Single White Female appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though it remained a product of its era, this was a largely appealing presentation.
Sharpness worked fine. Interiors tended to seem a little soft, but in general, delineation seemed adequate, with good accuracy most of the time. I saw no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and both edge haloes and print flaws remained absent.
In terms of palette, the film favored some chilly blues and earthy reds. The colors tended to feel a little heavy – not unusual for the era – but they were more than acceptable.
Blacks seemed deep and dark, and shadows displayed nice smoothness and detail, even though we did get some softness in those low-light shots. Though the movie showed its age, it offered a reasonably positive image.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack, it worked okay for its vintage. Given the movie’s ambitions, the mix didn’t shoot for much, but it added a little zest to the proceedings.
Music showed good stereo presence, and the various channels contributed reasonable engagement to the side and rear. Nothing excelled, but the soundscape gave us a bit of breadth.
Audio quality also seemed fine. Speech was reasonably natural and concise, while music showed acceptable pep and clarity.
Effects brought us accurate enough material. This was never a memorable track, but it suited the story.
We get a decent mix of extras, and these start with an audio commentary from director Barbet Schroeder, editor Lee Percy and associate producer Susan Hoffman. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at sets and locations, cast and performances, story/characters, music, editing and related topics.
While not a terrible chat, the commentary becomes a disappointment. The participants often focus on fairly tangential subjects and they don’t give us a ton of insight. We learn enough about the movie to make the track worth a listen, but it fails to deliver a lot of substance and it becomes less involving as it goes.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we find four interviews. The first comes from director Barbet Schroeder and delivers a 27-minute, 20-second look at what led him to the project, story and themes, the source novel and its adaptation, cast and performances, sets and photography, editing, and the film’s release.
Inevitably, some of the information from the commentary repeats here. Nonetheless, Barbet offers a lot of good notes, and he makes this a frank, enjoyable piece, one that I think brings much better material than the mediocre commentary.
Next comes an interview with screenwriter Don Roos. In his 25-minute, 41-second piece, he discusses aspects of his career and how he got this film, adapting the source, aspects of the script and various storytelling techniques, cast, characters and performances, working with Schroeder, and other elements of his experience.
Again, we find a valuable chat. Roos seems honest and expansive as he goes over his time on the film.
The final two interviews come from performers, so we hear from actor Peter Friedman (7:17) and actor Steven Weber (19:41). Across these, they go over how they got onto the film and their characters/performances as well as aspects of their time on the shoot.
Given its extra running time, it comes as no surprise that Weber’s chat offers the highest level of information. Both pieces work pretty well, though, and give us useful notes from the actors’ perspectives.
One of the best-known “psycho woman” thrillers, Single White Female turns into a decent effort but not better than that. While its cast adds class, the movie seems too rote to turn into anything really impactful. The Blu-ray comes with mostly positive picture and audio as well as a useful collection of supplements. Female keeps us with it but doesn’t rise to a level of greatness.