June's Blu-ray of the Month: The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)

"In 1970, young first-time director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) made his indelible mark on Italian cinema with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage a film which redefined the 'giallo' genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted him to international stardom.



Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante, We Own the Night), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw that night holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorizing Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo)...



A staggeringly assured debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage establishes the key traits that would define Argento's filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive, brutal scenes of violence. With sumptuous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and a seductive score by legendary composer Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West), this landmark film has never looked or sounded better in this new, 4K-restored limited edition from Arrow Video!"



Regarded by many to be Dario Argento's best film, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage is being given the deluxe Blu-ray treatment by Arrow Video U.S.!



While we may prefer Deep Red and Suspiria, this debut feature by one of the all-time masters of Horror is a stunning piece of filmmaking that basically put Giallo films on the map, and inspired countless imitators.



If you already have this gem in your collection, then you probably don't need to double dip on this set. If however you don't already own it, or if it's one of your absolute favorites, then this is practically a must own, as Arrow Video truly went all-out to deliver the perfect package here.

• Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the camera negative in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, produced by Arrow Video exclusively for this release


• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations


• Original mono Italian and English soundtracks (lossless on the Blu-ray Disc)


• English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack


• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack


• New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films


• The Power of Perception, a new visual essay on the cinema of Dario Argento by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Devil’s Advocates: Suspiria and Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study


• New analysis of the film by critic Kat Ellinger


• New interview with writer/director Dario Argento


• New interview with actor Gildo Di Marco (Garullo the pimp)


• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Candice Tripp


• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring


• 6 Lobby Card reproductions


• Limited edition 60-page booklet illustrated by Matthew Griffin, featuring an appreciation of the film by Michael Mackenzie, and new writing by Howard Hughes and Jack Seabrook

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage hits shelves on June 20th.