Monday, June 7, 2010

Inferno on BD... uncut!

4:02 PM / Blu-ray / Comments14 Comments

Blu-ray

Great news, people: Dario Argento's INFERNO is coming to BD in the UK on August 2, and will be uncut for the first time in this country.

Originally announced with the usual BBFC-mandated five seconds of cuts to a scene of a cat eating a mouse (I hope that dastardly cat was charged with animal cruelty), the news sparked something of an internet outcry and some decidedly mixed feelings for many about purchasing what would essentially be an incomplete product. Reacting to the outcry, distributor Arrow Films took the matter to the BBFC and managed to do the unthinkable:

Arrow have asked me to pass on their sincere and warmest thanks to everyone on here who took the time to write to the BBFC.

Against expectations we now have the following ruling:

"we've now waived the proposed cut and passed INFERNO '18' uncut with all previous cuts waived"

Is that not the most unbelievable thing ever? I'm so used to railing against the actions of censorship bodies that when one of them make a decision I actually APPROVE of, I'm at something of a loss for words. I would suggest that everyone who is happy about this decision emails the BBFC at contact_the_bbfc@bbfc.co.uk to thank them for making the right choice. It's also worth emailing Arrow Films at info@arrowfilms.co.uk to thank them for standing up to the BBFC's initial decision in the first place instead of simply accepting it, as many other labels would no doubt have done. I will be contacting both myself to let them know my appreciation.

Inferno

The image above shows the cover art and contents (of the DVD release - I couldn't find any for the BD version). As with the Arrow releases of DAWN OF THE DEAD and DAY OF THE DEAD, this release of INFERNO contains multiple reversible covers, postcards, a booklet and a poster.

The official run-down of the bonus features is as follows:

THIS AMAZING 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION CONTAINS:

- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned art work

- Double-sided fold out Poster

- Collector's Booklet featuring brand new writing on Inferno by Alan Jones, author of Profondo Argento

- High Definition Presentation of the film (1080p)

- Optional 7.1 DTS-HD/2.0 Stereo Audio

SPECIAL FEATURES:

- Introduction to Inferno by star Daria Nicolodi

- Dario's Inferno (16 mins interview with Dario Argento)

- Acting in Hot Water: An Interview with Daria Nicolodi (18 mins interview)

- The Other Mother: Making the Black Cat (16 mins) In 1989 director Luigi Cozzi (a long time friend and collaborator of Dario Argento) decided to make the unofficial follow-up to Inferno and 'complete' the Three Mothers legacy. This feature looks at the torrid history of The Black Cat, with plenty of clips too!

- Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (57 mins) Mark Kermode narrates this documentary on Argento's career including interviews with George A. Romero and John Carpenter

- The Complete Dario Argento Trailer Gallery [18 films]

- Easter Egg (5 mins of Dario Argento in English, with random memories of Inferno)

It's worth pointing out that German label Camera Obscura is also releasing INFERNO on BD later this year, with a completely different set of extras, among them a commentary by critics Christian Kessler and Marcus Stiglegger. These specs as per frequent Land of Whimsy reader Bobafett:

It will be a special edition consisting of a Blu-ray disc and a DVD holding the bonus features.

Audio options will consist of German, English and Italian with optional German and English subtitles.

The bonus will consist of:

- Audio commentary by German film critics Christian Keßler and Marcus Stiglegger (probably subtitled in English as well, at least that was the case with their last Italian genre release on DVD)

- 80-minute documentary about Inferno, containing new, exclusive interviews with Daria Nicolodi, cinematographer Romano Albani, Luigi Cozzi and film critics Antonio Bruschini and Antonio Tentori. They are planning to film further interviews for it this week, maybe even with Argento himself (personally I wouldn't count on it though).

- A tour through the locations used in the film

- German, Italian, English trailers

- Gallery

- Booklet

Their transfer will be based on the current Italian HD master. It is unclear if the color palette will look exactly identical to the Italian DVD or not.

Prior to the BBFC's decision to waive the cuts, I was only going to buy the German release, but now, INFERNO fan that I am, I'm tempted to actually pick up both.

 
14 Comments

1. BobaFett said:

Wow, that comes as a surprise!

So, it looks like there will be two uncut BD releases of "Inferno" this summer. I still plan on buying the Camera Obscura BD, even the audio commentary alone will be worth it for me.

I am sure that you will post a comparison between both discs, if you buy both of them. In case the image quality of Arrow's BD should be better, I'd double-dip and pick that one up as well - otherwise I will be happy with the Camera Obscura alone.

