With the evidence neatly tucked away, the police are unable to do anything about the supposed crime, which forces Grace to play detective and prove that a murder actually took place. One would assume that by utilizing the camera negative, Criterion be able to produce a presentation of remarkable beauty. This just isn t the case. In addition, film grain is pretty apparent throughout the presentation. Color is a little pale by today s standards, but for a low budget film from 1973, this is a fairly accurate representation of what the available film stocks could capture and reproduce.
Blacks are respectable, however the level of shadow detail is somewhat limited by the production.
Digital compression artifacts are rather well concealed and do not alter the picture in any perceivable way. The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack has some frequency limitations, but otherwise sounds pretty good. Dialogue is crisp and intelligible, although the highlight of the track is Bernard Herrmann s score. Herrmann used a Moog synthesizer as a key component in this highly effective score and the music will take a respectable amount amplification without becoming distorted. Subtitles are available on the DVD in English.