Today, we look at Link. A devotee of the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, Australian director Richard Franklin actually met and befriended the director when he tried to arrange a screening of Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) at USC, where Franklin was a student (alongside fellow directors George Lucas, John Carpenter and Robert Zemeckis). Upon returning to his native Australia, he established himself as a notable genre director with nods to the Master of Suspense in a few of his films; the most notable of which include Patrick (1978), Roadgames (1981) and Psycho II (1983), which he made upon returning to California. Following Cloak & Dagger (1984), Franklin went on a slightly different tack with the film Link. Previously released on Blu-ray by Kino – and on DVD by Anchor Bay – the film has been given its UHD Blu-ray debut in the US from Kino through their licensing deal with Studiocanal (the film’s current rights holder).
The Production: 3.5/5
When zoology student Jane Chase (Elizabeth Shue) is invited by Dr. Steven Phillip (Terence Stamp) to stay as his assistant for the summer at his Victorian mansion on Northfield Heath, she believes that it will mostly be a quiet affair and a learning experience as well. However, when she’s greeted at the door by Link, an extremely intelligent orangutan, it will the beginning of a battle of wills between man and ape. Following the disappearance of Dr. Phillip and the death of one of the chimpanzees at the mansion, Jane notices that Link has become more aggressive in his behavior towards her, but what does he really want from Jane and will Jane be able to stop his increasingly hostile behavior towards her and Imp, the other chimpanzee who’s well aware of Link’s behavior?
With Link, director Richard Franklin returns to Hitchcock style suspense territory, but it’s not Franklin riffing off of The Birds (1963) here. Working from Everett De Roche’s script – from a story by Tom Ackermann and MacGyver creator Lee David Zlotoff – Franklin creates a story rooted within the anthropological realties of nature rather than a greater fantasy of what might happen if mankind found itself on the opposite end of nature rebelling against it for some unknown reason (much like The Birds). There’s plenty of style to spare, from Mike Molloy’s cinematography putting us in the point of view of the chimpanzees in some scenes to some inventive editing as well; there’s also a bit of slight tongue-in-cheek humor from the use of archival footage from Josef von Sternberg’s Blonde Venus (1932) – which features Marlene Dietrich singing “Hot Voodoo” in a gorilla suit! – to the use of The Kinks’ “Apeman” in the soundtrack as well (Hitchcock might have appreciated the touches of wry humor here). The main drawback here is that the film leaves the viewer with a bit of a dissatisfied feeling at the end; perhaps that’s due to the fact that both Thorn EMI and Cannon Films cut out 13 minutes prior to the film’s distribution, leaving some nuance and plot development on the cutting room floor (luckily those missing scenes are included here from the workprint of the movie as a special feature). In the end, Link is an absorbing though not altogether completely satisfying thriller that works a little more with logic and suspense rather jump scars and blood; in short, it hits its targets often enough to make it worth a look.
Cast after her breakthrough role in The Karate Kid (1984), Elizabeth Shue acquits herself well in her first leading role as Jane, the zoology student who gets more than she bargained for when becoming Dr. Phillip’s assistant; her best known and acclaimed leading role would come a decade later, when she was nominated for an Oscar for playing the prostitute girlfriend of an alcoholic screenwriter with a death wish in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). Cast after Anthony Perkins turned down the role, Terence Stamp makes a memorable impression as the anthropologist whose study of the link between ape and man – hence the title – ends up leading to his sudden and ultimately deadly disappearance; already having been nominated for an Oscar for playing the eponymous Billy Budd (1962) in his film debut, he would later miss out on what would’ve been his first Best Actor Oscar nod (and second overall) for his daring portrayal of a transgender woman in the cult favorite The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). While Shue and Stamp are top billed here, it’s the ape actors – Locke the Orangutan as Link, Jed the Chimpanzee as Imp and Carrie the Chimpanzee as Voodoo – who steal the show here in their only film appearances. Rounding out the cast amongst the humans here are Steven Finch as David, Richard Garnett and David O’Hara as David’s friends, Kevin Lloyd as Mr. Bailey, Geoffrey Beevers and Caroline John as the Millers, Daisy Ashford as their daughter Becky and Joe Belcher as the taxi driver who brings Jane to Northfield Heath.
Video: 4/5
3D Rating: NA
The film is presented in its original 1:66:1 aspect ratio, taken from a brand new 4K transfer created by Studiocanal (even though there’s no mention of it on the package); the film is presented in native SDR on the UHD Blu-ray release while the Blu-ray presents the film in standard SDR. Film grain, color palette and fine details appear to be faithfully presented and represented with minor cases of scratches, tears and dirt present on the transfer. While the previous 2019 Kino Blu-ray was already pretty solid in terms of visual quality, this UHD Blu-ray – despite not being in HDR – is now likely the best the film will ever look on home video.
Audio: 4.5/5
The film’s original mono soundtrack is presented on a lossless 2.0 dual mono DTS-HD Master Audio track for this release on both UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs. Dialogue, sound mix and Jerry Goldsmith’s playful yet tense music score are all presented faithfully with clarity and minor issues like crackling, clicking, popping and hissing present on the track. Overall, this release is about on par with the previous Kino Blu-ray in terms of audio quality and is likely the best the movie will ever sound on home video.
Special Features: 3.5/5
On both UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs
Commentary by film historian Lee Gambin and film critic Jarret Gahan – Originally recorded for Kino’s 2019 Blu-ray release, Gahan and the late Gambin share their appreciation for the film as well as where it fits in the “Mother Nature gone wild” subgenre of horror thrillers. The UHD Blu-ray disc opens with an “In Loving Memory” card dedicated to Gambin, who left us earlier this year.
On Blu-ray disc only
Deleted Workprint Scenes (7 scenes/24:25)
Audio interview with director Richard Franklin (4:44) – The director, who passed away in 2007, talks about the making of the movie in this brief archival audio interview.
Demo of the Link theme by Jerry Goldsmith (3:05)
U.S. Theatrical Trailer (1:17)
U.K. Theatrical Teaser (0:37)
French Theatrical Trailer (1:47)
Missing here is a 125-minute composite cut – which includes the missing scenes from the U.S. and International cuts of the movie – that was released in 2021 on both Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray in France.
Overall: 4/5
Garnering a mixed reception from critics and an underwhelming box office intake, Link is still a decent entry in the career of director Richard Franklin, who stood apart from most directors in the 1980’s horror/thriller genre for his devotion to Hitchcockian styled suspense. Kino has done a solid job with this UHD Blu-ray release, with a brand new upscaled HD transfer on the UHD Blu-ray disc – while the originally solid HD transfer is present on the Blu-ray disc included – while carrying over the special features from the previous Kino Blu-ray disc. Highly recommended, especially if you missed out on the previous Kino Blu-ray.
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