Shout Factory's Blu-ray releases of Hammer Films titles goes on with 1963's PARANOIAC. It was originally released by Universal in U.S. and it was written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Anthony Hinds. It was also the first Hammer film directed by Freddie Francis.
PARANOIAC is one of a series of psychological thrillers made by Hammer. These films are usually referred to as "mini-Hitchcocks", since they came out after PSYCHO, and most of them had similar sounding titles, and they were in black & white. Jimmy Sangster, who wrote most of them, was actually more influenced by the movie LES DIABOLIQUES than Hitchcock.
The Hammer psychological thrillers do not have the fame or the status of the company's Gothic tales. The "mini-Hitchcocks" are set in contemporary times, and most of them do not have the familiar acting faces Hammer would usually use. The movies still work well today, but the most important thing in them are the plot twists. They work much better on a first time viewing.
PARANOIAC features the dysfunctional Ashby family, who is shocked when a man claiming to be Tony Ashby (Alexander Davion) shows up. The reason: Tony supposedly jumped off a cliff ten years ago, though his body was never found. Tony's dissolute brother Simon is convinced that the man is an impostor (and he has reason to know), while Tony's fragile sister Eleanor (Janette Scott) is fearful that she's falling in love with her newly-arrived "brother". The fact that Tony would have control of the considerable Ashby fortune complicates matters. The new Tony tries to get to the bottom of things, which leads to madness and murder.
PARANOIAC is one of the better Hammer "mini-Hitchcocks", mainly due to the dangerous charisma of the young Oliver Reed. Jimmy Sangster's script was (very) loosely based on the Josephine Tey novel BRAT FARRAR. Freddie Francis makes the most out of the story, and there's a sequence involving a car hanging precariously on a cliff that is very well handled. The running time of about 80 minutes is perfect--if it was any longer the seams would most definitely show.
This film was already released on Region A Blu-ray as part of a Universal Hammer collection a few years ago. Shout Factory's presentation of the film (in 2.35:1 widescreen) is very sharp, with excellent DTS mono sound.
What makes the Shout Factory Hammer releases special are the extras. For PARANOIAC four top Hammer experts are involved. In two different featurettes Kim Newman and Jonathan Rigby discuss and analyze the film. A "Making-of" program is hosted by Wayne Kinsey, who is shown at the present-day Bray Studios (it's sad to see how dilapidated it has become). I could listen to these three men talk about Hammer all day long.
There's also a fine new audio commentary from Bruce Hallenbeck, who provides plenty of info and detail on PARANOIAC. Most of his discussion centers around Freddie Francis and Oliver Reed. The original trailer and a image gallery is also included.
Once again, Shout Factory provides a 18 x 24 poster, featuring original artwork by Mark Maddox, for those that order the disc from the company's website (see picture above).
All of the Shout Factory Hammer releases are welcome, even though they've cost me some money buying movies I've already owned.
No comments:
Post a Comment