The Third Eye appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not stellar, this usually became an appealing presentation.
Sharpness turned into the only relative weak link. While much of the film exhibited nice accuracy and delineation, some shots felt oddly soft.
Did these represent the original photography? Perhaps, but they didn’t come across that way. In any case, these instances remained modest and most of the film looked well-defined.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects arose, and I saw no edge haloes. With a nice layer of grain, I didn’t suspect any egregious noise reduction, and print flaws remained absent.
Blacks felt dark and tight, while low-light shots offered pleasant clarity and smoothness. Except for occasional softness, the disc delivered a solid image.
For its era, the film’s LPCM monaural soundtrack held up reasonably well. As always with Italian production, the dialogue got looped in after the shoot, and that meant the lines could feel somewhat unnatural.
Nonetheless, speech remained concise and without edginess or other issues. Neither music nor effects mustered great range, but both seemed clean and lacked distortion. Given the movie’s age, this became a perfectly decent mix.
Eye included an English dub as well, one that came with subpar voice acting. Choose it if you hate subtitles, but go with the Italian if you want superior performances.
When we shift to extras, we begin with an audio commentary from film critic Rachael Nisbet. She offers a running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, themes and interpretation, cast and crew, genre domains, and some production elements.
When Nisbet focuses on filmmaker notes, this turns into a pretty good track. However, she spends too much time on the movie’s plot and characters.
I appreciate her attempts at insights in those domains, but let’s face it: Eye doesn’t offer a particularly rich tale. There’s enough here to make the commentary worth a listen, but expect ups and downs.
Called The Cold Kiss of Death, “Italian film devotee” Mark Thompson Ashworth delivers a six-minute, 15-second introduction to the film. He gives us basics about the movie in what seems more like a brief overview than a true “introduction” but he adds some good notes.
A visual essay entitled Nostalgia Becomes Necrophilia spans 12 minutes and brings notes from author/filmmaker Lindsay Hallam.
She offers some context, interpretation and film connections but she mainly describes the story. This becomes a spotty piece.
All Eyes on Erika brings a 15-minute, 40-second interview with actor Erika Blanc. She tells us about her experiences during the shoot in this enjoyable chat.
An Image Gallery encompasses four publicity elements. It seems forgettable.
With its tale of a man whose grief drives him mad, The Third Eye comes with a potentially intriguing plot. However, the final product lacks drama or much to sustain the viewer. The Blu-ray comes with generally good picture, adequate audio and a mix of bonus materials. Eye gets some points as a way to see Franco Nero, but the movie itself doesn’t satisfy.
Note that as of September 2022, The Third Eye can be found only as part of a four-film “Gothic Fantastico” collection. The set also includes Lady Morgan’s Vengeance, The Blancheville Monster and The Witch.