COLLECTOR'S CRYPT - AUDREY ROSE (ARROW BLU RAY)
What makes something a “horror” movie? Is it the presence of supernatural beings or things? Is it copious amounts of blood and graphic violence? Or is it something far more ambiguous and personal? My money is the latter, which is why we so often see horror mixed with other genres. Horror-comedy, horror-sci-fi, horror-drama, etc are all examples of genre cross-pollination. The reason why horror films lend themselves so well to this kind of boundary meshing is that horror is by its very nature, subjective. One person may be afraid of vampires because the teeth freak them out, and another could be afraid of getting attacked in an empty parking lot. One is not more horrific than the other, but one is far more grounded. A horror movie doesn’t have to be grounded, in fact, some of the best ones aren’t at all. The ones that do contain themselves to the realm of the possible may get under our skin more simply because the likelihood of that thing happening is simply higher due to it being based on reality rather than fiction. The broadness of the horror genre also sometimes means that movies labeled as such invite discussion. Case in point, AUDREY ROSE, the 1977 horror drama has recently been released in a brand new 2K scan courtesy of ARROW VIDEO. Is this supernatural drama worthy of the horror genre association, or is this a classic case of mislabeling?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
All Bill and Jane Templeton wish for is a quiet, peaceful life with their 11-year-old daughter Ivy. But their dreams turn to nightmares as Ivy is besieged first by terrifying 'memories' of events that never occurred... and then by a mysterious stranger who stalks her every move, and claims that Ivy was in fact his daughter in another life.
HOW IS IT?
Calling AUDREY ROSE a straight horror movie would be about as accurate as calling A SERBIAN FILM a comedy, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Taking cues from different genres AUDREY ROSE better resembles a dark 70s Lifetime movie, with a dash of the supernatural. While my expectations for this were slightly different, for no other reason except my own assumptions, the final product is a film that works well in more ways than one just so long as you’re not waiting for something resembling THE EXORCIST or THE OMEN.
Much like other religious-themed “possession” and “anti-christ” films, AUDREY ROSE is less concerned with Christian beliefs and more focused on Western Asian religions and the concept of reincarnation. Much like another film that was reviewed recently in the crypt, COLD HEAVEN, AUDREY ROSE plays it straight and reserves the horror for smaller moments. The difference between Roeg’s film and this one is that this one does a better job of creating tension and is far better-paced, not to mention more interesting. ANTHONY HOPKINS is the most recognizable cast member, and here he is looking young and spry even though his somewhat vacant features give the appearance of someone much older. His role as a grieving father who thinks his dead daughter has been reincarnated in the body of another girl is manic but grounded. While his strategy to get close to the family may seem strange and creepy these days, it makes some sense given the time period that he would have to insert himself into their lives since he couldn’t spy on them digitally. All the performances are solid, with Hopkins performing slightly better than his similarly aged peers, the real star of the show is young SUSAN SWIFT as Ivy…or is it Audrey Rose?
The mystery at the center of the film is to figure out whether or not Ivy is Audrey Rose, or if the insertion of Hopkins’ grieving father combined with the young, malleable mind of the little girl convince Ivy she is Audrey. While we don’t venture into spoilers here in the crypt, I am impressed that the film was able to stick the landing. You see, about an hour into the film it becomes a family courtroom drama to determine if in fact it’s possible that Ivy is Audrey, and from there maintain some sense of custodial rights for her caretaking. While this sounds totally unrealistic in today’s modern world, it isn’t hard to believe that almost 50 years ago a case like this may have made it to higher court. It does bear mentioning that the action and horror here is very light. Most of the scares, if you wanna call them that, come from just observing the torment that Ivy is under when she thinks she is Audrey and how manifestations of physical pain magically appear on her. It’s eerie, but it never ventures into full-blown horror. For some, this may be too much of slow burn to stick with, but if you open to something thoughtful and interesting, even if it’s not that scary, there is a nice film here that is worth at least one watch.
