D
VD HAS BEEN VERY KIND TO HORROR CONNOIS- SEURS, WITH ONCE HARD-TO-FIND FAN FAVOURITES POPPING UP IN SPECIAL EDITION/ WIDESCREEN/UNCUT VERSIONS. But as the years
have gone by, the rights to many of these popular titles have bounced around to various companies, which have added new ex- tras, redesigned packaging and offered fresh transfers, hoping to entice fans to double and sometimes triple up. UK company Arrow Video just re-released a triple-header of
Dario Argento films – The Card Player, The Stendhal Syndrome and Opera (a.k.a. Terror at the Opera) – in hopes you’ll make even more room on your DVD shelf. The good news is that Arrow cer- tainly has horror lovers’ best interests at heart, going so far as to solicit advice for their releases from fans through the forums at
cult-labs.com. The films have been repackaged with case designs that emulate ’80s VHS box art (check out more of Rick Melton’s painted images at
stunninglysavage.com); a reversible cover (with the original poster art on the other side); a double-sided poster of the artwork; and a booklet that includes an informative essay about each film by Profondo Argento author Alan Jones. Although these releases are Region 0, allowing them to be
played on any computer, they still utilize the European PAL video format, so you’ll need a player that can convert them to the North American NTSC (it’s easy to find these small brand players at most electronics stores these days). But are Arrow’s re-releases worth it? The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) re-imagined the Hitchcock-
ian thriller and introduced audiences to the Stendhal Syndrome, a psychological condition that causes its sufferer to become overwhelmed when exposed to works of art. Argento enlisted his daughter Asia to play Anna Manni, a policewoman plagued by amnesia and hallucinations brought on by the syndrome, who is stalked and abducted by a sadistic serial killer. The disc includes a trailer gallery of eighteen Argento films, but that’s about it for extras. Even the abysmal 1998 pan-and-scan Troma release included interviews with Dario and visual effects artist
Sergio Stivaletti (discussing the first use of CGI effects in an Italian film). The saving grace here is the film itself. Presented uncut and in its original aspect ratio, this disc offers both the English-dubbed version and – for the first time – the Italian- language release with English subtitles. The Card Player (2004) is a modern-day police procedural with
less stylistic flair than a traditional Argento giallo. Italian detective Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) teams up with British detective John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) to flush out a serial killer who uses an internet chat room to goad police into playing video poker for the lives of his victims. This release offers the Argento trailers, as well as a promo and making-of documentary, presumably from the film’s press materials. The previous North American discs already include all of these, plus a commentary by Alan Jones and addi- tional documentaries. Again, the only reason to add this to your collection is the Italian audio dub of the film. But this is where Arrow stumbles; due to a manufacturing oversight, the English subtitles were omitted from the original disc pressings. Thwack! But fear not, the company is offering replacement discs (email returns@ar-
rowfilms.co.uk for details). Arrow redeems itself with the two-disc Terror at the Opera
(1987), Argento’s manic giallo that mixes opera with heavy metal, and turns its heroine, Betty (Cristina Marsillach), into a reluctant voyeur for a deranged serial killer. Among the sparse extras are the “Top 6 Gore Reel” and featurettes we’ve seen before in the Region 1 version. But again, Arrow includes the original Italian audio (this time the subtitles are there) and the original Cannes dub of the film, which features an effeminate British voice for In- spector Santini (Urbano Barberini) that was quickly re-dubbed with a harder American accent when snickers were heard throughout the audience at the festival screening. On the second disc, Arrow has included a recreation of a shorter proposed American re-edit of the film. So, fellow DVD geeks, if you want to marvel at those new cov-
ers, finally see the films subtitled or need some top-notch trans- fers in your collection, Arrow’s Argentos are worth the upgrade.
RM 07 R E I S S U E S
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