Schizoid / X-Ray – Vinegar Syndrome (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1980 (Schizoid), USA, 1981 (X-Ray)
Directors: David Paulsen (Schizoid), Boaz Davidson (X-Ray)
Cast: Klaus Kinski, Donna Wilkes, Marianna Hill, Craig Wasson, Richard Herd, Joe Regalbuto, Christopher Lloyd, Flo Lawrence, Kiva Lawrence (Schizoid), Barbi Benton, Charles Lucia, Jon Van Ness, John Warner Williams, Den Surles, Gloria Jean Morrison, Karen Smith, Michael Frost, Elizabeth Hoy, Billy Jayne (X-Ray)

Release Date: March 29th, 2022
Approximate Running Times: 89 Minutes 20 Seconds (Schizoid), 89 Minutes 15 Seconds (X-Ray)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 (Both Films)
Rating: R (Both Films)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.98

Schizoid: "Pieter Fales is a renowned psychiatrist who is unable to reconcile his relationship with his teenage daughter, Alison. Julie, one of Pieter’s patients, is a successful advice columnist in the midst of a messy divorce, who has also started receiving threatening letters. When a black clad, scissors wielding killer begins murdering people in Julie's life, she begins to suspect that her unknown writer and this mystery assailant might be one and the same…" - synopsis provided by the distributor

X-Ray: "When Susan was a little girl, she rejected the Valentine of a lovestruck classmate. Decades later, she’s come to the hospital for a routine medical examination. But when her x-rays seem to show something unusual, Susan finds herself trapped in a bizarre medical nightmare, made all the worse as her vengeful childhood valentine, disguised among the hospital staff, begins murdering everyone in his path as a means of proving his undying ‘romantic’ obsession…" - synopsis provided by the distributor

4.5/5 (4K UHD), 4/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfers, "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from their 35mm original camera negatives."

Schizoid comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60 GB

Feature: 59.7 GB

X-Ray comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60.2 GB

Feature: 59.9 GB

Schizoid and X-Ray come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.2 GB

Feature: 21 GB (Schizoid), 21 GB (X-Ray)

Both of these films are given transfers that are noticeable upgrades when compared to Shout! Factory’s 2013 Blu-ray release, which also paired these two films. That said, areas of greatest improvement include image clarity, shadow detail, and compression.

Audio: 4/5

Each film comes with one audio track, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and both films come with removable English SDH. Both audio mixes are in great shape. There are no issues with background hiss or distortion, dialog comes through clearly, everything is balanced, and range-wise, they sound good considering their mono limitations.

Extras:

None of the extras are on 4K UHD discs.

Extras for Schizoid include interview with actress Flo Lawrence titled A Wellesley Graduate (5 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with makeup artist Erica Ueland (7 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with actress Donna Wilkes titled Hide the Scissors (5 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles) and an interview with screenwriter/director David Paulsen titled Shooting by March (6 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles).

Extras for X-Ray include a theatrical trailer (1 minute 39 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with X-Ray director Boaz Davidson titled Bad Medicine (13 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles) and a making-of documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew titled Ultra Violet Vengeance: The Talent & Technicians of X-Ray (26 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles).

Other extras include reversible cover art; the front cover art is Schizoid; the inside cover art is X-Ray; and an embossed slipcover limited to 5,000 units.

Summary:

Schizoid: Content-wise, Schizoid is a film that exploits all of the elements that are synonymous with slasher films. The well-executed narrative does a great job of hiding its killer's identity by exploiting a few well-placed red herrings. Also, the kill scenes are inventive and have a sufficient amount of gore.

Schizoid was directed by David Paulsen, whose only other feature film is Savage Weekend, a film that features many of the same elements. He also wrote Schizoid’s screenplay. His solid direction does a fantastic job of building tension.

Though Schizoid has many recognizable faces in its cast, they are all very good in their respective roles. Being in a film with Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre), it's hard not to get overshadowed by him. And he delivers another performance that's in line with the performances he’s known for. Also, casting him in a Slasher film is an inspired choice because of the type of role he portrays. Other notable cast members include Marianna Hill (Messiah of Evil), Craig Wasson (Body Double), and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future). Ultimately, Schizoid is a well-executed Slasher film that fans of this genre will get the most mileage out of.

X-Ray: Horror cinema has more than its fair share of films with far-fetched premises. And X-Ray is yet another horror film that features an impossible scenario. That said, if you can look past this issue, what lies within is a technically sound horror film.

X-Ray was directed by Boaz Davidson, a filmmaker who’s most known for his coming-of-age comedies like The Last American Virgin and the Lemon Popsicle films. Though Boaz Davidson had never directed a horror film before, he does a great job with X-Ray, considering the anemic resources he had to work with.

Like so many low-budget horror films, X-Ray confines most of its narrative to a central location: a hospital. The premise revolves around a distraught character from the protagonist's past who uses her hospital visits as a means of revenge. The narrative begins with a scene from the protagonist's past that lays the groundwork for the killer's motivations. Flash forward to the present and the hospital, where the bodies start to pile up.

The performances are best described as serviceable. The only performance that left a lasting impression was that of Barbi Benton in the role of the protagonist, a woman named Susan Jeremy. She’s a former Playboy playmate who was most likely hired because of her physical attributes. Fortunately, this suits the character she’s portraying.

Without a doubt, X-Ray’s greatest strength is its visuals, which give it a tremendous amount of atmosphere. Also, the visuals do a great job of reinforcing the mounting tension. The cinematographer was Nicholas Josef von Sternberg, whose other notable credits include Tourist Trap and Slaughterhouse Rock. Ultimately, X-Ray is a by-the-numbers horror film that can be a lot of fun if you turn off your mind and enjoy the ride.

Schizoid and X-Ray make their way to 4K UHD via an excellent release from Vinegar Syndrome that gives both films solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras, recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer