Witch Story – Vinegar Syndrome (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1989
Director: Alessandro Capone
Writers: Alessandro Capone, Rosario Galli, Jeff Moldovan
Cast: Amy Adams, Pierre Agostino, Jeff Bankert, Ian Bannen, Charon Butler, Todd Conner, Jon Freda, Suzanne Law, Jason M. Lefkowitz, Deanna Lund, Christopher Peacock, Michele Peacock, Nancie Sanderson

Release Date: April 23rd, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 97 Minutes 13 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English, DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $54.98

"Following the tragic death of their parents, a sister and brother take a group of friends to rural Florida to stay at a rickety old house which they’ve recently inherited. Little do the youngsters realize that some decades before, a woman suspected of being a witch was burned at the stake on the property by the zealous townsfolk. With the group settled in for a few days of drinking and partying, the demonic forces that reside in the house are quick to take hold - possessing a number of the teens and prompting them to take up knives, axes and chainsaws against their friends in an orgy of death and dismemberment. As the carnage escalates, the few remaining members of the group are forced to seek out the assistance of a local aged priest, in the hopes of putting an end to the horror." - synopsis provided by the distributor

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

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

Witch Story comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 59.2 GB

Feature: 58.9 GB

The source looks excellent; color saturation, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Witch Story comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.7 GB

Feature: 27.5 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Stereo English), 3.75/5 DTS-HD Mono Italian)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian. The English-language track sounds more robust than the Italian-language track. There are background hiss and sibilance issues on the English language track. Dialog comes through clearly and ambient sounds are well represented. Included are removable English SDH for the English language track. 

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background, raw audition footage (45 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival making-of documentary titled An Italian Witch in Florida featuring interviews with director Alessandro Capone, cinematographer Roberto Girometti and composer Carlo Maria Cordio (44 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Roberto Girometti titled The Light of Witches (11 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with producer Giuseppe Pedersoli titled Producing the Witch (33 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Alessandro Capone titled Directing a Witch Story (32 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Eugenio Ercolani. 

Other extras include reversible cover art, and a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo limited to 6,000 units.

Summary:

A group of friends stay at a dilapidated house that two of them inherited. Not aware of the house’s past, things quickly take a turn for the worse when the ghost of a witch who used to live there seeks revenge for her execution.

By the late 1980s, Italian horror cinema was a shadow of its former self. Case in point: Witch Story, a late 1980’s Italian horror film mostly shot in Florida by a first-time filmmaker—what could go wrong? Despite having many elements that one expects from Italian horror cinema, like stylish visuals and gory death sequences, Witch Story is a film with many shortcomings. Notably, its anemic narrative is too predictable.

The cast is mostly made up of first-time actors and actresses, many of whom never acted again. Even the presence of Ian Bannen (The Flight of the Phoenix), the most famous member of the cast, is not enough to save Witch Story. The most memorable performances are by Deanna Lund in the role of Helena, a witch who is burned to death by an angry mob, and Suzanne Law in the role of Helena’s daughter, whose ghost haunts the house.

Italian horror cinema made in the mid- to late-80s had a formula; most of these films revolved around a group of friends, teenagers, or those in their early 20s who were confronted by a supernatural horror. And though some of these were very good, like Demons, far too many were forgettable. Ultimately, The Witch Story falls into the latter category.

Witch Story gets a first-rate release from Vinegar Syndrome that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an abundance of extras.

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