International Euro Blu-ray Reviews: TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972) (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

This review is made possible with the help of www.DaaVeeDee.comNotes on my reviews: I do not offer plot summaries in most cases, as these can be found on a million other sites, but rather focus instead on what people want to know: the image and sound presentation, default playback settings, subtitles, audio choices, etc. My equipment: Panasonic TC-P55UT50 Plasma monitor (3-D capable); Panasonic DMP-BDT220 3-D Blu-ray player; LG BD-360 all-region Blu-ray player; Denon AVE-E200 5.1 Surround receiver. All aspect ratios are physically measured on the Panasonic screen, which has been set to eliminate overscan.TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)LABEL: ShockCOUNTRY OF ORIGIN: AustraliaREGION: All-Region, confirmedASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1C/BW: ColorSOUND: “Dolby Digital 2.0"SUBTITLES: Dutch BONUS MATERIAL: ZeroCHAPTERS: 12My favorite (and, I believe, the best – there is a difference!) of the omnibus Amicus productions that were very popular British imports during the 70's. Peter Cushing is especially affecting in his brief but utterly memorable role as a kindly old man beloved by the local children; but others are quite outstanding – Patrick Magee as the perpetrator of one of the most inventive (and gruesome) acts of revenge imaginable against the cruel proprietor of a home for the blind; Joan Collins as a Christmas Eve murderess; Ralph Richardson as the droll crypt keeper whose episodes tie together the five individual stories. The Blu-ray is a welcome upgrade from the DVD: the clarity of the image is good, there is light grain visible, but the color is a bit bland and darker scenes lack some detail. I seem to recall thinking that same thing when I saw this in 1972, but memory does not always serve. The sound when played back on my all-region LG player was roughly one frame out of synch. This may not be true on another player. It is serviceable, but offers little in the way of dynamic bass or high end.The disc is housed in a somewhat thicker Blu-ray case than those provided us in the U.S.This review was made possible with the help of www.DaaVeeDee.com

 

[bluelaughaminute]

I got this disc quite a long time ago and it was good enough to replace the excellent Midnite Movies dvd .
I was really hoping we'd see a good Blu of the follow up Vault of Horror uncut but the time that has passed suggests not.
The current version airing on British tv , apparently restored by the BFI is indeed uncut but not very good quality.