HOW DOES IT LOOK?
When you see ARROW VIDEO attached to a release, you can almost always guarantee a certain level of A/V quality. AUDREY ROSE is no different in that it looks great in 1080p HD in spite of it being 45+ years old. According to ARROW, this is a brand new 2K restoration by from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. What this essentially means is that ARROW restored the original negatives into a new 4K scan, and then did a 2K restoration from that. If that sounds complex it’s because it is, and it’s a lot of effort to put into a release like this given that it’s not the most visually interesting. That said, never look a gift horse in the mouth as this transfer looks great and you can see screen grabs of the film below and used throughout this review.
HOW DOES IT SOUND?
As far as audio options go, ARROW offers the standard single option for the original lossless mono audio along with English subtitles. Honestly, the film doesn’t have enough opportunities to use a surround track since most of the audio is dialogue and backing music. Still, the mono track suffices nicely and is crisp and clean throughout.
ANYTHING SPECIAL?
It is always amazing to me that films with seemingly little fanbase can sometimes have some really exciting supplemental features. This is more on account of the curators and creators at ARROW VIDEO since they are willing to insert adjacently related material that may not always have to do entirely with the film, but is related to it in some way. While I was not able to watch all the supplemental features, I did check out a couple of them for review. The first was Faith and Fraud, a brand new interview with magician Adam Cardone about reincarnation and belief in Audrey Rose. The featurette was just under 19 minutes and covers a lot of ground with it. Adam Cardone is a self-proclaimed “wizard”, but he really means he is a magician who studied con artistry. While I thought this would take a more mystical approach, Cardone is surprisingly grounded on the implications and discussion around if Hopkins’ Hoover character was in fact a con artist. It’s a reading of the film that I didn’t consider, and while it does run a bit long on some things it makes up for it with the sub-half-hour runtime.
The second featurette I took in was Investigator: The Paranormal World of Frank De Felitta, an archive interview with the author and scriptwriter of Audrey Rose. Clocking in at 11:37, this is a great albeit short interview with Frank De Felitta. While he is not someone I would consider a household name, he surely wasn’t for me, his mark on the literary and film world is profound. Starting out in TV documentaries, Frank pivoted after general interest waned in his projects to focus on the writing side versus the production side. Alongside AUDREY ROSE, Frank also wrote THE ENTITY, although someone else directed it. Frank’s story about how he heard about the case that would become THE ENTITY is wild, and certainly worth the watch. The rest of the special features included in this release are listed below.
BONUS MATERIALS
Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative
High Definition (1080p) Blu-Ray presentation
Original lossless mono audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by film critic Jon Towlson
Faith and Fraud, a brand new interview with magician Adam Cardone about reincarnation and belief in Audrey Rose
Then and Now, a brand new featurette looking at the New York locations used in the film
I’ve Been Here Before: archive visual essay by Lee Gambin looking at reincarnation in cinema
Investigator: The Paranormal World of Frank De Felitta, an archive interview with the author and scriptwriter of Audrey Rose
The Role of a Mother, an archive Interview with Marsha Mason
Hypnotist: Inside the score for Audrey Rose, an archive interview with film music historian Daniel Schweiger
Theatrical trailer
Image Gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: fully illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writing by critics Kimberly Lindbergs and Johnny Mains
LAST RITES
AUDREY ROSE is part supernatural family film and part courtroom drama, but it succeeds in telling an interesting and subtle tale about the possibility of reincarnation. Not only does this release look and sound great, it has heaps of special features to keep fans engaged and informed about the production and associated themes in the film. While this may not be for every collector, it will certainly be at home on the shelves of cinephiles and ARROW VIDEO acolytes.
THE GORY DETAILS
Thank you to the fine fiends at MVD ENTERTAINMENT for providing a review copy for the crypt, and you can purchase AUDREY ROSE now via MVD DIRECT or ARROW DIRECT!
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