22.5 C
New York
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Advertisement

Deranged (1974) [UK] Blu-ray Review

deranged-uk-blu-ray-coverUnited-Kingdom-Flag-Orb-Icon-32px

– –

(The below TheaterByte screen captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray Disc and losslessly compressed in the PNG format. There should be no loss of picture quality with this format. All screen captures should be regarded only as an approximation of the full capabilities of the Blu-ray format.)

The Film

[Rating:3/5]

Deranged-UK-BD_02

Ostensibly a horror film, 1974’s Deranged is a darkly comedic and violent retelling of notorious 1950s Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, the man who also inspired Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Unlike these those two films, however, Deranged is meant to be a somewhat accurate account of the macabre events surrounding Gein’s murderous exploits, complete with somewhat off-putting interjections by a reporter as narrator to the events.

Roberts Blossoms puts in an effective performance as Ezra Cobb whose madness escalates when his domineering mother dies and he misses her so much that he digs her up and is soon killing unsuspecting women to keep her company. His conversations with the corpse of his mother, though visually horrific and psychopathic, are also at the level of wryly humorous as he worries how his mother will like the women he’s found and the things he’s done. Other off-kilter, darkly twisted scenes include Cobb’s first kill during a séance with a desperate woman putting the sexual moves on him.

Deranged features gruesome make-up effects by top artist Tom Savini and, for the first time in the UK, appears here in all of its most stomach turning, uncut glory in this newly restored edition.

Video Quality

[Rating:3.5/5]

Deranged-UK-BD_01

Deranged is fully-restored to its uncut edition for the first time. It doesn’t always look the best in this AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement from Arrow, suffering from graininess, film softness, and some spotty video noise, but it’s relatively clean and has mostly organic, filmic quality to it. Close-ups are textured and brighter scenes look rather clean.

Audio Quality

[Rating:3.5/5]

Deranged-UK-BD_03

The monaural track in LPCM 2.0 (48kHz/16-bit) is somewhat boxy, but clipping is limited, therefore the dialogue comes through with enough clarity as do most of the sound effects.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:4/5]

Deranged-UK-BD_04

We get the typical slate of featurettes and collectible booklet with this Arrow release.

The supplements:

  • Intro by Tom Savini
  • Audio Commentary with Tom Savini
  • A Blossoming Brilliance – An interview with Scott Spiegel (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:10:22) – Scott Spiegel speaks about Deranged star Roberts Blossom the lasting legacy of this gore-soaked gem.
  • Ed Gein: From Murderer to Movies – An interview with Laurence R. Harvey (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:14:52) – Harvey discusses the lurid legacy of the Wisconsin serial killer and the secrets of portraying a cinematic psychopath.
  • The Wages of Sin (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:12:00) – Making of featurette comprising newly transferred 16mm production footage and an archive interview with director Jeff Gillen.
  • Trailer Commentary (1.33:1; 1080p/24; 00:01:54)
  • Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
  • Stills Gallery (1080p/24)
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original & newly commissioned artwork by Nathaniel Marsh.
  • Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Stephen Thrower, an article from Rue Morgue on the legacy of Ed Gein, plus an archive interview with producer Bob Clark, illustrated with original archive stills and posters.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3.5/5]

Deranged-UK-BD_05

Early horror based on Ed Gein, the psychopath who inspired films from Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Silence of the Lambs, Deranged will be a must for genre fans and anyone looking for something just a bit strange.

Additional Screen Captures

[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B00CKE298U[/amazon-product]

Deranged-UK-BD_06

Deranged-UK-BD_07

Deranged-UK-BD_08

Deranged-UK-BD_09

Deranged-UK-BD_10

Deranged-UK-BD_11

Deranged-UK-BD_12

Deranged-UK-BD_13

Deranged-UK-BD_14

Deranged-UK-BD_15

Deranged-UK-BD_16

Deranged-UK-BD_17

[amazon-product region=”uk” tracking_id=”bluraydefinit-21″]B00CKE298U[/amazon-product]

Advertisement

Related Articles

Join the Discussion on TheaterByte!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

301FansLike
0FollowersFollow
184FollowersFollow
1,710FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -

Notice of Compliance with FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 255

In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR part 255 guidelines, this website hereby states that it receives free discs and other theatrical or home entertainment "screeners" and access to screening links from studios and/or PR firms, and is provided with consumer electronics devices on loan from hardware manufacturers and/or PR firms respectively for the purposes of evaluating the products and its content for editorial reviews. We receive no compensation from these companies for our opinions or for the writing of reviews or editorials.
Permission is sometimes granted to companies to quote our work and editorial reviews free of charge. Our website may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may get paid commission on sales of those products or the services we write about. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Latest Articles