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MOVIE INFO

Director:
Robert Wise
Cast:
Marsha Mason, Anthony Hopkins, John Beck
Writing Credits:
Frank De Felitta

Synopsis:
A stranger attempts to convince a happily married couple that their daughter is actually his daughter reincarnated.

MPAA:
Rated PG.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio:
English LPCM Monaural
Subtitles:
English
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 113 min.
Price: $39.95
Release Date: 11/8/2022

Bonus:
• Audio Commentary with Film Critic Jon Towlson
• “Faith and Fraud” Featurette
• “Never Birth Nor Death” Featurette
• “I’ve Been Here Before” Featurette
• “Investigator” Featurette
• “The Role of a Mother” Featurette
• “Hypnotist” Featurette
• Trailer
• Poster & Stills Gallery


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RELATED REVIEWS


Audrey Rose [Blu-Ray] (1977)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (October 25, 2022)

After the success of 1973’s Exorcist and 1976’s Omen, horror leaned toward stories related to children. In that domain, we find 1977’s Audrey Rose.

Set in New York City, Janice (Marsha Mason) and Bill Templeton (John Beck) live an upscale existence with 11-year-old daughter Ivy (Susan Swift). Creepy encounters occur when a mystery man appears to stalk the family, however.

Eventually the stranger comes into the open and reveals himself to be Elliott Hoover (Anthony Hopkins), a man who lost his daughter Audrey Rose in a car accident 11 years earlier. Elliott believes Ivy exists as the reincarnation of Audrey Rose, and this revelation sends the Templetons down unusual paths.

As implied, Exorcist and Omen led to plenty of cheap imitators, but one enters Rose with expectations it won’t just offer a tacky knock-off. Those hopes come from those involved.

In addition to those mentioned, the cast involves talents like Norman Lloyd and John Hillerman. Throw in legendary director Robert Wise behind the camera and Rose promises something above average for the genre.

Wise would go to the problematic production of 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture next and then essentially retire. He directed one more movie a decade later and then a TV flick 11 years after that, so 1979 essentially represented the end of Wise as a working filmmaker.

Given all the issues he encountered during the creation of the Trek flick, I never really blamed Wise for its lackluster nature. However, when presented with the sluggish and dull Rose, I start to reassess that viewpoint and wonder if Wise deserves more blame for Trek’s flaws than I previously issued.

With two Oscar Best Pictures - and corresponding Best Director awards – under his belt, Wise enjoyed a great 1960s. Toss in 1963’s classic The Haunting and even with a notable flop like 1968’s Star, Wise experienced major success that decade.

1971’s Andromeda Strain experiences a good reputation, but I admit I don’t get its appeal, as the movie doesn’t really work for me. 1975’s Hindenburg worked better than it probably should, though, and becomes arguably Wise’s best effort from the 1970s.

Given Wise’s positive background in the horror/thriller genre, I hoped he’d work some magic with Rose. Unfortunately, the end result feels surprisingly devoid of drama and turns into a slow chore to watch.

Rose brings a 113-minute movie that probably should clock in around 90 minutes, tops. It simply dawdles too much as it drags through its plot.

For instance, Rose uses a lot of real estate as it builds toward the reveal of Elliott’s purpose. In theory, this could bring tension, but the flick makes Elliott so bland and toothless that he doesn’t come across as the threat he needs to add impact to this first act.

As such, we simply wait impatiently for the Big Twist to emerge. Rose doesn’t build its characters or situations in a particularly engaging manner during that period, so we become impatient.

Matters don’t improve notable once Elliott makes his beliefs/purpose known. We find some intriguing concepts but Wise presents them in a banal manner that strips the film of much impact.

Indeed, Rose often seems more interested in a semi-philosophical discussion of life after death than in its narrative development. At one point, the tale abruptly shifts to a courtroom setting, and that appears to exist mainly to discuss reincarnation.

None of this creates an engaging story, and inconsistent performances don’t help. On the positive side, Hopkins offers a nicely understated turn as Elliott, a character who needs a sense of grounding if the audience won’t view him as an irrational kook.

