Universal have collated four of Hitchcock’s big hitters in one mighty boxset containing all four movies in 2160p for the first time: Rear Window, Psycho, Vertigo and The Birds make their 4K debuts. All four are revered classics in the pantheon of film. I’ll touch briefly on each film and dig into what you would shell out for again: the transfers. How did Universal do?

 Rear Window

This to me is Hitchcock’s greatest movie. Recipient of four Oscars, he takes Jimmy Stewart, plonks a leg cast and a camera on him, and sit him in a Manhattan apartment block in the middle of summer. Bored, sweaty and at his wits end, he hears a neighbour’s wife scream one night and she’s never seen again. He suspects her husband has done away with her, but Jimmy’s girlfriend and the police think he might be suffering from a case of cabin fever. However, his neighbour is in fact a murderer and finds out he suspects him. Alone, doubted as a paranoid, Jimmy is forced to use his wits to save himself before it’s too late.

This is a masterpiece in every kind of tension. Movies of the 21st Century (considering recent box-office calamities) would do well to go back to this kind a filmmaking. Singular location, limited budget, great characters and twists aplenty. This is a film to see before you die. It’s perfection.

VIDEO

Bloody spectacular, albeit not a slam dunk. The 2160p native scan of the camera negs presents details that have never been seen before. The HDR turns out to be both a blessing and curse. Overall, the picture presents as darker and muted, but what you lose from previous scans you gain in contrast, inky blacks and finer detail in faces and sets. There are occasional artefacts and dust speckles but they’re hardly noticeable. Grain is consistent and filmic without any signs of heavy-handed digital scrubbing.

AUDIO

They haven’t reinvented the wheel here and have reused the 2014 blu-ray’s DTS-HD 2.0 lossless stereo mix. It’s apt, compliments the stage-like presentation of the movie. But heretic that I am, I still would have liked to see this get the ATMOS treatment as an option. An immersive surround mix would be a revelation in my view. Alas, it was not to be.

Supplements:

Again, repurposed features from the 2014 blu-ray. These are solid documentaries that give you loads of information about the making of the flick and legacy retrospectives from key contributors. It’s great but it’s nothing new.

Commentary:

• With John Fawell.

Special Features:

• Rear Window Ethics: Remembering and Restoring a Hitchcock Classic
• A Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael Hayes
• Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Master
• Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
• Hitchcock/TruffautMasters of Cinema
• Production Photographs
• Theatrical Trailer
• Re-Release Trailer Narrated by James Stewart

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 Psycho

Another masterpiece! Enough said? No? All right, a bit more. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) does the dirty on her boss, absconding with a bunch of cash she was supposed to deposit on his behalf. Fleeing her city for parts unknown, she starts to have a crisis of conscience. She decides to stay at a roadside motel and return the money. The motel is run by one Norman Bates, a quiet, unassuming, fellow that’s very dedicated to his mother and just a little bit off kilter. Irked by her exchange with Bates, Crane settles into her room ruminating over her crime. When she decides to take a shower, Bates’s mother appears and slaughters her.  Norman, rational sort that he is, discovers the crime scene and decides to clean house (so to speak) disappearing Marion and her vehicle (and the money) into a nearby pond. Marion’s sister, a local detective and a private investigator start sniffing around the Bates Motel, bringing down the wrath of Bates’s mother, who is in fact Bates himself, dressed in drag and completely unhinged, with deadly consequences.

This is a masterclass in rising dread, misdirection and satisfaction come the end. Anthony Perkins criminally was not nominated for an Oscar. Boggles the mind. But Hitchcock, Leigh, the cinematographer and art department were, with none taking home the little golden dude. This is one of the tightest, nicest looking black and white horror/thrillers ever committed to celluloid. Everything about this film is top shelf, from the direction to the actors to the script. Many have tried and none have succeeded in replicating this convergence of talent to produce the ultimate masterpiece. Not the sequels, not the god-awful remake—nobody. It’s perfection again from Hitchcock.

VIDEO

So good. This 2160p restoration sends fine detail into the stratosphere with this transfer. I loved the blu-ray from a decade ago, but this is next level good. The HDR10 really delineates the image plains, adding copious dimensions to every scene. The rich and detailed blacks boldly underpin the crisp white highlights, without blowing out any of the details. From the fine lines on folks faces to the curtains, everything has heightened, almost surreal dimension. Grain is consistent and unobtrusive. Like Rear Window, the image has rare and minor specks and artifacts, that most won’t notice. Almost perfect transfer for a perfect film.

AUDIO

Universal deliver a DTS X 7.1 mix that delivers in spades. (This is what I mean about not giving Rear Window a modern surround treatment! The proof is here what can be accomplished!) This is an immersive, thrilling audio accompaniment to the visuals. While this is a front heavy mix, the infamous shower scene especially shines as does Bernard Herrmann’s classic score. There is also a DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track for those who prefer a simple (of the era) kind of track.

Supplements:

See above. Same same!

Commentary:

• With Stephen Rebello

Special Features:

• The Making of Psycho
• Psycho Sound
• In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
• Hitchcock/Truffaut
• Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho
• The Shower Scene: With and Without Music
• The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass
• The Psycho Archives
• Posters and Psycho Ads
• Lobby Cards
• Behind-the-Scenes Photographs
• Production Photographs
• Psycho Theatrical Trailers
• Psycho Re-Release Trailer

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 Vertigo

Jimmy Stewart once again graces a Hitchcock picture, the first I ever saw. In this one he plays Detective John Ferguson, a man who sees a colleague falls to his death and retires from the force due to a subsequent paralysing fear of heights. Gavin (Tom Helmore), his ‘friend’, asks him to tail his wife (Kim Novac, who is acting strangely. Well things really turn to shit when he falls for the wife, after spending a day together, and she seems to commit suicide. Depressed and interred in a nut farm, Ferguson withdraws from life, obsessing over the wife. When he’s released, low and behold, he discovers a woman by the name of Judy that looks exactly like the wife. Turns out his ‘friend’ had been using Judy as a decoy to cover the fact he had already murdered his wife. He used Ferguson’s obsession and fear to get away with the deed.

