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Death Carries a Cane - a bit better, ya think?

The new 2-disc special edition of Death Carries a Cane (R2 Austria) arrived this morning. Although it comes in one of those stupid great clamshell cases, and although the first disc is exactly the same as the previous German release of the film, this is in fact not an X-Rated Kult DVD release but instead the product of an Austrian company called Copernicus Film Distribution, who licensed X-Rated's grotty version and threw it in alongside their own new remastered edition. The remastered version is, unsurprisingly, superior in every way, although you don't need me to tell you that: just look at the two pictures below (saucy pictures to warm the cockles of your heart on this cold winter day). Click the images for larger versions.

That's not to say that the new release is particularly great. On the contrary, it has a decidedly "harsh" appearance and features some noticeable compression artefacts as a result of cramming the grainy material on to a single layer disc. Some might be a little concerned at the apparent vertical cropping on the new edition (it is in a ratio of 1.85:1 rather than 1.66:1), but the tighter compositions look more natural to my eyes, suggesting that the previous release was under-matted. Still, it's a great improvement on X-Rated's transfer, which looked as if it had been culled from a third-hand 16mm dupe print that had been stored in a soggy attic for 30 years. I've not had a chance to watch the new disc all the way through, but stay tuned for a possible reappraisal of the film, as well as a full DVD image comparison.

I'll say it again, though: I've got no idea why they bothered licensing the earlier version and including it in this package, when the new version is superior in every way. What a waste of time and money!

PS. German subtitles are forced on the new release when English or Italian audio is selected. Because it's a single-layer disc, viewers with access to a DVD burner can simply reauthor the disc with the subtitles removed and no need for re-encoding, but those who are not in that fortunate position should probably make sure they have a player that can work around forced subtitles before purchasing this. This thread at DVD Maniacs lists a possible workaround, but your mileage may vary.

13:50