Four Flies on Grey Velvet – Severin Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1971
Director: Dario Argento
Writers: Dario Argento, Luigi Cozzi, Mario Foglietti, Bryan Edgar Wallace
Cast: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Bud Spencer, Jean-Pierre Marielle

Release Date: November 25th, 2022
Approximate Running Times: 103 Minutes 23 Seconds (Director's Cut), 101 Minutes 22 Seconds (English Language Cut)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English, English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: OOP

"When a rock drummer (Michael Brandon) accidentally kills a stranger, he'll unlock a nighmare of blaclmail, paranoia and grisly murder." - synopsis provided by the distributor

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

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “fully restored in 4K from the original 2-perf negative.”

Four Flies on Grey Velvet comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 77.8 GB

Feature: 72.6 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent, and any imperfections in the source are minor and never intrusive. Flesh tones look correct; image clarity and color saturation are solid; compression is very good; and grain remains intact. Also, black levels have markedly improved. Four Flies on Grey Velvet has many moments that are in darkness or where there is very little light. And in this release's transfer, details are better defined in these darker moments when compared to previous home video releases.

That said, Four Flies on Grey Velvet is a film that has not fared well on home video. with the best release to date being Koch Media’s 2012 Blu-ray release. That was until now. This new release from Severin Films is easily the best Four Flies on Grey Velvet has ever looked on home video.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45 GB

Feature: 29.5 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English)

Both versions come with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The audio from the previous home video release left a lot to be desired. Notably, there are distortion and sibilance issues. Fortunately, with this new release from Severin Films, any issues that plagued previous home video releases are gone. Both audio tracks are in great shape. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Dialog always comes through clearly, ambient sounds are well-represented, and Ennio Morricone’s score sounds appropriately robust. There are two subtitle options: removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track. It should be noted that when watching with the English language track, English subtitles automatically play for dialog that is only in Italian.

Extras:

Extras for this release are spread over four discs.

Extras on the 4K UHD include a U.S. theatrical trailer (2 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: Giallo-Style Films From Around the World, for the director’s cut.

Extras for the Blu-ray disc one include a U.S. theatrical trailer (2 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text, no subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Luigi Cozzi titled The Day of the Flies (75 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Dario Argento titled Lord of the Flies (28 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, for the director’s cut.

Extras on Blu-ray disc two include an interview with actor Bud Spencer titled Have a Talk with God (10 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview actor Gildo Di Marco (15 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with assistant cameraman Roberto Forges Davanzati titled Death in Slo-Mo (7 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with production manager Angelo Iacono titled Time Flies (14 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with film historian Antonio Tentori titled Dissecting Flies (29 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and Alan Jones, author of Profondo Argento titled Flies on the Wall (15 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

The fourth disc is a CD that contains Ennio Morricone’s ten-track score for Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Other extras include a cardboard insert with a track listing for Ennio Morricone’s score, reversible cover art, and a slipcover.

Summary:

Four Flies on Grey Velvet is the third film in a series of films directed by Dario Argento, often called his Animal Trilogy. The other two films are The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Cat with the Nine Tails. Four Flies on Grey Velvet was co-written by Luigi Cozzi, who would go on to become a director in his own right. He would direct such classics as The Killer Must Kill Again, Starcrash, and Contamination. Throughout his career, Dario Argento has often surrounded himself with first-rate cinematographers. The cinematographer on Four Flies on Grey Velvet was Franco Di Giacomo, whose notable films include The Most Beautiful Wife, Hitchhike, and Who Saw Her Die?.

The score for Four Flies on Grey Velvet was composed by Ennio Morricone, who had previously composed the score for the other two films that make up the Animal Trilogy. For each film in the Animal Trilogy, Ennio Morricone would create a distinctively different sound. His score for Four Flies on Grey Velvet stands out as his most inventive of the three. The musical motif that plays over the film’s final moments and appears throughout the film is a classic example of Ennio Morricone’s ability to create beautiful yet melancholy motifs. According to reports, Dario Argento and Ennio Morricone had a falling out over the score, and their next collaboration would come twenty-five years later, with The Stendhal Syndrome. Another rumor that has made the rounds is that Dario Argento at one point considered using the rock band Deep Purple to score the film.

The main difference, narratively speaking, where Four Flies on Grey Velvet diverges from the other two films in the Animal Trilogy is that the protagonist enlists the help of a private investigator to help him solve the mystery. Structure-wise, Four Flies on Grey Velvet evolves at an even pace that allows just enough information to come forth without giving away too much. The ending is one of Dario Argento’s best. with its slow-motion execution of the killer. One of Four Flies on Grey Velvet’s strongest assets is its witty dialog, which perfectly suits this unusual thriller. If there is one weakness in the plot, it is the elements that are more science-driven, like a retina retaining the last thing someone sees before death.

Visually, Dario Argento continues to experiment with a few standout moments, like a scene where the killer stalks and kills Roberto in a park. Another innovative use of style is when the film’s main character, Roberto Tobias, goes to meet the private investigator for the first time. The sounds of his approaching car are intercut with a roving camera that moves towards the private investigator’s office. And the film’s slow-motion ending ties in with Robert Tobias’s nightmares.

Something that the films of Dario Argento all have in common is that they all contain many colorful secondary characters. Four Flies on Grey Velvet has a handful of baroque characters like the gay private detective who has never solved any of his eighty-four cases, the bumbling mailman, and a nosy neighbor who always gets the crippled neighbor man’s Swedish porn.

Despite working primarily in the thriller genre, comedy is something that is present in most of Dario Argento’s films. Also, it is not surprising that Four Flies on Grey Velvet has the most comedy of the three films in the Animal Trilogy. Especially since it is well known that by the time he was making Four Flies on Grey Velvet, he had already grown tired of the thriller genre, and his next film, The Five Days of Milan, would mark his only foray into the comedy genre.

The two performances that standout the most are Mimsy Farmer (The Perfume of the Lady in Black) in the role of Nina Tobias and Jean-Pierre Marielle in the role of a gay detective named Gianni Arrosio. Both of these performances come dangerously close to going over the edge. The film’s most surprising role is Michael Brandon's in the film’s lead role of Roberto Tobias. He does an exceptional job portraying someone who is cornered and forced to face his fears head-on. Another performance of note is Bud Spencer in the type of role that he plays so well. Ultimately, Four Flies on Grey Velvet is an underrated thriller that has remained in the shadows for far too long.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet gets a definitive release from Severin Films, highly 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