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Category:    Home > Reviews > Horror > Ruby (1977/VCI DVD)

Ruby

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: C+     Film: C

 

 

There are those who make good movies, and then there are those that copy from good movies.  I suppose if you are going to take from others it would be best to take from some of the best.  The 70’s became a wellspring for the horror-genre as the rating system allowed for harder material to be released.  Classics like Last House on the Left (1972), The Exorcist (1973), and Carrie (1976) became icons of the era combining shock value with style.  No doubt that these films would be emulated for years to come, but just like now once something becomes cool, it is soon copied.  

 

Released just a year after Brian De Palma’s Carrie was Ruby, which not only stole much of that film’s material, but also used (i.e., exploited) Piper Laurie, who starred as Carrie’s mom.  Here she plays the title character, a woman that watches as her mobster lowlife boyfriend is killed one evening in 1935.  She shortly gives birth after to Leslie.  Then in 1951 Ruby is running a drive-in movie theater, where she has employed some ex-mobsters (I guess they make the best popcorn).  Soon Leslie (mute since birth) begins talking in her father’s voice and other demonic incidents occur.  She has strange powers like telekinesis and then people are slowly showing up dead.  So essentially we have elements of The Omen, The Exorcist, combined with a story similar with Carrie only with a gangster twist.

 

In an interview on the DVD director Curtis Harrington mentions that he had nothing to do with many of the changes that took place with the film and that the producers changed many things for TV edits.  He actually had his name removed from the film until this DVD release, which brings back as much to the film as could be saved with the edits that Harrington wanted.  Having his name removed from this film was probably more of a blessing than a curse, but whatever the case, he mentions that the film was the largest grossing independent film until the release of Halloween (1978).  If I do the math correctly that would only be one year later, so I am sure that the statement is really all that powerful.  We also doubt its authenticity.

 

So with this DVD edition Ruby is finally given the directors cut, which is presented letterboxed at 1.85 X 1.  Oddly enough some scenes look sharper than expected, while other times colors are too soft or oversaturated.  Darks look way to light and whites are never truly white.  This is a typical problem of lower budget films that have been transferred onto DVD with minimal amount of money to do a full restoration.  However, this digital transfer is from the original 35mm camera negative, which does explain the sharpness at times.  The audio also seems to be strange because the DVD sends a stereo signal, but it has a more monophonic presence making me assume that it is closer to a 2.0 mono soundtrack.  Either way it makes little difference since the film offers little maneuverability in terms of left and right panning or other directional effects that would be associated with a stereo soundtrack.

 

The film runs a short, but thankful, 85-minutes and the DVD also includes a commentary track and interview with Curtis Harrington, which even the interview alone is framed rather poorly making me wonder who in the world operated the camera on it!  Also joining the commentary is Piper Laurie, which alone might be worth for some fans.  Overall, this is a relatively nice edition for a film that is so-so.  True horror fans might want to seek it out for some odd reason, but most will be disappointed more than anything else.

 

 

-   Nate Goss


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