The Night of the Hunted – Indicator Series (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1980
Director: Jean Rollin
Writer: Jean Rollin
Cast: Brigitte Lahaie, Alain Duclos, Dominique Journet, Bernard Papineau, Rachel Mhas, Cathy Stewart, Natalie Perrey

Release Date: August 28th (UK), August 29th, 2023 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes 26 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

"In the dead of night, Elisabeth is rescued from unknown pursuers by Robert and taken to safety. But, after she is kidnapped and taken to an austere clinic whose distressed and abused patients are suffering from progressive memory loss, Robert sets out to find her and discover what is taking place in the clinic." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “The Night of the Hunted was scanned, restored and color corrected in 4K HDR at Filmfinity, London, using original 35mm negative and inter-negative film materials. Phoenix image-processing tools were used to remove many thousands of instances of dirt, eliminate scratches and other imperfections, as well as repair damaged and missing frames. No grain management, edge enhancement or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image in any way."

The Night of the Hunted comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.7 GB

Feature: 52.5 GB

The source used for this transfer looks exceptional. Image clarity, depth, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated and at times vivid, and grain remains intact; the image always looks organic.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in French with removable English subtitles. This audio track is in great shape. Dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (54 images - stills/other promotional materials/home video art), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), inserts and alternative scenes: soft scene #1 (5 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with music from The Night of the Hunted playing in the background), soft scene #2 (2 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with music from The Night of the Hunted playing in the background) and a hardcore excerpt from Filles traquées (9 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with music from The Night of the Hunted playing in the background), an interview with actor Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and actress Brigitte Lahaie titled Le Pont (4 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an appreciation by author and musician Stephen Thrower titled The Gulf of Emptiness (20 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles for French film clips), archival interview with actor Alain Plumey titled Alain Plumey at the Museum of Eroticism (14 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Jean Rollin titled Jean Rollin on The Night of the Hunted (2 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a newly edited archival interview with Brigitte Lahaie titled A Delectable Presence (15 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a newly edited archival interview with producer Lionel Wallmann titled Forty Years Together (16 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles for French film clips), an updated making of documentary titled Perdues: La Nuit des traquées (19 minutes 45 seocnds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival introduction by Jean Rollin (1 minute 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival selected scenes audio commentary with Jean Rollin (49 minutes 38 seconds, in English, no subtitles), an archival selected scenes audio commentary with Jean Rollin and Brigitte Lahaie (49 minutes 54 seconds, in French with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film expert Tim Lucas, and an 80-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Silence, Memory: The Ragtag Origins and Beauty of The Night of the Hunted written by Ruairí McCann, an archival writing by Jean Rollin titled The Making of The Night of the Hunted, an archival interview with actor Brigitte Lahaie, The Naked and the Dead: an archival interview with Jean Rollin, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

Directed by Jean Rollin, a filmmaker whose career spanned five decades. His films are known for their fantasy and erotic elements. Notable films he directed are The Iron Rose, Lips of Blood, and The Night of the Hunted.

The narrative revolves around a woman who’s been exposed to an environmental accident that affects her ability to remember and tries to escape from a mysterious clinic.

Though Jean Rollin is most remembered for directing erotic horror films, most of his films are overflowing with fantastical elements and surrealism. And there is no Jean Rollin film where these two elements are more prominent than The Night of the Hunted.

Content-wise, The Night of the Hunted has many of the elements that have become synonymous with body horror cinema. The premise of the film revolves around an environmental accident that leaves the infected with a deteriorating memory. Another area where the premise excels is how it goes beyond memory loss by putting a spotlight on how memory loss affects one’s ability to control their body.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of The Night of the Hunted is its performance. Though the cast is primarily made up of X cinema actors and actors with limited experience, the performances overall are actually very effective, especially Brigitte Lahaie (Fascination) in the role of Elysabeth, a woman whose initial escape from the mysterious clinic exposes what’s going on there. She delivers an expressive performance that perfectly captures her character’s blank state of mind.

From a production standpoint, The Night of the Hunted takes full advantage of its limited resources. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to its central location—a black tower that houses the environmental accident victims. Also, there’s a sufficient amount of gore, and though there’s an ample amount of erotica, it never goes beyond soft-core.

Not to be overlooked are the visuals and how they exploit the black tower location. Another strength of the visuals is how drastically different they look compared to any other Jean Rollin film. Most notably, when it comes to the way scenes are lit,

Standout moments visually include a scene where a woman’s lack of motor function skills causes her to spill her soup on her face, a scene where the doctor's pervert assistant is having his way with a woman patient and another patient comes along, cracks his skull, and blood drips on the woman’s face, and a poetic finale that is Jean Rollin’s best ending. Ultimately, not only is The Night of the Hunted a unique film in regards to the other films Jean Rollin directed, it is arguably his most underrated film.

The Night of the Hunted makes its way to 4K UHD via a definitive release from Powerhouse Films, highly recommended.

Note: This release is a limited edition of 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

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