The Reflecting Skin (1990) from Film Movement

[Akijama]

The Reflecting Skin Blu-ray 2024

The Reflecting Skin Blu-ray


Listing on their site. They also told me that they have plans for a BD release.

An instant cult classic when it premiered to sold out screenings at Cannes in 1990, THE REFLECTING SKIN is a darkly humorous, nightmarish vision of the American dream. Growing up in the 1950s in small-town Idaho, 8-year-old Seth and his friends play a prank on the town recluse, a mysterious English widow named Dolphin Blue (Tony winner Lindsay Duncan). After his father tells him stories of vampires, Seth becomes convinced Dolphin is a vampire, stealing the souls of his neighborhood friends one by one. When his older brother Cameron (Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen in one of his first starring roles), returns home from military service in the Pacific and takes a liking to Dolphin, Seth feels it's up to him to save Cameron from his friends' fate. With stunning visuals recalling Edward Hopper paintings and its surreal blend of horror and humor, THE REFLECTING SKIN is a "stunningly beautiful...Gothic masterpiece" (The Guardian)!"

https://www.filmmovement.com/educati...eflecting-skin

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Great this one's happening since I imagine Miramax's rights must have expired and reverted to the producers, or whoever Film Movement licensed it from.

My hunch tells me that this will likely be the same transfer as the Soda Pictures UK BD, given that A: the trailer on their site is for Soda Picture's BD release. And B: Film Movement, given their budgets, seems to mainly put out titles that have had new restorations/HD masters supplied by the rights holders as opposed to creating or financing new ones themselves.

[Akijama]

August is estimated Blu-ray date, btw.

[DvdClon]

If you're interested, Hamiltonbook.com has this for $5.95. It's the Soda release distributed by Mongrel Media. I bought it recently and thought it looked pretty good. It's Region A at least. I didn't try it with the other regions.

https://www.hamiltonbook.com/the-reflecting-skin_3

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Forgot all about the Canadian Mongrel Media BD. IIRC, that one was definitely locked to A despite having the same menus and all as the UK Soda Pictures BD.

[Drewza89]

Anybody know if the US version is using the same 2K remaster that the Canadian version used?

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Given Film Movement's site lists the Soda Pictures trailer, i'm almost certain it will feature the same 2k remaster as the UK and Canadian discs used.

[tweety72]

Has anyone seen this new US edition yet?
I would like to know how the image quality is in comparison to the UK version

[kishiro]

Originally Posted by tweety72

Has anyone seen this new US edition yet?
I would like to know how the image quality is in comparison to the UK version

DVDBeaver Comparison

They seem to be the same (US rel. is slightly brighter. Maybe a gamma-difference(?)). All three releases, CA, UK and US are from the same source and unfortunetely they all exhibit the same flaw (DNR and some highlight-boost/whiteclipping). It's annoying, but no deal-breaker imo. You would be equally happy (or unhappy) with either release. If you own the UK release, stick with it.

[tweety72]

Originally Posted by kishiro

DVDBeaver Comparison

They seem to be the same (US rel. is slightly brighter. Maybe a gamma-difference(?)). All three releases, CA, UK and US are from the same source and unfortunetely they all exhibit the same flaw (DNR and some highlight-boost/whiteclipping). It's annoying, but no deal-breaker imo. You would be equally happy (or unhappy) with either release. If you own the UK release, stick with it.

Thank you! I canceled my amazon order a few days ago because I had already guessed that.

[bigshot]

I screened this last night. What an amazing film!

[Dr. Seymour Love]

Finally got around to watching this one yesterday. I remember seeing it once back in the 90's, can't remember if I rented the vhs or saw it on cable. Highly recommended if yer a Lynch fan. Glad to see Viggo participated in the making of featurette.

[Nitroes]

I see Vinegar Syndrome are listing this as a pre-order https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products...42093289046058

I wonder if it's just the same release (2019 copyright on the cover).

[Kyle15]

Looks like a re-press. Pass!

[Deciazulado]

The Reflecting Skin Blu-ray

[cakefactory]

I just watched this. It's a stunner, but is a tough movie to like since the protagonist is a little fascist-looking ******* of a kid. Like, he's REALLY horrible (his actions, not the performance). The whole thing has this really rich look to it, like a sunnier version of Andrew Wyeth. Excellent score, too.

The cover art (I dunno if it's from a poster, or new to it) is really misleading and makes it look like some kind of, I dunno, story about a family of vampires or something. It's very much a movie about more pedestrian horrors, and how really messed up children can act out and misinterpret things, especially when put in really remote, messed up locations.

Pretty horrific! And the weird ties to atomic tests make it all the stranger and more distinct.

It's too bad this isn't getting much attention languishing in the "partner labels" section of VS, which mainly gets paid attention to by people who are more interested in slipcovers than movies.

[HorrorBlu]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

It's too bad this isn't getting much attention languishing in the "partner labels" section of VS, which mainly gets paid attention to by people who are more interested in slipcovers than movies.

This was released in 2019 as a wide-retail release. Vinegar Syndrome only added it to their Partner Labels five years later as a slipcovered re-release to give it more exposure, which it sounds like is where you found out about it.

You can still buy it through normal retailers like Amazon or DeepDiscount, it's not being held hostage.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by HorrorBlu

This was released in 2019 as a wide-retail release. Vinegar Syndrome only added it to their Partner Labels five years later as a slipcovered re-release to give it more exposure, which it sounds like is where you found out about it.

You can still buy it through normal retailers like Amazon or DeepDiscount, it's not being held hostage.

I was not trying to make the point it was being held hostage, I was trying to make the point that a horror movie this good shouldn't be so unheard of, and it's odd that it is. I feel like if it had been released by Arrow several years ago or picked up by Criterion or even Shout Factory or something it may have gotten way more attention than deep in the recesses of the partner labels page on VS's site. I was saying it's weird that this is a movie I'd been hearing about for years (it was included in a couple of books I read specifically about great underseen horror movies), and I who actually pay at least some attention to physical media releases had never even heard of this release until I was browsing through past releases on the vinegar syndrome partner labels page. I don't get how it fell through the cracks so badly. I guess it's a hard movie to sell since it isn't the kind of thing that would appeal to many horror fans but is way too nasty to appeal to most NON horror fans, too.

So, good that VS gave slightly more exposure to it, but it's just weird that a horror movie release this good has flown so far under the radar.