Stendhal Syndrome, The (Blue Underground LE Blu-ray Review)

Blu-ray Distributed By: Blue Underground / July 25, 2017

DARIO ARGENTO’S Masterpiece Of Terror – Uncut, Uncensored And Newly Remastered!

When beautiful police detective Anna Manni follows the bloody trail of a sophisticated serial murderer/rapist through the streets of Italy, the young woman falls victim to the bizarre “Stendhal Syndrome” – a hallucinatory phenomenon which causes her to lose her mind and memory in the presence of powerful works of art. Trapped in this twilight realm, Anna plunges deeper and deeper into sexual psychosis, until she comes to know the killer’s madness more intimately than she ever imagined.

Horror maestro Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA, OPERA) reaches new heights of florid fantasy and Grand Guignol with this warped work of art starring Maxim Magazine’s “Sexiest Woman in the World” Asia Argento (LAND OF THE DEAD, XXX), Thomas Kretschmann (DRACULA 3D, KING KONG) and Marco Leonardi (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3, CINEMA PARADISO). Previously edited outside of Italy, Blue Underground proudly presents THE STENDHAL SYNDROME in a gorgeous new 2K restoration from the original camera negative and bursting with brand-new Extras exclusive to this release!

Special Features:

Disc 1 Extras:

NEW Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse
Three Shades Of Asia – NEW Interview with Star Asia Argento
Prisoner Of Art – NEW Interview with Co-Writer Franco Ferrini
Sharp As A Razor – NEW Interview with Special Makeup Artist Franco Casagni
Theatrical Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery

Disc 2 Extras:

Director: Dario Argento
Inspiration: Psychological Consultant Graziella Magherini
Special Effects: Sergio Stivaletti
Assistant Director: Luigi Cozzi
Production Designer: Massimo Antonello Geleng

Disc 3:

DVD Copy of the Feature Film

Jamie:	(3.0 / 5)
Jimbo:	(3.0 / 5)
Craig:	(3.5 / 5)
Average:	(3.2 / 5)

Jamie’s Take

Remember the heyday of the gloriously gruesome 1980’s when film directors would churn out classic after classic? John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, George Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, Lucio Fulci, and of course, Dario Argento all were at the top of their career during that decade. Argento, whose career started in the 70’s, made several wonderful films all of which are now classics such as Deep Red, Susperia, Tenebrae, Phenomena, and Opera.

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Like his contemporaries, once the 1990’s started, the quality of his films suddenly dropped. While I would love to write a paper or a journal entry about the decline of horror starting in the 1990’s, this is not the place to do so. I am here to review Blue Underground’s gorgeous transfer of the humorless and slightly disappointing The Stendhal Syndrome, a surreal horror film that seems to lose steam mid-way through the film.

Argento’s own daughter Asia Argento stars as Anna, a pretty young woman who is searching for someone or something in Florence’s Galleria deli Uffizi. She becomes hypnotized by the gorgeous paintings, faints and suffers temporary amnesia. Not knowing exactly who she is or what she does, she soon pieces together clues that leads her to remember that she is a police officer tracking down a serial rapist who is now starting to murder his victims.

Anna eventually meets the rapist, Alfredo (Thomas Kretschmann from 2005’s King Kong remake), a blonde and good looking, but overall crazed psychopath. Alfredo shoots a victim point blank in the face in front of Anna before he rapes and beats her. Rolling a razor blade inside his mouth, he eventually uses the blade to slice Anna’s lips and taste her blood. It is quite sick and may turn off some sensitive viewers.

For those that have seen a few horror films, it is fairly obvious how the third act ends and what the twist will be as we see Anna again and again taking pills, showing signs of sudden personality changes, etc. That may be one of my biggest complaints with The Stendhal Syndrome is that there is no surprise or shock ending. In fact, her confrontation with Alfredo feels like the film’s climax when it happens only in the middle of the film.

