Audrey Rose Blu-ray Review
After the astonishing blockbuster success of The Exorcist, all of the Hollywood studios (and many production companies away from Hollywood) tripped over themselves producing fright films about demonic possession, Satanism, the occult, and any number of other entries into the horror film genre. Audrey Rose was adapted from a best-selling book and placed into the hands of one of Hollywood’s most respected A-list directors Robert Wise. Though Wise had helmed a frightening and psychologically complex scare picture more than a decade before (The Haunting) and had twisted tension to the max in the deliberately paced but effective The Andromeda Strain, Audrey Rose did not find the director operating with all cylinders blazing. Though the film has some creepy moments and one or two unexpected occurrences, the end result is one of more missed opportunities than discovered ones.
Studio: MGM
Distributed By: Twilight Time
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1 Hr. 53 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
keep case
Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: All
Release Date: 10/14/2014
MSRP: $29.95
The Production Rating: 3/5
Eleven-year old Ivy Templeton (Susan Swift) has been troubled recently by increasingly disturbing dreams which inflict some burns on her hands and uncontrollable beating actions with her fists. Her mother Janice (Marsha Mason) and father Bill (John Beck) are beside themselves with worry and confusion until a total stranger Elliott Hoover (Anthony Hopkins) who had been following them for days shows up to explain his theory. He believes the soul of his five-year old daughter Audrey Rose who died in a fiery crash eleven years earlier entered Ivy’s body upon her birth (Audrey died two minutes before Ivy was born) and is now fighting for control of the body. Having studied reincarnation feverishly in India in the years after his family’s deaths in the crash, he is firmly convinced he’s right, and it seems only he can soothe Ivy’s seizures by calling her “Audrey Rose” and rocking her to sleep. Bill thinks the entire idea preposterous, but Janice slowly comes around to seeing the rationale behind Elliott’s theories causing a rift between her and Bill. The differences of opinion between the Templetons and Hoover eventually lead to court and a psychiatric experiment on the little girl.Though original novelist Frank De Felitta adapted his book for the screen, the screenplay doesn’t really probe deeply into the reasons why the battling Templetons can’t get on the same page about this bizarre situation. Bill’s reasoning is particularly puzzling since he firmly refuses even considering alternative theories to Ivy’s debilitating and unexplainable condition and simply demands his wishes to ignore the reincarnation theory be obeyed. Perhaps the film’s sequences with Ivy in torment would have worked better with a more accomplished young actress; Susan Swift seems rather mousy and uninteresting as the belabored girl and doesn’t have much conviction delivering lines (though the hypnotic sequence near the end is the closest she comes to doing some convincing work in the movie and well directed and performed makes a decent climax to the film). Wise does effect one other really suspenseful sequence when the possessed Ivy walks toward a bonfire at her convent school seemingly millimeters away from death, but on the other side of the coin, Wise seems helpless to pump any life at all into the courtroom sequences which bring the movie to a screeching halt.Just as Ellen Burstyn did in The Exorcist, Marsha Mason’s warm, loving, and fiercely protective mother, powerless to prevent Audrey Rose’s spiritual war with her daughter’s soul, brings gravitas and identifiable empathy to the film as she struggles with making the right decisions and following what her heart says is fitting. Anthony Hopkins has fewer opportunities to display his considerable acting gifts, but his conviction in what he’s saying seems completely genuine, and he’s altogether more reasonable in his actions than John Beck’s Bill who eventually turns out to be the villain of the film. The actor isn’t helped by the script that has him off screen for some major events, but Beck does what he can with a fairly impossible role. Norman Lloyd does standout work as the psychiatrist in the lengthy hypnosis scene while familiar faces John Hillerman and Robert Walden face off against each other as opposing counsels in court. Mary Jackson has an okay scene or two as the Mother Superior at the convent school.
Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: NA
The film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is faithfully delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Sharpness is more pleasing than razor-edged (opening scenes seem a bit soft, and the continual rain glooms things up considerably, but interiors are often striking in their detail), but color is reasonably solid and flesh tones seem natural. Film grain is present throughout, and its level becomes more noticeable in low light levels. Black levels are all over the place: sometimes nice and inky and sometimes more milky in tone. There are occasional dust specks to be seen, too, though they aren’t a major problem. The film has been divided into 12 chapters.
Audio Rating: 4/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix is very representative of its era with dialogue clearly recorded and presented with no interference from Michael Small’s score or the sound effects that are combined into the same track. There seems to be a real lack of low end in the mix, but it’s likely simply a sign of the times. There are no age-related problems like hiss or pops to worry about.
Special Features Rating: 2.5/5
Isolated Score Track: the Michael Small score is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo.Theatrical Trailer (1:37, HD)MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (2:06, HD)Six-Page Booklet: enclosed in the case, it contains color stills, original poster art on the back cover, and film historian Julie Kirgo’s estimable thoughts on the movie and its director.
Overall Rating: 3/5
Audrey Rose is no The Exorcist, and it misses some of what might have made it more effective by a few poor casting choices and some tatty writing, but at its best, it serves up a fair number of disturbing images and some decent suspense. There are only 3,000 copies of this Blu-ray available. Those interested should go to www.screenarchives.com to see if product is still in stock. Information about the movie can also be found via Facebook at www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies.
