Color, 1976, 115m.
Directed by Dan Curtis
Starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Lee Montgomery, Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, Dub Taylor
Arrow Video (Blu-ray & DVD) (UK RB/R2 HD/PAL), Kino Lorber (Blu-ray & DVD) (US RA/R1 HD/NTSC), MGM (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9)
After conquering the realm of TV horror with the popular soap opera Dark Shadows and such made-for-TV films as Trilogy of Terror, The Night Stalker, and Dracula, producer-director Dan Curtis made a bid for big screen success with this creepy, slow-burn adaptation of a novel by Robert Marasco. Curtis's only prior theatrical efforts were the two Dark Shadows films, and here had a chance to pull in some major Hollywood stars to ride the wave of occult fascination currently packing in audiences with the likes of The Omen the same year. The result is one of the most unnerving PG-rated films of its era, suggestive enough to still play on TV intact but deliver enough chills to stick in viewers' minds for years.
regenerating with their presence. Potentially fatal accidents start to occur and Elizabeth's health takes a rapid decline, while a sinister chauffeur can be seen turning up on the property. Soon it becomes clear that all of the newcomers are in far more danger than they could have imagined. 
had already proven her chops with Curtis in Trilogy of Terror (while Montgomery would excel the following year in one of Curtis's finest achievements, the "Bobby" segment of Dead of Night). Though her role is smaller, Davis is sympathetic in an atypically genteel role; she also proves once again that she can be a prime screamer when the occasion calls for it. Regular Curtis composer Bob Cobert churns up an effectively eerie score, and the decision to shoot at the sprawling Dunsmuir House in California (versus the book's Long Island location) gives the film a strong atmosphere that pays off with a memorably grim climax in which various pieces of the house's architecture come into play. Extra points for that hearse-driving chauffeur (played by a wordless Anthony James), who gets some of the film's scariest moments. The film still feels a bit TV-safe at times in its execution and pacing (the middle third gets a little pokey), but when it works, it really delivers.
could with the heavy filters and diffused light that permeate almost every shot. Extras on that release include a theatrical trailer and a fine audio commentary with Curtis, Black, and co-screnwriter William F. Nolan, offering a very light and lively stroll back through the making of the film including the tricks of the adaptation process (the book ends somewhat differently with a more direct connection to the title), the ups and downs of working with Reed, and challenges of shooting in a real, rather famous location. 
and movie buff perspective including its place in the canon of haunted house movies and the height of the horror fiction craze, and a Trailers from Hell version of the trailer is also thrown in. Three new featurettes have been commissioned, all worth watching: "Acting His Face" (17 mins.) with James explaining how he got his start as an actor and took on the film's most sinister role without getting a single line of dialogue; "Blood Ties" (16 mins.), a great chat with the upbeat Montgomery including his memories of being a child actor and particularly his fond recollections of and enduring friendship with the late Black; and "From the Ashes" (13 mins.), in which Nolan goes solo to talk about the adaptation process and how he and Curtis jettisoned an entire opening narrative segment from the film. A "Portraits of Fear" animated gallery provides a wealth of poster art, lobby cards, and production stills. The HD transfer is a very welcome 
step up, tackling the challenging textures and soft look of the film with greater skill and delivering a more natural, subdued layer of film grain, while the DTS-HD MA English mono track sounds solid.