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Single White Female (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (4th July 2024). |
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The Film
 Bridget Fonda (Jackie Brown, A Simple Plan) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hitcher, The Hateful Eight) star in Barbet Schroeder’s (Reversal of Fortune, Mad Men) erotic psychological thriller Single White Female. When Allie (Fonda) breaks off her engagement, she is delighted to find a supportive new roommate in Hedy (Leigh). But when Hedy's behaviour becomes increasingly obsessive, and a series of violent events begin to occur, Allie fears that Hedy is not all she claims to be. Beautifully photographed by Luciano Tovoli (The Passenger, Suspiria), and with a powerful score by Howard Shore (The Silence of the Lambs, Videodrome), Single White Female is one of the most stylish suspense thrillers of the nineties.
Video
An utterly formulaic, overheated, melodramatic Hollywood thriller made in the wake of Fatal Attraction and Lady Beware (both 1987), this has been a popular favourite with the public since release. It's watchable enough but doesn't really provide anyone with any surprises. Solid production values and a game cast lend it whatever value it has. At the time of writing this, I've not been provided with a PDF of the booklet (as is usually the case) so I can't comment on the source of the transfer beyond the fact it's from Sony, who're usually excellent in their restorations. Older Blu-rays seem to have been sourced from an older master, this may be from a newer one ... we shall have to wait and see. I'll update this review when I get the PDF. It's the '90s so we're still on film and in the case of Barbet Shroeder's thriller, 35mm. As a consequence we have punchy contrast and plentiful vibrant colour and film grain. The film has always looked rich in it's colour palette with a warm cast that favours reds, browns and healthy ruddy flesh tones. There's a satisfying amount of colour gel work, which I always like and it looks great here (deep blues, reds etc). Black levels are velvety and deep with no unintended crush that I could see, in other words that wasn't a part of the original cinematography. Film grain is satisfying and present to varying degrees throughout and is mostly fine. Overall the film does look soft by design and detail is mostly strong, obviously more-so in closeups but the image is no slouch overall ('A'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.851 / 107:53
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (48kHz) Subtitles: English HoH Although ostensibly made in Dolby Stereo (see IMDB and on the print itself), the track isn't very impressive at all when played through ProLogic II. It's a standard 2.0 stereo track and not prepped for surround, so in order to get the separations etc one needs to push the track through the amp in a way to access the surround effects. The dialogue, which should be kept largely in the front bleeds through into the rear channels as do other sounds. If I had to guess I'd say it might even be a mono downmix, but those don't usually produce any surround activity at all when ProLogic II is used. Here it just sounds like the sounds are bleeding heavily from the front. This issue aside, as it's in effect a mono track (I could hear no directionality along the front sound stage either) the film is well served with decent range for mono. That said the subwoofer did rumble a little at times. The hard of hearing subtitles are excellent as usual. Considering the film is supposed to be in 2.0 stereo, overall I rate it 'C+'. The issue may be a fault somehow but it could also just be a substandard 2.0 stereo track. I've never had any of the prior discs to compare.
Extras
Audio commentary by director Barbet Schroeder, editor Lee Percy and associate producer Susan Hoffman (2018) Produced for the initial US Shout! factory blu-ray release this is a solid track with three key participants in the making of the film. An easy listen, plenty of info and trivia is to be had. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) and with no subtitles. A disclaimer appears on screen before the track plays (I didn't notice the issue mentioned to an extent it caused me any problems): The following audio commentary was produced for a previous home video presentation. From time to time, the volume levels in the original mix are such that the film audio sometimes obscures the participants' comments. "New York Interview: Barbet Schroeder" 2018 interview (27:20) "She'll Follow You Anywhere: Anna Bogutskaya on Single White Female" 2024 interview (25:51) "SWF Seeks Writer" 2018 interview with screenwriter Don Roos (25:41) "The Fiancé: Sam Rawson" 2018 interview with actor Steven Weber (19:41) "Upstairs with Graham Knox" 2018 interview with actor Peter Friedman (7:17) Collectively a series of pieces that total 105:50. The 2018 featurettes were made for the Shout disc and are a decent collection of interviews covering the production. The new interview has film historian and author Bogutskaya who discusses the whole erotic thriller sub genre that began in the '80s, it's connections to film noir, elements of homophobia and how genre also fared in the era of home video and on into the '90s. All are presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) and with no subtitles. Theatrical Trailer (2:03) Vintage promo presented open matte in 1080p24 1.37:1 with uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mono sound (48kHz, 24-bit). Single White Female Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (48 images) Nice HD gallery of promotional images. Liner notes book with a new essay by Georgia Humphreys, archival essays, a contemporary article on the making of the film and full film credits At the time of writing this hadn't sent . However, I have yet to come across a substandard booklet from Powerhouse Films and I've covered the vast majority of their releases since virtually day one.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
The venerable video favourite, and 1992 box office success, Single White female gets the deluxe treatment by Powerhouse Films for UK-only release. Image is strong, but sound is problematic (see above). Extras are mostly ported across from the 2018 US Shout! Factory special edition and are very good. Powerhouse have added a chunky new film historian interview that's well worth your time. Provided the sound track isn't faulty, this is another great release and fans of the film should be pleased ('B').
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