TENEBRAE SIGMA CINEMATOGRAPHIA ; ITALY dvd specification original year of release: 1982 approximate running time: 101minutes aspect ratio: 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen system: PAL (colour) rating: UK 18 sound: english dolby digital 2.0 surround, english dolby digital 5.1 dvd release: anchor bay entertainment uk region: 2 region coding: 2 dvd extras 38 minute interview with Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi audio commentary with Argento, Claudio Simonetti and Loris Curci theatrical trailer film analysis with Xavier Mendik behind the scenes segments alternate ending biographies

[video][sound][extras][conclusion]

For a review of the film, please click here. This could and should have been the best release of the film to date but it seems once again Anchor Bay UK have dropped the ball. This really annoys me as you might be able to tell from the following review.

video

First of all, after promises to the contrary, this IS the same print as the Anchor Bay US release. As you may know it is missing a few seconds of footage due to print damage at the beginning and end of reels. However, although some will still find this unforgivable, it does not unduly bother me as I don't think this missing material harms the fabric of the story in anyway. Totally unforgivable though is the fact that this anamorphic transfer is actually worse than the non-anamorphic US dvd! I kid you not. The picture is so soft that it verges on being blurry and the colours are very washed out. It kept making me think that it was out of focus. I have done a direct comparison with the US release which is far sharper and colourful. I fail to see the point of going to the trouble of releasing a new version of a film that has limited commercial potential and making it worse than what is already available. A big disappointment.

sound

Sound wise there is a Dolby 2.0 surround and a Dolby 5.1 track available. The former is no more than adequate and uses minimum surround effects. The 5.1 track is one of Anchor Bay's early efforts at a remix and is a lot more impressive than some of their subsequent efforts with good dynamics and deep bass when needed. However, once again the sound synch problem creeps in. Admittedly it is no where near as bad as the recent SUSPIRIA release but there is still a noticeable problem especially when flicking between audio tracks where it becomes readily apparent. It is just the wrong side of being able to blame bad dubbing.

extras

Firstly it has to be said that the animated menus are wonderful far surpassing the US release in their design and execution. They consist of ../images and stills from the film seamlessly blended together to achieve some of the best I've seen on dvd. However, some of the stills used could give the ending way. Heading up the extras is the same feature length audio commentary with Dario, Claudio Simonetti and Loris Curci that was present on the US release. This is not a particularly enthralling commentary but it does contain some interesting facts about the film. Next up is a 38 minute interview with Dario and Daria Nicolodi that was done around the time of the films initial cinema release. I don't know the origins of this piece of video except that the English interviewer mentions that it is for a cable channel. I do know that it was obtained from the same people who supplied Anchor Bay with the WORLD OF HORROR documentary that appears on their TWO EVIL EYES dvd. There is also a film analysis by Xavier Mendik. This consists of Xavier talking to camera and sharing his views interspersed with clips from the film. Anyone who has read his book 'Tenebrae' will know what to expect but I feel he over analyses what is basically just a piece of entertainment. We also get the theatrical trailer and the ubiquitous biographies. The rest of the extras consist of exactly the same short segments that appear on the US dvd. There are two behind the scenes featurettes - one about camera equipment and one about sound effects. The alternate end credit sequence is also included which appeared in the US when the film was released as UNSANE at the cinemas. This basically consists of a Kim Wilde song played over the credits instead of Nicolodi's scream fading into the soundtrack music.

conclusion

Once again Anchor Bay UK have let us down. I don't know why they treat their limited custom base with contempt, it's certainly not due to lack of advice I know for a fact that they get plenty of that. This release was promoted as being a new transfer, it quite clearly is not. That's just plain wrong in my book. But worse than that, it's a shit transfer! It reminded me of the 'good old days', when watching films on VHS was the only option. OK so maybe that's overstating he case a bit but I was really looking forward to this release and am now very pissed off. And they still have not sorted out the 5.1 synch problem entirely. On the plus side, the menu's are nice and the interview is a welcome new extra but at the end of the day it is the film that matters and this presentation is just not good enough in my opinion.

reviewed by NJD

cover artwork

main menu

extras menu

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