(Posted on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 6:22 PM)

2. Baron Scarpia said:

I'm still going to whinge about Arrow's cover art. Have you seen their cover for Il Cartaio? Complete nonsense, and it's not the only one.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:29 AM)

3. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Oh, the new cover art is atrocious. Not so much the artwork itself, which I will admit looks like the work of a skilled individual, but these covers bear almost no resemblance to the films they are supposed to represent. For my money, the SLEEPLESS cover is the worst of the bunch. There's something incredibly disingenuous at taking a thriller from the 21st century and attempting to dress it up as some sort of 80s video nasty.

At least the sleeves are reversible.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 11:01 AM)

4. The Phantom said:

I kind of dig his cover for THE STENDHAL SYNDROME.

(Posted on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 11:33 AM)

5. Adam G said:

here's hoping it's a really nice transfer.
it was sad to hear of it being cut by the BBFC, even if in such a minor way, so it's wonderful that the decision has been turned around. hopefully bodes well for their other upcoming Argento's

(Posted on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 11:50 AM)

6. Kentai said:

Are you kidding? I want a print of Rick's Il Cartaio DVD cover framed and on my wall! Oh sure, it's got nothing to do with the actual film, but what the heck did any of the posters for Argento's Animal Trilogy have to do with... well, anything at all?

I've yet to pick up an Arrow release, but this may just be the breaking point. Having a US PS3 as my "main" BD player means I can't watch any of the 50hz special features, which really cuts into the incentive to import versus just buying the local releases on the cheap.

I remember caps for the Italian DVD for this looking very nice, so here's hoping...

(Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 3:54 AM)

7. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Kentai:

My problem with the covers for SLEEPLESS and THE CARD PLAYER is that they're effectively making 21st century thrillers out to be 80s sleaze, which is pretty disingenuous if you think about it. I really don't get why the designers are so intent on evoking the look of those old "video nasty" era VHS covers, as if that period was some sort of golden age.

(Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 4:10 PM)

8. BobaFett said:

Personally I like the 80s VHS retro look of the outer shell of the Arrow packaging, but from the reversible cover sleeves I always prefer one of the original film artworks provided. Furthermore I agree that it only really works with films that are actually from the 70s/80s and looks rather anachronistic with modern titles. I like that approach e.g. on their Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead releases, not so much on their Argentos.

(Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 8:19 PM)

9. George said:

Blue Underground will be releasing Inferno in 2011, along with Deep Red and Cat O' Nine Tails.

http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1127:maniac-a-more-blue-underground-blu-rays-nyc-lustig-events&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=167

(Posted on Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 10:57 PM)

10. Kentai said:

Perhaps we're looking at poster art from different standpoints. They're disingenuous, I'll give you that.

But I've grown thoroughly sick of the hideous photoshopped nightmares passing themselves off as DVD covers (and even film posters!) for contemporary horror films - can't stand a one of them, and sometimes I curse the fact that photoshop killed the need for skilled poster artists in general. Seeing a chance for "latter day" Argento films to finally get a "real" piece of cover art is exciting to me, and in a small way helps me link them to the rest of the catalog. It doesn't ever pay to be nostalgic, I know, but I'll be damned if I ever get to the point where I like a promotional still with some color timing oddities more than a hand-painted work of art. (And yes, I know some vintage films also had nothing but photo montages... I'm not typically a fan of those either.)

I think Rick's take on THE CARD PLAYER is no less of a lie than the wild posters given to vintage thrillers like Last House on the Left, Bay of Blood, Murder Rock or Spasmo. I've almost no rebuttal for SLEEPLESS (by far my least favorite of the Arrow covers), other than every other DVD cover I've seen has been even less appealing than the cheesy twaddle Rick came up with for it.

(Posted on Friday, June 11, 2010 at 2:14 AM)

11. tw said:

Inferno, Deep Red, Cat O' Nine Tails coming from Blue Underground in the States in 2011 (as well as Maniac this fall).

(Posted on Friday, June 11, 2010 at 3:34 PM)

12. Adam G said:

from Arrow too, in 2010. along with Tenebre & Phenomena

(Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 8:00 AM)

13. dmc1973 said:

What's the likelyhood of Deep Red being uncut?

If BU are also releasing are we looking at a joint effort on the transfer like City of the Living Dead?

(Posted on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 1:26 PM)

14. broonage said:

I'm still astonished that my idea of everyone emailing the BBFC worked!

This is a benefit of social networking !

(Posted on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 3:03 PM)

 
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