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Forty years after its release and twenty years after the film disappeared from the public eye, Shameless Screen Entertainment is releasing the first ever worldwide Blu-ray of Dario Argento s lost masterpiece, Four Flies On Grey Velvet and, also for the first time ever, in the original version in which it was made. This special 40th Anniversary Edition has been fully remastered in HD from the original negative and includes four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary missing forty seconds . Additionally, the original pristine English audio has been remastered exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and is being made available for the first time since the film s initial theatrical release in the 1970s.
Described by DVD Times as essential viewing , this final instalment in what is unofficially referred to as Argento s Animal Trilogy (following The Bird With The Crystal Plumage and The Cat O Nine Tails ) is a classic of the giallo genre, featuring music by Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone (The Untouchables; The Mission; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) and starring Michael Brandon (Captain America: The First Avenger; Dempsey And Makepeace), Mimsy Farmer (The Black Cat; More), Jean-Pierre Marielle (Micmacs; The Da Vinci Code), Bud Spencer (They Call Me Trinity) and Francine Racette (Au Revoir Les Enfants; The Disappearance).
Going about his everyday life of band rehearsals and socialising with his wife, Nina (Farmer), and their hip friends, rock drummer Roberto Tobias (Brandon) notices he is constantly being followed by a strange man dressed in black. He decides to turn the tables on his stalker and follows him into an abandoned theatre, where a confrontation between the two ends with Roberto accidentally stabbing the man, who falls into the orchestra, apparently dead. Suddenly, a flash of light alerts Roberto to a figure in the upper wings of the theatre, where a mysterious person wearing a bizarre puppet mask and brandishing a camera has been taking photos of the fatal struggle. Roberto flees the scene, but the next day receives the dead man s ID card in the post. Naturally assuming it has been sent by the unknown witness, he becomes immediately concerned by the lack of any blackmail demands and is haunted by the question of what it is the masked figure wants from him. Roberto s fear and paranoia increase, and the mystery deepens, when his and Nina s housemaid is found murdered in a local park and it becomes apparent that an intruder has had access to their apartment.
Special Features:
- Introduction to the film by Luigi Cozzi.
- New, exclusive and extensive recent interview on the making of Four Flies On Grey Velvet with writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi.
- Original English audio remastered in HD exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and available for the first time since the film s original theatrical opening in the 1970s.
- Shameless re-build edit of the complete version of the film including four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary missing forty seconds (the inserts are in Standard-Definition quality). The Blu-ray will allow for seamless branching of the four inserts giving viewers two versions of the film: one all HD without the re-inserted scenes and one longer version including the inserts.
- Restoration of all individual damaged frames, most notably with respect to the removal of the black diagonal frame line (caused by the film jumping the high speed camera gate) in the final car crash sequence.
- Optional Italian audio version in HD with English subtitles.
- Italian and English trailers.
- Alternate English opening and closing credits.
- Shame
Review
The Rarest Of Dario Argento S Giallo Thrillers Finally Comes To Dvd/Blu-Ray - A Twisted Tale Of Tortured Paranoia And Homicidal Frenzy. --Alan Jones
As A Work Of Celluloid Skill, Four Flies On Grey Velvet Has No Equal. (9 Out Of 10) --Popmatters.com
As A Work Of Celluloid Skill, Four Flies On Grey Velvet Has No Equal. (9 Out Of 10) --Popmatters.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I found Argento's third movie as Director a little disappointing.Although Shameless have done a fantastic job with the product itself,it's a pity they couldn't have improved the actual content.
The story is typical giallo-people getting knocked off by a mysterious unseen agonist.There are some decent murders,it's well filmed as you would expect and has a great climax but,and it's a very big but,it hasn't aged very well to say the least.
The portrayal of it's gay characters is ludicrous and cringe inducing (but thankfully not nearly as bad as they're depicted in Island Of Death) and some of the other eccentric performers look like they may have just stepped out of Billy-Smarts Circus!
But the biggest embarrassment has to be it's lead character.Michael Brandon's portrayal of a drummer in a rock band is so stiff and awkward it has to be seen to be believed.If only one of the crew had given him a good shake before each take this thriller could have been so much better.His dead-eyed performance frustratingly distracts.He brings nothing to the movie whatsoever.