On the other hand, Mason overacts a storm. Mason earned an Oscar for her other 1977 film, The Goodbye Girl, and she displayed similar over the top work there.

Given the movie’s general flaws, Mason doesn’t really damage Rose, but her scenery-chewing work doesn’t help, either. Young Swift also seems cartoony as Ivy and turns into another weak link.

In the end, Audrey Rose feels more like a weepy soap opera tale than a creepy supernatural story. Despite ample talent involved, the movie bores.


The Disc Grades: Picture B/ Audio B-/ Bonus B-

Audrey Rose appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a largely fine transfer.

Sharpness appeared clear and concise. On occasion some shots looked slightly soft or hazy, but these instances did not occur frequently, and I suspect they reflected the source photography. Nonetheless, the majority of the film was crisp and detailed.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and edge enhancement seemed absent. Grain felt natural and showed no signs of artificial reduction, and outside of a couple small specks, print flaws didn’t mar the proceedings.

Note that some stock footage – especially of Indian locations – came with more prominent defects. However, I didn’t factor those into my grade since they came from the source.

Rose featured a palette that leaned toward an autumnal brown-red – with some pink/purples connected to Ivy - and brought appealing colors within those choices. The tones seemed accurate and full.

Black levels appeared deep and dense, and shadow detail also was usually clear and without excessive darkness. This became a pretty good presentation.

The LPCM monaural audio of Rose held up fairly well over the last 45 years. Speech came across as warm and natural, with no issues of edginess or intelligibility along the way.

Effects appeared fairly full and dynamic, and they didn’t suffer from any distortion or other problems. Music also was reasonably bright and rich, with pretty nice range. For a monaural soundtrack from 1977, Rose seemed satisfying.

As we move to extras, we open with an audio commentary from film critic Jon Towlson. He offers a running, screen-specific look at the source novel and its adaptation, story and characters, cast and crew, genre domains and themes, and various production domains.

Towlson offers a generally good commentary, though I think he spends too much time on genre-mates like Exorcist than necessary, as it occasionally feels like he forgets to discuss Rose itself. Nonetheless, Towlson’s mix of production notes and interpretation makes this a pretty solid chat.

Some video programs follow, and Faith and Fraud runs 18 minutes, 49 seconds. It offers a chat with magician/escape artist Adam Cardone.

“Faith” examines the concept of reincarnation as well as its use in the film and related topics. Cardone seems a little too much like the slick showman he is to become especially engaging in this domain, but he offers some decent thoughts.

Never Birth Nor Death goes for four minutes, 27 seconds and compares NYC locations circa 1977 to the same spots in 2022. It shows side-by-side views of the movie shots and those places today. This makes it an interesting perspective.

With I’ve Been Here Before, we get a “visual essay” from film critic Lee Gambin. It spans 17 minutes, 30 seconds and discusses reincarnation in films. Gambin moves the piece at a good pace and gives us a nice overview of the topic.

Investigator provides an 11-minute, 37-second interview with author/screenwriter Frank De Felitta. He looks at aspects of his career and work in this moderately informative chat.

Next comes The Role of a Mother, a 17-minute, 55-second conversation with actor Marsha Mason. She covers what drew her to Rose as well as aspects of her experiences in this reasonably engaging piece.

Hypnotist fills 16 minutes, 53 seconds with statements from film music historian Daniel Schweiger as he examines the movie’s score and its composer, Michael Small. Schweiger hits on the appropriate notes in this useful reel.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a Poster and Stills Gallery. It includes 107 elements that mix movie shots, behind the scenes images and advertisements. Most show banal film pics, so don’t expect a lot from these.

Despite Oscar winners both in front of and behind the camera, Audrey Rose offers a surprisingly flat supernatural tale. The movie limps across its 113 minutes and never really engages the viewer. The Blu-ray offers positive picture and audio as well as a collection of bonus materials. Expect a dull disappointment here.

Viewer Film Ratings: 2 Stars Number of Votes: 1
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