The Psychic — The Psychic( UHD,Blu Ray, CD boxset)
From the late 70’s The Psychic is a skilfully constructed & wonderfully realized Giallo from Lucio Fulci. It blends dread-filled intrigue, with a neatly twisting ‘n’ turning plot, and a few moments of the directors’ trademark gore - though it’s largely centred around mystery & building atmosphere. Here from Severin, we have a classy new four-disc set- bringing together a UHD disc, two Blu Rays, and one CD- as well as a perfectly bound booklet & card slip. It features a new 4k scan of the film, as well as five hours’ worth of extras.
The Psychic (aka Murder to the Tune of the Seven Black Notes, Seven Notes in Black) is from the year 1977. It was the thirty-first film directed by Fulci- with the film co-written by the director, Roberto Gianviti ( Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, A Woman In A Lizard Skin) & Dardano Sacchetti( Bay Of Blood, The New York Ripper). So, there is a lot of Giallo talent on board.
The film's lead character is Virginia (Jennifer O'Neill) in her late twenties wife of businessman Francesco Ducci (Gianni Garko). While driving through several motorway tunnels, she starts seeing a series of clairvoyant visions -the bloody face of a middle-aged woman, a broken mirror, a religious painting, a picture of a woman on a magazine cover, a skeleton in a wall, a series of musical notes played, and a few other things. In the film these are presented in such a jarring manner- blending with her journey through the tunnels- creating such an effective feeling of unbalancing & disorientating.
In due course she makes her way to the derelict house her husband purchased some years back- when in one of the rooms she notices a crack in the plaster of one of the walls- she goes at the wall with a tool, and in time uncovers the skeleton. She of course presumes it’s the older woman from her vision- but it’s declared a woman in her twenties. And so, the twisting ‘n’ turning mystery unfolds in a decidedly intriguing & building tension manner as Virginia, with her psychiatrist friend Luca Fattori (Marc Porel) tries to find out who the woman was.
The pair's investigation goes from the fascinating and puzzling, to dangerous and possibly deadly. I won’t give any more away plot-wise- as it would rather spoil the whole thing- but one is kept well & truly held over the film's just over hour & a half runtime. Throughout there is a keen feeling of building dread and unease- yes, we do get a few fleeting moments of Fulci’s trademark gore, but really it’s fairly tame by what one normally expects from the director.
Acting-wise wise O'Neill is most effective as our lead- really pulling us into the mystery & atmosphere of the film- with some emotional depth & believability to her acting. With the small supporting cast all doing well in their roles. All in all The Psychic is a prime example of dread-fed & wholly rewarding mystery-fed Giallo.
Moving onto this four-disc set. It takes in a UHD, two Blu-rays( region A), and a CD of the films soundtrack. The 4k scan is from the original negative- this looks wonderfully clean & crisp- with great clarity and depth to the print. The UHD disc just features the film & its trailer.
The first Blu-Ray features the film, and a nice selection of extras. These take in selected scene commentary with cinematographer Sergio Salvati And Freak-O-Rama's Federico Caddeo( 19.18) which takes in around ten separate scenes- these go from the opening credits, with talk about the locations. The tunnel scene- talking about how the sequence was shot & the difficulties with capturing the scene. The first visit to the house- talking about the location, and how they worked in the location. And of course a few more- this is most insightful/ interesting.
Next, we have Doom And Gloom( 50.12) this is a filmed interview with co-writer Dardano Sacchetti with a few audio contributions from director Lucio Fulci. Close Up On The Eyes (2.31) audio Interview with Camera Operator Franco Bruni. Elegant Ladies (9.18) audio Interview with Costume Designer Massimo Lenti. Cutting Moments (11.25) audio Interview with editor Bruno Micheli. And a trailer.
Moving onto the second Blu-Ray, and we get another bulging selection of extras. First up we get the 2021 documentary Fulci Speaks- which runs at eighty-three minutes. Otherwise, we get the following Sophisticated (14.55) – interview with actress Ida Galli Maker Of His Own Fortune (33.14) – interview with actor Gianni Garko. In Love With The Movie Set (24.51) – Interview with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati. Seven Notes For A Trio (37.42) Interview with soundtrack co-composer Fabio Frizzi. Lucky Number Seven (31.49) Interview with Soundtrack Co-Composer Franco Bixio. Notes On A Wall(21.08) Interview with soundtrack Co-Composer Vince Tempera. Frizzi 2 Fulci (7.16) Live Studio Session Performance Of The Psychic Suite.
The third and final disc is the soundtrack CD- this takes in twenty-two tracks. This is jointly composed by Fabio Frizzi, Franco Bixio & Vincenzo Tempera. The score is a moody and broodingly eerier affair with the cues largely set around lightly bounding-to-weaving piano notation, string simmer, and moments of subtle bass throb. There are a few tenser upbeat moments these move between blends of tip-tap percussion march beats & bass bound. Onto mixes of darting keys, percussion & light flute trails. And early on we get a 70’s pop ballad with a rather high-pitched & warbling lead female vocal. As a complete soundtrack, it’s ok, and certainly, it works within the context of the film- though playing it as an album it is not particularly varied- with many of the cues being a variation on the main theme. But it’s certainly nice to have it with the other discs, making a complete package.
The set comes presented in a card slip. Inside alongside the Blu-ray case, we get a thirty-six-page perfectly bound inlay booklet- this is a rather glossy affair, with a card cover. Inside we find a brand new article on the film by none other than cult film/ Fulci expert Stephen Thrower- this takes up the lion's share of the booklet. We also get a nice selection of coloured stills and poster artwork, as well as full credits, and the track listing for the CD.
In finishing this is a classy & definitive edition of this late 1970’s Giallo. With a wonderful new scan of the film, a great & bulging selection of extras, the film soundtrack, and of course the inlay booklet.