Dario Argento's Inferno [Blu-ray][Region Free]

Not sure about the general audience of this kind of stuff today but I've been watching these films for over twenty years and have gone from sitting through terrible quality bootleg tapes (because uncut versions were not available in England at the time - censorship is nowhere near the problem it was, thankfully) through to Digital Versatile Discs (er, DVD to the general public), sometimes buying several editions of a film, and finally Blu-ray. I couldn't afford laserdiscs but gleefully read about those in mags like Dark Side, Is It Uncut?, etc - the approximate 400 line resolution of laserdiscs is now hopelessly outdated, but fans would eagerly pay anything up to £100 at film fairs for their favourites in presentations that far exceeded the quality of the then consumer champion of VHS.

Inferno is an pretty surreal tale of the uncanny, with a series of morbid events occurring that can make little sense in conventional terms, and even on multiple viewings you still wonder at the strangeness of it all. Not quite as bombastic as Suspiria, this is nevertheless an artistically experimental film with occasionally brutal killings and an otherworldly feel to what the characters are going through. It's not for all, but the movie has gathered a critically positive reaction over the years and is now generally considered to be a bit of a classic. Personally I tend to have a good time experiencing the admittedly slightly crazy middle section of Argento's Three Mothers trilogy.

Now, Inferno is one of those movies that I've seen in several editions and before buying I checked image comparisons between the currently available Blue Underground Blu-ray, and the Arrow equivalent. As the more diplomatic of reviewers put it, it appears to be a matter of taste what you might prefer. I chose the Arrow because its less excessive contrast revealed more in darker areas of the film (and lets face it, if you want to increase or decrease the contrast, colour, brightness or anything else, you have a remote control available to aid you in this respect). Higher contrast can add the illusion of a sharper picture but this is mainly derived from a rapid gradation between darker and lighter areas of the screen, rather than gradual (and therefore apparantly softer). So we get a very good 1080p image on both discs, though sharpness and colours appear to be a little different. I watched the Arrow disc on a 90 inch projected screen (an unforgiving medium one might have thought) and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. It's now uncut and the detail far outweighs the previous Anchor Bay/BU DVDs, as to be expected. Many complain about 'DNR' in digitally presented films (as if they possess some sort of insider insight into it) but I didn't find anything distracting here (hey, remember the times when we sat down to enjoy the FILM itself, rather than trying to identify smeared pixels and all that?). Audio is provided in the form of a DTS-HD surround track in English, a stereo English track for purists, and a mono Italian track (I haven't sampled the latter yet), and everything is fine here, limitations of the period aside.

We also get the fairly enjoyable and informative Eye For Horror documentary (runs about 1 hour) about Dario and his films, a complete trailer reel of variable quality for ALL of Dario's directed films, including Five Days in Milan, a pretty interesting 30 minute Q&A session with Tim Lucas (providing some great background information), Irene Miracle and Emerson (the composer), a short piece where Luigi Cozzi talks about The Black Cat (a pretty much lost film that paid homage to Argento and the Three Mothers films), interviews with Dario and Daria Nicolodi, and a couple of other titbits (about half the extras are in standard definition, on disc 2 (which is a DVD)) - this is a pretty comprehensive package all round. Also you get four cover artwork options, a postcard set of promotional Inferno artworks, a poster, and a booklet with notes from Alan Jones. Packaging is a standard Blu-ray plastic case (with hinge inside for the second disc) inside a neatly designed cardboard outer case.

So, loads to complain about there, eh? Well, yes, if you read some of the aforementioned comments online. All of this is available for no more than about £15 online (i.e. a lot less than one might have paid for a far inferior laserdisc 15 years ago), it's either the top of the pile or, at worst, second in the pile of best editions for Inferno, and yet out of the woodwork crawls hatemongers that you would have thought had been bought up as terrorists, so vehemently adamant are they that they'll bring down Arrow and anything that they release. I'm completely confused! Nobody else in the UK is committed to cult cinema on Blu-ray like this company, and even if some of their releases come in second place, does that truly deserve the flak attack that arrives with every release? Normal people either buy or they don't buy - a fairly straightforward process. Even if there's not much wrong with one of Arrow's releases then some 'fans' will complain about the artwork! Even if they hadn't presented 4 options for people to CHOOSE from, is this adequate critism and how often do people start up hate threads for other DVD/BD companies due to the cover artworks?!? I feel sad that we the cult-film buying public have come down to that, if indeed those people who are expressing their very deep concerns are to be considered as such.

I've got four or five of their films on Blu-ray so far, and as with Inferno I've been pleased with all of them, though I still consider each release on its own merits (e.g. I certainly picked up the BU edition of Crystal Plumage), but for the one I don't go for? I think I'll leave all of my anger and hate inside for things that really deserve it...

Anyway, make your own minds up, but overall Inferno gets a pretty outstanding release for home cinema with this Blu-ray Disc.

Yet another great film from the great director Dario Argento, and certainly one to add to your collection if your a fan of his work! This is similar in ways to susperia but instead of witches we are dealing with something much more demonic! The film is very well acted again and is very artistic in the way of the look of the film and the set pieces, theres plenty of the usual violence with some great macabre things going on! The soundtrack is great and very bizarre as usual, if your a fan and have not seen it then this is a must.

Being the huge Argento fanboy that I am, I ordered this Arrow Blu-ray along with my own country's version released by Blue Underground. After watching both twice, I personally prefer the Arrow, which surprised me because after much research on-line it seems most people prefer the Blue Underground. Even stranger, I've compared screencaps of both releases from review sites and actually preferred the Blue Underground version in the still images, but for some reason this Arrow release looks better in motion. I think the color palette plays an important part in conveying the atmosphere in this film, so it's very important to get it right. I found the Blue Underground's colors dark and bold (more 'horror movie' style) while the Arrow's were bright and almost neon (more 'dream-like'). Comparing the two, I find the Arrow's color palette suits the film better for me. The Blue Underground release seemed almost too dark in some places and the colors, while bold and beautiful, just weren't as bright and surreal as the Arrow's. I guess it's a simple question of if you like the dark, bold colors or the bright ones, but I know which one I preferred. I've also heard a lot of negative comments about Arrow's use of DNR, however there are a lot of scenes in this Arrow release that contain a good amount of grain in them so these accusations may be unfounded. I don't think they got carried away with the DNR--most shots just look cleaner, and as for the accusations the characters look "waxy", the flesh tones look fine to me.

I'll also add that the sound on this release is noticeably better than the Blue Underground, and I don't even have a sound system hooked up, just my regular TV speakers and I could still tell the difference.