Ruby might be some sort of horror cult classic, but it’s not one I particularly enjoyed, though the 1970s-era cheese factor is certainly there.
Ruby
(1977)
Genre(s): Horror
MVD Visual | R – 85 min. – $19.99 | September 12, 2017
Date Published: 11/17/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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PLOT SYNOPSIS
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| A woman with a shady past, Ruby Claire (PIPER LAURIE) is the single mother of Leslie (JANIT BALDWIN), a teenager who is deaf and mute. Ruby operates a drive-in movie theater and employs a number of ex-criminals, some of who start to die in bizarre ways. Eventually, Ruby discovers that the spirit of her dead mobster husband has possessed Leslie and is seeking revenge through the tormented girl. As Leslie picks off her dad’s former associates, she also begins to target Ruby herself. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a DVD Copy. Audio Commentaries:
The first track looks at the film from a more historical viewpoint whereas, obviously, the second gives a first-hand account. 2001 David Del Valle Interview with Curtis Harrington (59:04; HD) – The director talks about the project for the then special edition release from VCI. Sinister Image Episode Vol. 1 (28:06; HD) and Vol. 2 (29:00; HD) are archival interviews with Harrington conducted by Del Valle. Original Trailer (2:26; HD) |
VIDEO – 2.25/5, AUDIO – 3.0/5
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Although Ruby has been bestowed with a new 2K transfer from the original 35mm negative*, this really doesn’t look very good in HD. The image is rather murky, colors are muted, but on the plus side, the image does appear clean enough but blacks are uneven. Having never seen any other release, this probably is a good upgrade over any previous DVD or, especially, VHS release. The disc comes with a PCM 2.0 track sounds pretty good offering some okay depth when the violence escalates and still provides clear enough dialogue levels. For a movie, a low budget one at that, going on 40 years old, it’s all in all rather impressive. * Apparently, as others online have pointed out, the original source probably was not the camera negative but some other film print. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
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Overall, Ruby might be some sort of horror cult classic, but it’s not one I particularly enjoyed, though the 1970s-era cheese factor is certainly there. The Blu-ray release by VCI is flawed at best when it came to the video while the audio was okay but nothing noteworthy. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.