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
Support HTF when you buy this title:
After the astonishing blockbuster success of The Exorcist, all of the Hollywood studios (and many production companies away from Hollywood) tripped over themselves producing fright films about demonic possession, Satanism, the occult, and any number of other entries into the horror film genre. Audrey Rose was adapted from a best-selling book and placed into the hands of one of Hollywood’s most respected A-list directors Robert Wise. Though Wise had helmed a frightening and psychologically complex scare picture more than a decade before (The Haunting) and had twisted tension to the max in the deliberately paced but effective The Andromeda Strain, Audrey Rose did not find the director operating with all cylinders blazing. Though the film has some creepy moments and one or two unexpected occurrences, the end result is one of more missed opportunities than discovered ones.
Studio: MGM
Distributed By: Twilight Time
Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1 Hr. 53 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray
keep case
Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: All
Release Date: 10/14/2014
MSRP: $29.95
The Production Rating: 3/5
Eleven-year old Ivy Templeton (Susan Swift) has been troubled recently by increasingly disturbing dreams which inflict some burns on her hands and uncontrollable beating actions with her fists. Her mother Janice (Marsha Mason) and father Bill (John Beck) are beside themselves with worry and confusion until a total stranger Elliott Hoover (Anthony Hopkins) who had been following them for days shows up to explain his theory. He believes the soul of his five-year old daughter Audrey Rose who died in a fiery crash eleven years earlier entered Ivy’s body upon her birth (Audrey died two minutes before Ivy was born) and is now fighting for control of the body. Having studied reincarnation feverishly in India in the years after his family’s deaths in the crash, he is firmly convinced he’s right, and it seems only he can soothe Ivy’s seizures by calling her “Audrey Rose” and rocking her to sleep. Bill thinks the entire idea preposterous, but Janice slowly comes around to seeing the rationale behind Elliott’s theories causing a rift between her and Bill. The differences of opinion between the Templetons and Hoover eventually lead to court and a psychiatric experiment on the little girl.Though original novelist Frank De Felitta adapted his book for the screen, the screenplay doesn’t really probe deeply into the reasons why the battling Templetons can’t get on the same page about this bizarre situation. Bill’s reasoning is particularly puzzling since he firmly refuses even considering alternative theories to Ivy’s debilitating and unexplainable condition and simply demands his wishes to ignore the reincarnation theory be obeyed. Perhaps the film’s sequences with Ivy in torment would have worked better with a more accomplished young actress; Susan Swift seems rather mousy and uninteresting as the belabored girl and doesn’t have much conviction delivering lines (though the hypnotic sequence near the end is the closest she comes to doing some convincing work in the movie and well directed and performed makes a decent climax to the film). Wise does effect one other really suspenseful sequence when the possessed Ivy walks toward a bonfire at her convent school seemingly millimeters away from death, but on the other side of the coin, Wise seems helpless to pump any life at all into the courtroom sequences which bring the movie to a screeching halt.Just as Ellen Burstyn did in The Exorcist, Marsha Mason’s warm, loving, and fiercely protective mother, powerless to prevent Audrey Rose’s spiritual war with her daughter’s soul, brings gravitas and identifiable empathy to the film as she struggles with making the right decisions and following what her heart says is fitting. Anthony Hopkins has fewer opportunities to display his considerable acting gifts, but his conviction in what he’s saying seems completely genuine, and he’s altogether more reasonable in his actions than John Beck’s Bill who eventually turns out to be the villain of the film. The actor isn’t helped by the script that has him off screen for some major events, but Beck does what he can with a fairly impossible role. Norman Lloyd does standout work as the psychiatrist in the lengthy hypnosis scene while familiar faces John Hillerman and Robert Walden face off against each other as opposing counsels in court. Mary Jackson has an okay scene or two as the Mother Superior at the convent school.
Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: NA
The film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is faithfully delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Sharpness is more pleasing than razor-edged (opening scenes seem a bit soft, and the continual rain glooms things up considerably, but interiors are often striking in their detail), but color is reasonably solid and flesh tones seem natural. Film grain is present throughout, and its level becomes more noticeable in low light levels. Black levels are all over the place: sometimes nice and inky and sometimes more milky in tone. There are occasional dust specks to be seen, too, though they aren’t a major problem. The film has been divided into 12 chapters.
Audio Rating: 4/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix is very representative of its era with dialogue clearly recorded and presented with no interference from Michael Small’s score or the sound effects that are combined into the same track. There seems to be a real lack of low end in the mix, but it’s likely simply a sign of the times. There are no age-related problems like hiss or pops to worry about.
Special Features Rating: 2.5/5
Isolated Score Track: the Michael Small score is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo.Theatrical Trailer (1:37, HD)MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (2:06, HD)Six-Page Booklet: enclosed in the case, it contains color stills, original poster art on the back cover, and film historian Julie Kirgo’s estimable thoughts on the movie and its director.
Overall Rating: 3/5
Audrey Rose is no The Exorcist, and it misses some of what might have made it more effective by a few poor casting choices and some tatty writing, but at its best, it serves up a fair number of disturbing images and some decent suspense. There are only 3,000 copies of this Blu-ray available. Those interested should go to www.screenarchives.com to see if product is still in stock. Information about the movie can also be found via Facebook at www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies.
Reviewed By: Matt Hough
Support HTF when you buy this title:
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