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A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Hills Have Eyes -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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I still have problems speaking of Wes Craven as a filmmaker from the past. He was an extraordinary gentleman. Very intelligent, and 180 degrees of what one might expect him to be.

The Hills Have Eyes is essential viewing for anyone seriously studying his career.

Beginning in 1971, he was an associate producer on Together, probably the first adult film to play family theaters. Starring Marilyn Chambers, before she became a porn star, the film proved that adult fair could be main stream.

The Last House on the Left, created a year later, was his first director effort.

The Hills Have Eyes was his second in 1977.

Shot in 16mm, and blown up to 35 for theatrical release, the film was made on a tiny budget, but has had a following for forty years.

Arrow Video has created an HD transfer from two 35mm CRIs, using the best of each, and the results are stunning.

Anyone wising to learn how the master of horror for almost the past half century became who he was, need apply here.

Nightmare on Elm Street arrived a dozen years later.

16mm grain is evident, even in the blow-up. Color is far better than it should be, and never a problem. Everything is in place to provide a gorgeous Blu-ray presentation.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

RAH
 

TravisR

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Even before his death, it seemed like everyone always said how kind and intelligent Wes Craven was. He entertained me for nearly my entire life (The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream are some of my favorite movies) so I'll always be grateful to him for that.
 

bgart13

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I don't have the set yet, but do we know where the original 16mm materials are or if they were destroyed?
 

Bryan^H

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I just ordered the German 4K from Turbine. I can't wait to check it out.
 

titch

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I just ordered the German 4K from Turbine. I can't wait to check it out.
Looks like Turbine Media Group have used the same scan as Arrow used - although they say on their Facebook feed that their scan is from 2017. Turbine say that they have refined the colour scheme:

"The exploitation classic by Wes Craven is now available for the first time in 4K on UHD. Since the 16mm original material of the film is considered lost, the 35mm negative of the film was scanned, cleaned and colour-determined in 2017 in 4K. While other releases had a "pink tinge", we used the colours of the original cinema copies from 1977 for our Blu-ray release in 2018 - now, of course, for our UHD too. The HDR pass that has now been implemented ensures further authenticity, by which the analogue film material has been carefully optimized in terms of contrast in the dark and light scenes. In addition, the extended color space in BT.2020 ensures finer nuances of the extensive desert landscape.


Turbine Medien consistently produce the best German 4K masters. Arrow Films used their 4K master for Crash. Their Princess Bride 4K UHD is amazing.
 

Bryan^H

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I agree they did a phenomenal job on 'The Princess Bride', and like that release I will look to the HDR to make the most notable improvement over the BD. Fine detail improvement will be icing on the cake.
 

Bryan^H

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Just wanted to add that I watched the 4K disc a few times, and it is a by far the best the film has ever looked (home video). What a shocker, the HDR does all the heavy lifting in making this low budget film look amazing.
 

titch

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Arrow has this coming out on UHD 9. november.
0757d095-ea08-4e76-931b-ec822889b944.jpg
 

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