The Stendhal Syndrome (1995/Blue Underground Blu-ray)
Picture: B- Sound: C+ Extras:
B+ Film: C
Dario Argento is an undisputed master of horror
cinema, with a career that has spanned decades and is still going. During these years, there have been films both
good and bad. The Stendhal Syndrome, for me, falls somewhere in between.
Though flawed, the film has an interesting concept behind it - that certain
artworks may be so intoxicating to the viewer that one might become entranced
and lose one's mind. Sadly, this idea
isn't conveyed very effectively to the audience. The main character, Anna, is subjected to
quite enough hardships - being stalked, raped and witness to brutal killings -
that she's given enough room to go a little crazy all by herself without famous
works of art playing into it.
Ultimately, the pace is what brings down this movie - the story lumbers along
slowly and gives us no surprises along the way. The only bits of excitement and terror come
when the villain, Alfredo, is onscreen. Portrayed with excellence by Thomas
Kretschmann, this character is one of the few highlights in this film. The same cannot be said of Dario's daughter Asia, who is a bit wooden here in her portrayal of Anna.
The picture quality is very good on this disc. The image is presented in a
1080p 1.66:1 widescreen digital High Definition presentation. There are limitations in the source material,
but in general this is a quality transfer with no digital hiccups. The cinematography is fairly good; and aside
from some rather dated digital effects, this film looks as though it could have
been shot in the early ‘80s - a look that many genre filmmakers of today
struggle to duplicate.
The sound quality is only so-so, with mediocre dubbing being the center of the
problem. The included Italian language
track is preferable, but is only available in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. The English dub is available in that format as
well, in addition to 7.1 DTS-HD track and a 7.1 Dolby True HD mixes.
Extras include the theatrical trailer, as well as a series of featurettes. These include interviews with several key
members of the crew, including director Dario Argento, assistant director Luigi
Cozzi and special effects creator Sergio Stivaletti. They are informative, and also fairly lengthy
- not just quick and pointless additions to beef up the look of the content, as
many such segments now are.
Argento fans will be quite pleased, regardless of critical opinion, to have
this title available on Blu-ray. This
release is presented uncut, as was Blue Underground's earlier DVD release of
the title. Prior to that disc, the film
was released through Troma in edited form. As I have not seen that particular edition, I
cannot weigh in on what changes they made, but tampering with a vision of any
sort should always be frowned upon. Cheers to Blue Underground for getting this
release right.
- David Milchick