The killers identity isn't hard to work out and doesn't make much sense,but hey, this is an Argento film so what do you expect?
I commend the people at Shameless for putting together the complete version of FFOGV.But as far as the customer is concerned,maybe this time round the anticipation was more rewarding than the actual gain.
The story is typical giallo-people getting knocked off by a mysterious unseen agonist.There are some decent murders,it's well filmed as you would expect and has a great climax but,and it's a very big but,it hasn't aged very well to say the least.
The portrayal of it's gay characters is ludicrous and cringe inducing (but thankfully not nearly as bad as they're depicted in Island Of Death) and some of the other eccentric performers look like they may have just stepped out of Billy-Smarts Circus!
But the biggest embarrassment has to be it's lead character.Michael Brandon's portrayal of a drummer in a rock band is so stiff and awkward it has to be seen to be believed.If only one of the crew had given him a good shake before each take this thriller could have been so much better.His dead-eyed performance frustratingly distracts.He brings nothing to the movie whatsoever.
The killers identity isn't hard to work out and doesn't make much sense,but hey, this is an Argento film so what do you expect?
I commend the people at Shameless for putting together the complete version of FFOGV.But as far as the customer is concerned,maybe this time round the anticipation was more rewarding than the actual gain.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I was thrilled to see Argento's once long-sought-after coda to his Animal Trilogy coming to Blu-ray. For years, it wasn't even available at all (other than a few bootlegs) and the U.S. only got a DVD release a few years ago. So to see it coming to Blu so soon after felt like we were being spoiled.
Now I will outright say this is not my favorite Argento film and I find it to be the weakest of his Animal Trilogy. However, as a completist, I still had to have it. So on to this release: I immediately dug the cool yellow case. Some may think it looks cheap or tacky. I liked it. As for the transfer, it was mostly perfect, though not without some issues. Some of the darker scenes suffer from some type of weird color distortion and lack of detail. I'm not a videophile so I'm not sure what the term is, but it was mostly noticeable in the scene where Michael Brandon was in bed. But other than that, everything was fine and most of the film looked terrific.
The Italian sound left a bit to be desired, however. I prefer to watch Argento films in Italian with English subtitles, and the Italian track just felt flat to me. I switched to the English for comparison and the English blew it out of the water, though. Of course the English was a stereo mix, so that obviously has something to do with it. But it's 50/50 because as flat as the Italian track may be, the English one suffers distortions that the Italian lacks. I'm speaking of the climax mainly.
The "lost" 40 or so seconds of the film are also here and available to watch with the feature or without. The quality of these scenes is non-HD and obviously subpar and admittedly these little snippets don't add anything substantial to the movie, however they do make some of the transitions a little less clunky.
All in all, I'm happy to own this rare film on Blu-ray and this is indeed a worthy purchase for fans of the film or Argento completists like myself.
Now I will outright say this is not my favorite Argento film and I find it to be the weakest of his Animal Trilogy. However, as a completist, I still had to have it. So on to this release: I immediately dug the cool yellow case. Some may think it looks cheap or tacky. I liked it. As for the transfer, it was mostly perfect, though not without some issues. Some of the darker scenes suffer from some type of weird color distortion and lack of detail. I'm not a videophile so I'm not sure what the term is, but it was mostly noticeable in the scene where Michael Brandon was in bed. But other than that, everything was fine and most of the film looked terrific.
The Italian sound left a bit to be desired, however. I prefer to watch Argento films in Italian with English subtitles, and the Italian track just felt flat to me. I switched to the English for comparison and the English blew it out of the water, though. Of course the English was a stereo mix, so that obviously has something to do with it. But it's 50/50 because as flat as the Italian track may be, the English one suffers distortions that the Italian lacks. I'm speaking of the climax mainly.
The "lost" 40 or so seconds of the film are also here and available to watch with the feature or without. The quality of these scenes is non-HD and obviously subpar and admittedly these little snippets don't add anything substantial to the movie, however they do make some of the transitions a little less clunky.