Maybe my love for Argento’s earlier horrific films has somehow muddled my opinion of The Stendhal Syndrome. The 1990’s seemed to have been flooded by serial killer films. Thanks to the success of Silence of the Lambs, by 1996 this type of thriller seemed old hat. Maybe if The Stendhal Syndrome was more closer to a giallo, I may have enjoyed the film more. Not to mention, throwing in strange CGI POV shots, like pills being swallowed or bullets traveling through flesh. It is not only dated but unnecessary, coming off as silly. Thus pulling the viewer out of the film.

I did enjoy the brave performance by, then 21 year old, Asia Argento who is quite good as Anna. Originally Papa Argento wanted Bridget Fonda for the role when he was going to shoot the film in the U.S. and before the funding fell through. While Fonda is a great actress, I think shooting in Italy and using the talented young Argento was the right choice, giving the film a more mysterious aura. In fact, I think if the film was more non-linear, the movie could have played much better instead of the typical and predictable serial killer story-line.

Blue Underground once again has released a stellar blu ray package, a 3 disc set that is well worth the price. Fans may still have nightmares over the Troma DVD that was released years ago. Even the 2007 DVD by Blue Underground wasn’t perfect. Ten years later, this is the version one will want.

The transfer is downright gorgeous. The transfer is a 2K restoration from the original camera negative. It boasts beautiful bright colors, still retains the film grain but never looks fuzzy or soft. I even caught myself muttering to myself during the opening sequence how gorgeous the transfer looked. Blue Underground has caused me on several occasions to talk to myself as they continue to impress with their transfers.

The audio tracks are just as good, giving the viewer three options: a brand new 7.1 DTS soundtrack, the 5.1 dolby digital surround soundtrack, and the Italian 2.0 DTS soundtrack.

Please note, there is a small minor compression issue regarding the English dub, where a few lines of dialog are suddenly missing, including a scream. Blue Underground had this to say:

“Recently, we were made aware of a minor compression issue and 2 bits of missing audio (English version only) on the new STENDHAL SYNDROME Blu-ray. We investigated and have now corrected the Blu-ray. We will be offering a replacement V2 disc for those with concerns about the aforementioned issues.

If you purchased the new 3-DISC LIMITED EDITION and the Blu-ray disc art does not have “V2” on it, you may request a replacement Blu-ray Disc by emailing us at StendhalBDreplacement@gmail.com. You MUST include the following information in your email to qualify for a replacement disc:

Your Name

Mailing address

Copy of receipt showing purchase of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME 3-Disc Limited Edition

The V2 Blu-ray Discs will be available to mail out in approximately 4 weeks. We thank you for your continued support and patience!”

The new special features include an audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly So Perverse, who gives some great insight on the making of the film and admits that this is not one of Argento’s most fondly remembered films (even though Howarth praises it any chance he gets).

There are also new interviews with Asia Argento, co-writer Franco Ferrini, and make up artist Franco Casagni. Asia still looks amazing and even gets choked up talking about the film and how it holds a special place for her. Finally the theatrical trailer and poster / still gallery are included as well. The third disc in the set is a DVD of the film along with the new special features, for those of you who still watch only DVD’s (what is wrong with you people?).

While it doesn’t hold a candle to his earlier films, Dario Argento’s thriller The Stendhal Syndrome is worth a look as it does have a few decent scares, a great soundtrack (Ennio Morricone!) and a suburb performance by the lead actress.

Jimbo’s Take

This review is based on the corrected “V2” version described in Jamie‘s review above.

There still appears to be much discussion around the internet regarding the technical aspects of Blue Underground’s The Stendhal Syndrome. As described in Jamie’s review, there was an image compression issue that appears to have been rectified with the new “V2” disc. However, discussions regarding audio problems remain. The missing dialogue from the initial release have been addressed in “V2”. However many are still complaining about missing sound effects, including the “missing scream”.

