By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The disc releases of this torturous and deviant witchfinding saga are fully loaded with new and archival special features.
Blue Underground has announced a March 26 release date for Jess Franco’s 1970 shocker NIGHT OF THE BLOOD MONSTER (a.k.a. THE BLOODY JUDGE) on 4K UHD + Blu-ray and Blu-ray-only editions. Christopher Lee stars as notorious 17th-century witchfinder Judge Jeffreys, who becomes obsessed–of course–with a beautiful young woman (Maria Rohm). Howard Vernon, Margaret Lee, Maria Schell and Leo Genn co-star amidst what Lee himself once called “scenes of extraordinary depravity.” The film will be presented in its most complete, uncensored version, restored from European vault elements with a brand new Dolby Vision HDR 4K master, in 2.35:1 widescreen with English 1.0 DTS-HD MA audio. Both the UHD and the Blu-ray will include no less than three audio commentaries, by film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, film historians Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw and film historians David Flint and Adrian Smith. Other special features on the Blu-ray are:
- Bloody Jess: Interviews with Director Jess Franco and Star Christopher Lee
- Judgement Day: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of MURDEROUS PASSIONS: THE DELIRIOUS CINEMA OF JESS FRANCO
- In The Shadows: Interviews with Filmmaker Alan Birkinshaw and Author Stephen Thrower on Producer Harry Alan Towers
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes
- Trailers and TV Spot
- Still Galleries
Retail prices are $49.95 for the UHD/Blu-ray combo, $29.95 for the Blu-ray.
