The Bird with the Crystal Plumage to me isn’t a great giallo movie but is notable being Dario Argento’s feature debut and has great style to it even when character actions aren’t entirely believable. Still, any Argento or giallo fans will get a kick out of this film.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
(1970)
Genre(s): Suspense, Horror
Arrow Video | NR – 98 min. – $49.95 | June 20, 2017
Date Published: 06/21/2017 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Sam Dalmas (TONY MUSANTE), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (EVA RENZI) in a modern art gallery. Initially a suspect by the chief inspector (ENRICO MARIA SALERNO), Dalmas turns to amateur sleuth, even gaining cooperation from the Italian police, as he investigates the murders of numerous women with scant clues to the killer’s identity. Soon, though, he’s in the crosshairs of the killer himself and the life of his girlfriend, Julia (SUZY KENDALL), is also placed in danger. Quick Hit Review: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is horror master Dario Argento’s feature film debut and while it certainly has its moments of questionable storytelling, mainly that of an American doing his own investigation with nearly full assistance of an Italian police inspector, does enter the realm of suspension of disbelief. Still, there are some wonderful scenes in the giallo form where even when the movie meanders a bit, it still managed to keep my attention until the well orchestrated finale. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.5/5 |
|
This two-disc release (BD, DVD) comes housed in Arrow’s standard clear HD Keep Case, and tucked inside are lobby cards, which side slides into a sturdy outer box. In the box are a 38-page booklet and a foldout poster. The cover artwork is reversible revealing the film’s original poster, which I frankly prefer. Audio Commentary – Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo, talking about Argento in his directorial debut and on the giallo sub-genre. It’s a lively enough track that’s more on the academic side but still entertaining. Interviews:
Trailers:
|
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| The Bird with the Crystal Plumage comes to Blu-ray through Arrow Video and has been given a new transfer culled from the film’s original camera negative and scanned at 4K resolution; after instances of dirt, dust marks and other imperfections were removed. Arrow rarely slouches with these releases and this picture quality looks fantastic, colors are bright without appearing blown out, detail is sharp and as mentioned, rather clean. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The disc comes with the choice of either English or Italian PCM Mono tracks and although I did view with the default English language, I did switch over a time or two to the Italian. Both options are perfectly fine with dialogue coming through the center channel with clarity and while depth, even by 1.0 channel standards, could’ve been better, this is as good as it’ll ever get. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
|
Overall, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage to me isn’t a great giallo movie but is notable being Dario Argento’s feature debut and has great style to it even when character actions aren’t entirely believable. Still, any Argento or giallo fans will get a kick out of this film. The Blu-ray released by Arrow Video offers great video and audio transfers and some in-depth bonus material. |