Since this is my first viewing experience with The Stendhal Syndrome I cannot presume to be an authority on the matter. Therefore, the complaints I’ve described above will largely only impact the die-hard fans who know better. Those of us watching The Stendhal Syndrome for the first time won’t even notice. That’s not to say I didn’t find something annoying about the “fixed” V2 release.

The Blu-ray includes three Italian audio tracks (7.1 DTS-HD, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, 2.0 DTS-HD) and three English audio tracks (7.1 DTS-HD, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, 2.0 DTS-HD). There are two scenes where the audio is only spoken in Italian, even on the English tracks. I checked all seven tracks (including the audio commentary) and these two scenes only have dialogue in Italian. But that’s not the problem. Bear with me as this takes some explaining.

If you don’t speak Italian, the Blu-ray does include English subtitles. For example, if you select “Play” without making any additional setup modifications, the Blu-ray defaults to Italian 7.1 DTS-HD with “English for Italian Audio” tracks. The Blu-ray “setup” page lists a total of two English subtitle tracks (English for Italian Audio, English SDH). In both cases, English subtitles will be present for the entirety of the film. The English SDH track is for the deaf and hearing impaired and also provides sound descriptions.

However, there is a hidden third English subtitle track that cannot be accessed through the discs main menu. It can only be accessed through your remote’s subtitle button. This option provides English subtitles for only the two scenes with spoken Italian. Therefore, to avoid fumbling for the remote during the two Italian speaking scenes, you must do the following.

Once the film is playing, press the subtitle button on your remote to make sure that the 2nd English subtitle track is selected. Track 1 is the “English for Italian Audio” track. Track 3 is the English SDH track for the deaf and hearing impaired. You must select Track 2 if you want a 100% uninterrupted experience with any of the English language tracks.

It’s a minor oversight that creates a huge nuisance, and one that will surely piss off a lot of people. At the end of the day, I got over it pretty quickly. However, if you’re looking for a perfect release it doesn’t exist (yet). At best you can keep your old DVDs and VHS tapes to remind yourself of the differences. Now then, my opinion on the film itself…

Asia Argento is quite wonderful in The Stendhal Syndrome. Her pain and anguish is palpable. Especially during the opening sequences, she looks innocent and confused, and the character’s pain is insufferable during the rape scenes. But I have to part ways with Mr. Klein on one small aspect.

I don’t believe Ms. Argento is a police detective for a New York minute. She looks like a child and I think she is miscast, even though her overall performance is strong. I would have preferred to see Bridget Fonda in the roll. I think she could have pulled off being a cop, and convey the dichotomy of strength and frailty while getting brutalized by her attacked. Alas we will never see that film, so I digress.

Though the film is not highly regarded compared to Dario Argento’s earlier works, it is clear he was still master of his craft. Despite the dated CGI effects, Argento’s skill with combining composition, color, music, and performance allows him to create some memorable sequences. In the early moments of the film, Anna literally appears to submerge into a painting. She hallucinates diving deep into the ocean and kissing a large fish. The scene is strangely disturbing but exotic and beautiful at the same time.

I think Jamie is correct on his analysis of the script. Even if you’re not a longtime “horror hound” most movie going audiences are pretty adept at mysteries. It’s getting harder and harder to fool audiences. Unlike Argento’s Freshman film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, where the mystery is sustained until the bitter end, The Stendhal Syndrome does a terrible job of leading the viewer away from the obvious. Even some of our more recent reviews, like Double Exposure, succeeded in concealing the twist even if the methods weren’t perfect.

All of this considered, I still very much recommend Blue Underground’s The Stendhal Syndrome. The technical problems will be too much for some to overcome. However, the film has never looked and sounded better. The extras are plentiful and amazing, and for goodness sake, it’s Dario Argento! Maybe it’s not his best, but it’s good Argento. Very few filmmakers could make a successful and disturbing rape thriller starring their own flesh and blood. Buyers will need to make up their own minds if they can live with the disc imperfections.