All in all, I'm happy to own this rare film on Blu-ray and this is indeed a worthy purchase for fans of the film or Argento completists like myself.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A mere 40 years after its original release, Dario Argento's "Four Flies On Grey Velvet" arrives largely unseen on dvd and blu-ray. For reasons still unclear, the film has never been re-released and only had a limited home-viewing release in France and Greece in the eighties. Fans of Argento who have suffered through murky bootlegs will rejoice at Shameless's effort. This is the full film, remastered from the negative with Italian and English audio and English subtitles. Mya had a stab at a dvd a couple of years back. However, some material was missing from that release due to damage at reel ends. These have been re-instated by Shameless, albeit from an inferior release print with the option to skip for those wanting the full hd experience (blu-ray only: it's only about 40 seconds worth of material and nothing essential but nice to have for completists). Shameless have also corrected the slight speed-up in the English soundtrack on the Mya disc due to pal/ntsc conversion. In other words: it's the whole film sounding and looking as good as it ever has or will.
As to the film itself, those who have managed to see the film over the years have given it a mixed reception. Hopefully the chance for the film to be seen clearly, with all the subtle detailed rendered in stark clarity and by a wide audience will lead to its being re-appraised. In my view, it is equal to "Bird With The Crystal Plumage" but inferior to "Deep Red". It benefits from some good inventive set pieces: the murder in the park and the lead up to it with the park emptying of people, the murderer stalking their victim in a darkened house and the unexpected, brutal and yet beautiful denouement for the killer. It's also hard not to like the inept private detective, finally vindicated in a darkly-humorous twist. Bud Spencer's appearance may be less enjoyable for some. Argento also enjoys technological innovation with cameras, used to great effect in two death scenes, and stylish flourishes like the shot from inside a strummed guitar in the opening credits. The great Ennio Morricone provides one of his most powerful scores to accompany it all.
Shameless round out their disc with two trailers and a photo gallery, along with a genuinely informative long interview with Luigi Cozzi, Argento's assistant on the film.
As to the film itself, those who have managed to see the film over the years have given it a mixed reception. Hopefully the chance for the film to be seen clearly, with all the subtle detailed rendered in stark clarity and by a wide audience will lead to its being re-appraised. In my view, it is equal to "Bird With The Crystal Plumage" but inferior to "Deep Red". It benefits from some good inventive set pieces: the murder in the park and the lead up to it with the park emptying of people, the murderer stalking their victim in a darkened house and the unexpected, brutal and yet beautiful denouement for the killer. It's also hard not to like the inept private detective, finally vindicated in a darkly-humorous twist. Bud Spencer's appearance may be less enjoyable for some. Argento also enjoys technological innovation with cameras, used to great effect in two death scenes, and stylish flourishes like the shot from inside a strummed guitar in the opening credits. The great Ennio Morricone provides one of his most powerful scores to accompany it all.
Shameless round out their disc with two trailers and a photo gallery, along with a genuinely informative long interview with Luigi Cozzi, Argento's assistant on the film.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
four flies on grey velvet
I had seen this film before at a friends and was really impressed. Dario Argento
is a director ahead of his time. Ideal for those who like their films non mainstream
is a director ahead of his time. Ideal for those who like their films non mainstream
Published 2 months ago by drummer
Pointless for anything other than a 5
As someone who has been after this for at least 20 years anyone who says this is anything less than a 5 is an idiot. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Zak Stargrinder
"FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET" DVD Shameless Release UK Jan2012
COVER INFO(Possible SPOILERS):
SHAM035
40th Anniversary Edition/Shameless Fan Edition
Dario Argento's Lost Masterpiece
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET/4 MOSCHE... Read more
SHAM035
40th Anniversary Edition/Shameless Fan Edition
Dario Argento's Lost Masterpiece
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET/4 MOSCHE... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. MM Dance
A True Forgotten Masterpiece
There are few who would argue Dario Argento's influence and key role in cinema (espcially Italian Cinema)with his importance to the giallo genre and such classic films as SUSPIRIA... Read more
Published 3 months ago by K. Daniels
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