This is also considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. And it’s a doozy. Far smarter people than I have written reams on its deconstruction of the male and female constructs in society, but I took it as a damn entertaining whodunnit and a perfect exploration of a damaged man overcoming his fears to rise above his flaws and win the day. There are few actors in the history of film that have played the femme fatale character more perfectly than Novak did in this. Jimmy Stewart is a revelation. This is just the pinnacle of Hitchcock’s mastery. Another perfect movie, really. Though, personally, the characters aren’t as likeable for me as in other Hitchcock films.

VIDEO

Flawless! The best of the set. Rich, sumptuous colours emboldened from the Vista-vision camera negatives in glorious 2160p! You will drool at the vibrant colour pallet, the rich detail (especially the costumes!) and contrast. Film grain is refined without sacrificing the aforementioned details and the blacks are off the chart deep and nuanced. This would be like stepping into 1958. I can’t gush enough over the presentation of this classic. Absolutely beautiful job accomplished here.

AUDIO

Cries of YES filled my theatre when I saw another surround mix offered in DTS X 7.1. This is an immersive and vast surround experience, again highlighting environmental channels and the bold score. Dialogue is crisp and centred. Ambience is rich and layered. It’s as good as the picture transfer! Perfect!

Supplements:

Yup, same again

Commentary:

• With William Friedkin

Special Features:

• Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece
• Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborations
• Foreign Censorship Ending
  Hitchcock/Truffaut
• Theatrical Trailer
• Restoration Theatrical Trailer
• 100 Years of Universal: The Lew Wasserman Era
• The Vertigo Archives (Blu-ray Only)

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 The Birds

Loosely based on a 1952 short story by Daphne du Maurier, Hitchcock decided to explore the tale of an inexplicable mass attack of the avian sort on a sleepy coastal town. This would be the acting debut of model Tippi Hedren (as well as Hitchcock’s obsession with her) and would represent Hitchcock’s first real monster movie, leaning into special effects as much as story—but without his inimitable panache!

Hedren plays Melanie, a well-to-do who meets Mitch (Rod Taylor) in a department store as he seeks some birds for his sister’s birthday.  Turns out Melanie develops a thing for Mitch and pursues him, rather forcefully, with a couple of love birds in hand to break the ice. Inexplicably, after sneaking into his house and successfully planting the birds, Melanie is attacked by a seagull. But romance eventually blossoms. Soon many in the village are attacked in ever escalating violence and mayhem, to the point where people start dying. Birds of all shapes and sizes loom over the village as people flee and argue over why, massing to finale where Melanie, Mitch and his family are holed up in their boarded-up home before walking (you read that right WALKING) to a car and driving out of town. Yeah, that’s about it.

Although voted as historically significant, and certainly one of Hitchcock’s more well-known titles, this is far from his best work. What he did pioneer here was the combination of the everyday/mundane of life with horror and some (for the time) pretty awesome effects use. But as for the story, it’s very weak in characterisation, motivation, escalation and satisfaction. The film’s run time gave it room to really endear you to the characters but fails dismally. The (again, for the time) graphic deaths and escalation is constantly undermined by scenes where the ‘survivors’ get to roam outside, performing idiotic scenes, and the birds, without explanation, just watch them do it. Yeah, as cool and painterly as many of the scenes are in the film, it’s a dud for me.

The Birds

VIDEO

This is a marked upscale from the previous blu-ray but it has moments that let it down. The good: HDR delivers colours, dimension and contrast like never seen before. Details in clothing, faces and buildings is rendered better than ever before. For a painterly looking movie, this is a masterwork of a transfer. The bad: there are rare signs of heavy digital noise reduction (Hedren’s fur coat in early scenes puts a spotlight on it in fact). Being that the killer birds were accomplished through combination of animatronics, animation and compositing, I expected to see some trouble with grain consistency, and there is some, but not much. Very impressive.

AUDIO

Damn. Two of these four flicks have been given the modern surround treatment. Although this is my least favourite of the set, The Birds could have benefited the most from the treatment. Alas, they chose to go Mono with a DTS-HD lossless 2.0 mix ported over from the 2014 blu-ray. It’s a great mix, so no dispersions at it, but what a missed opportunity.

Supplements:

You already know by now what I’m gonna say—SAME SHIT DIFFERENT SHOVEL. A quick mention on the packaging. This is a Region A box set and the Americans have this cheap-arse design in a few boxsets I’ve seen where they have their discs slid into cardboard sleeves. They’ve done this here. It sucks and begs for you to damage the discs. I don’t like it, never will like it. Stop doing it, studios! That is all. FYI, digital codes included as well.

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie
• All About The Birds
• Tippi Hedren's Screen Test
• Deleted Scene
• Original Ending
• Hitchcock/Truffaut
• The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel)
• Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel)
• Theatrical Trailer100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics 100 Years of Universal: The Lot
• Storyboard Sequence (Blu-ray Only)
• Production Photographs (Blu-ray Only)

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