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Baron Blood – Arrow Video (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1972
Director: Mario Bava
Writer: Vincent Fotre
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Elke Sommer, Massimo Girotti, Rada Rassimov, Antonio Cantafora, Umberto Raho, Luciano Pigozzi, Dieter Tressler, Nicoletta Elmi

Release Date: April 29th, 2013
Approximate running times: 97 Minutes 48 Seconds (Italian Version, European Export Version), 93 Minutes 20 Seconds (AIP Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Versions)
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian (Italian Version), LPCM Mono English (European Export Version, AIP Version)
Subtitles: English (Italian Version), English SDH (European Export Version, AIP Version)
Region Coding: Region B/Region 2 PAL (UK)
Retail Price: OOP (UK)

"An American professor (Antonio Cantafora) travels to the estate of his ancestor, the sadistic Baron Otto von Kleist, seeking the truth beneath his notorious reputation. When he and his assistant Eva (Elke Sommer) read aloud an ancient incantation, the Baron’s spirit is resurrected, leading to a series of violent deaths within the haunted castle." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Baron Blood was digitally transferred from a CRI 35mm element, this work was performed at Crawford Media Services in Atlanta. The film was transferred in HD on a Spirit Datacine machine. Color correction was performed by Jeff Bauman on a FilmLight/Baselight system. Digital cleanup was performed in The Pixel Farm’s PFClean system. The work was overseen and produced by Bret Wood for Kino Lorber.

Additional restoration work on Baron Blood was completed at Deluxe Soho in London. The picture was restored to deal with any remaining issues of dirt, scratches, sparkle, warped frames and instability of image. The work was supervised by James White on behalf of Arrow Video.”

Baron Blood comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.8 GB

Feature: 19.4 GB (Italian Version), 21.5 GB (European Export Version, AIP Version)

The three versions included with this release look very good. Print damage is kept to a minimum and there are no issues with compression. Colors and flesh tones look accurate, and details look appropriately crisp. It should be noted that contrast and shadow detail tend to fluctuate throughout. With that being said, this is never too intrusive and the end result is easily the best this film has looked to date on home video.

Audio: 4/5 (LPCM Mono Italian - Italian Version, LPCM Mono English - European Export Version, LPCM Mono English - AIP Version)

This release comes with three versions of Baron Blood, and each version comes with one audio option, LPCM Mono Italian (Italian Version) and LPCM Mono English (European Export Version, AIP Version). The three audio mixes range from good to great, with the majority of the time falling into the latter category. though there are some very mild instances of background noise. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Also, the more ambient aspects of the soundtrack are well represented. The Italian language version comes with removable English subtitles, and the other two versions come with removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills gallery titled Bava at Work (16 images), English theatrical trailer (2 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Italian theatrical trailer (3 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian with removable English subtitles), radio spots (1 minute 54 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), Alan Jones introduction to Lisa and the Devil (3 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Ruggero Deodato (11 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava – All the Colors of the Dark for the European export version, reversible cover art and a 24-four page booklet that contains numerous images from the film, an essay about the film titled Gothic Revival: a Reappraisal of Baron Blood written by James Oliver, and a text piece about the transfers and restoration work that went into this release.

Included with this combo release are two DVDs. The first DVD contains the Italian version of the film and the following extras: an interview with filmmaker Ruggero Deodato; an English-language trailer and an Italian release trailer; an introduction to the film with author and critic Alan Jones; and an audio commentary with Mario Bava biographer Tim Lucas. The second DVD contains the European export version of the film and the AIP version of the film, as well as the following extras: radio spots and an image gallery.

Summary:

As a filmmaker, Mario Bava was a true chameleon, who worked and excelled in just about every genre he worked in. And though he would, on a rare occasion, venture away from his bread and butter, the horror film genre, It is his films within the horror film genre that he is most remembered for, and deservedly so.

Genre cycles can be very abrupt, with audiences' ever growing fickleness. In the twelve years since Mario Bava directed Black Sunday, which is arguably the most profound example of the Italian Gothic horror film genre, And his return to the genre with Baron Blood. The Gothic Horror genre had all but run its course, being eclipsed by the immerging Italian thrillers that were directly inspired by Dario Argento’s The Bird With the Crystal Plumage.

It should come as no surprise that Mario Bava would not only return to where it all began, the Italian Gothic Horror film, and turn it on its head once more. Most notably, his use of color cinematography over the stark black and white cinematography that the Italian Gothic horror genre is most known for. With that being said, there is never a shortage of atmospheric moments in Baron Blood. Without a doubt, this film’s most iconic moment is a scene where Elke Sommer’s (A Shot in the Dark) character Eva is stalked down a series of fog-filled narrow alleyways.

From a production standpoint, there are not that many areas in which this film does not hold up really well. The visuals are first rate, pacing is never an issue as things move briskly from one revelation to the next, and once again, Mario Bava excels when it comes to the murder set pieces.

Outside of the deliriously over-the-top performance from Joseph Cotton (Citizen Kane, The Third Man) in not one, but two roles, None of this film’s other performances leave that strong of an impression, and they tend to come off as too mechanical in their delivery.

As far as monster movies go, Baron Blood is actually pretty basic. An event sets in motion the resurrection of a diabolical entity, who then proceeds to gruesomely dispose of those who get in its way. The simplicity of the killer’s modus operandi aside, Baron Blood can best be summed up as a lean, mean killing machine that gives its target audience what it wants and then some.

The score for the Italian language version and the European export version was composed by Stelvio Cipriani (What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, Rabid Dogs), while the score for the AIP version of the film was composed by Lex Baxter (The Fall of the House of Usher, Pit and the Pendulum).

Baron Blood gets a solid release from Arrow Video that comes with multiple versions of the film and insightful extras, highly recommended.