'Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält' / 'Mark of the Devil' Austrian Blu-ray

[WJB]

I've already posted this over at HTF, but I thought it would be of interest here as well - a topic for the new limited-edition of this cult horror film, released by Turbine in Austria.

Mine arrived today, and is numbered 3127 from a limited edition of 5000.

A wonderful gatefold cover, covered in great artwork and vintage advertising materials.

3 discs (1 BD, 2 DVDs).


Disc 1 (BD):

- Uncut version of the film in 1.66:1 OAR.
- Audio commentary from director Michael Armstrong (English friendly, from the 2004 Anchor Bay DVD)
- New video commentary with Udo Kier, Gaby Fuchs, Percy Hoven, Dieter Menz, Wigbert Wicker & Uwe Huber. (NOT English friendly. Unfortunately no subtitles are provided for this commentary, which is a shame).
- Poster & Stills gallery
- Music video from the band Get Well Soon. It's a song that features Michael Holm's music heavily.
- US & German theatrical trailers
- An amazing 6-minute reel of outtakes, deleted scenes, scene extensions & alternate angles, accompanied by the film's score. (Unfortunately, the original ending isn't part of it, but it offers some other gems, including a much more graphic version of the Baron's beheading.)

The main feature offers English 5.1 DTS-HD & 2.0 DD tracks, as well as German 5.1 DTS-HD & 2.0 DD tracks. It also offers German subtitles & German HOH subtitles. There are no forced subtitles on the English version. It's worth noting that selection of the German soundtrack allows seamless-branching of the original German title sequence, which I've definitely never seen before.


Disc 2 (DVD):

- The film in SD


Disc 3 (DVD):

- This disc seems to contain NON-English friendly version of all the interview featurettres that were on the 2004 Anchor Bay disc, plus an interesting audio interview with Herbert Lom IN ENGLISH.


Overall:

The film looks absolutely fantastic in HD. Not only has the picture been cleaned-up considerably, but there is a huge amount of extra picture information on all 4 sides. Apart from the title sequence that still looks awful, the rest of the film is wonderful, with a healthy amount of grain, excellent and vibrant colours, and amazing detail.

Using my multi-zone player, I've confirmed that this disc is encoded for ZONE B PLAYBACK ONLY.

I'd highly recommend this disc. It looks great, it has great packaging, and some interesting extras. If you speak German, then you can also enjoy the video-commentary, which looks like it would be a lot of fun. The only drawback for US buyers is the zone-B encoding.

I purchased my copy from an Austrian mail-order company: www.dtm.at

[x666x]

I am expecting mine to come in any day now. Can't wait. Despite the lack of subtitles for the extras, the packaging was just too good to pass up.

[WJB]

Originally Posted by x666x

I am expecting mine to come in any day now. Can't wait. Despite the lack of subtitles for the extras, the packaging was just too good to pass up.

I agree - the packaging is great. Despite the lack of subtitles for the video commentary, it's worth having for the amazing transfer and the outtakes reel. Until Blue Underground decides to release a BD, this will be the definitive version.