointment. Although not stellar and perhaps not near the level of the 4K restored Bond movies, this is a fantastic effort and is probably as good as The Ipcress File will ever look! The colours are strong and vibrant with high levels of detail not previously seen and yes there is still some video noise and some grain but really nothing to worry about in a film from 1965, a fine job by ITV DVD! Also note that this BD is Region Free!
