On my recent trip to Japan I had ample opportunity to check out some of their movie stores, and browse blu-rays. Let it first be said that trying to find anything specific over there is a frustrating experience, because even their english titles are sorted by katakana (unlike with music). However, since so few of their Japanese titles have english subtitles, and their english-language titles are mostly available much cheaper elsewhere, there were only a couple specific blu-rays I was really after anyways.
One of which was the Japanese release of Blood for Dracula. Both Blood for Dracula and sister film Flesh for Frankenstein have been released only in Japan and Australia, and screenshot comparisons have shown that the Australian releases are vastly inferior. Knowing this, I searched Tokyo for a copy of Dracula, and in my last week there, finally found it in the Tower Records in Shibuya.
I didn't bother looking for Flesh for Frankenstein, though I believe it's also a great movie. It's super camp and ridiculous, but I feel that with Blood for Dracula, it took that framework from Frankenstein, and elevated it, into a delirious, perverse sort of an almost masterpiece. It's campy and sleazy and everyone speaks awkwardly in thick european accents (Joe Dallesandro is the one native-english speaker and actually seems the most hilariously out-of-place of all because of it!)... yet the cinematography and the locations are actually really really good and make the movie feel somehow grand. At the centre of the film though is the hilariously awkward yet kind of incredible performance by Udo Kier as Dracula (his blood-drinking scenes are truly masterful) as well as Arno Juerging as his freaky assistant. Suffice it to say, it's an enormously entertaining film.
The disc is also really solid. Regarding the picture quality, there's some print damage - scratches and flecks, etc (which actually seems kind of appropriate for a film like this) - but depth and detail are pretty excellent; this is definitely not a DVD upconvert or anything like that. I'm really happy with how this film looks. Regarding censoring, there is one very brief shot, a close-up of Joe Dallesandro whipping it out in a barn, that's pixelated, but otherwise the film is uncensored.
Special features include:
- a full feature commentary originally recorded for the Criterion laserdisc, featuring (recorded separately) Paul Morrissey and Udo Kier, both entertaining, as well as some weirdo who spoils the track somewhat with his droning analysis of the film
- a 4-minute screen-test for the actor who was originally going to play Dracula, with commentary by Morrissey
- a 25-minute series of production stills, which presented in chronological order to the plot of the movie, and also presented with commentary, acts effectively as a condensed version of the feature commentary
All special features, as with the film itself, are presented with optional Japanese subtitles.
At 4700 yen, this was kind of an expensive blu-ray for me, and that's without import fees, if you can even still find this to import (I no longer see it available on Amazon JP or YesAsia). However, as I am confident it's currently the definitive edition worldwide, it may be worth seeking out, if you're not holding out hope for a Criterion or Arrow release.
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