The Survivor — The Survivor( UHD/ Blu Ray)
The Survivor regards an airline pilot played by Robert Powell( The Italian Job, The 39 Steps) who is the only person left alive after a plane crash, where several hundred people die. The early 80’s Australian production is a rewarding & engaging blend of thriller, investigation drama, and supernatural horror. Here from Powerhouse, as either a UHD or Blu-ray, is a new release of the film. Taking in a 4k scan, three different versions of the film, and a large selection of extras, which are a mix of archive and new fare.
The Survivor ( James Herbert's The Survivor) is from the year 1981. It was helmed by English actor-turned-director David Hemmings, and its subtitle suggests it was based on a 1976 novel of the same name by James Herbert.
Between the early 70’s and late 90’s, Hemmings had thirty-one director credits to his name- taking in six features, with the rest being TV series/ TV movie credits. His other five features include drama Running Scared (1972), social drama The Wild Little Bunch (1973), post-WWI drama featuring David Bowie Just A Gigolo (1978), Action adventure Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr (1981), and Family drama Dark Horse (1992).
After the pre-credits/ credits, we see the passenger plane taking off- but fairly soon, it’s starting to lose height, finally going down with an impressive full sized plan crashing through trees shot. It comes to a rest, but fairly soon bursts into flame, as the fire is put out- a single figure walks out of the wreckage- this is one of the plane's pilots, Keller(Powell).
Fairly soon, a photograph and a crook have turned up at the crash site. As well as the crash site investigation headed up, moustached, grumpy and shouty investigator Goodwin(Adrian Wright). Also brought into the mix is rather mysterious/ is she a psychic or not, Hobbs( Jenny Agutter)
The film nicely balances and blends its genre traits well. As we go from the impressive stage crash, to the sense of regret/lostness from Keller/investigation, nice eerie supernatural vengeance kills with creepy burnt girls/ dolls, and the resolution on quite how the crash occurred.
Acting-wise, Powell is believable as the troubled/traumatised pilot, and Agutter puts across the sense of mystery well. With the supporting cast all being largely fine. The film, on the whole, is well scoped- with Hemmings managing to capture well the large crash sight, as well as both more tense and eerier moments.
The Survivor is a rewarding mix of thriller, investigation drama, and supernatural horror.
Moving onto this new release, and we get a 4k scan of the picture- this looks well defined and balanced throughout. We get three different versions of the picture- the previously unseen director’s cut (100 mins); the original Australian theatrical version (99 mins); and the shorter US version (81 mins). I watched the longer of the three versions/
On the new extras side, we have just one total new thing- but a lot of great archive material. So the only new thing is Elevated Horror (20.29), which finds academic and Australian cinema specialist Stephen Morgan discussing the film. He touches on Hemmings and Powells realsonship, and how the picture came about. He talks about how Powell and Agutter are perfect for their parts. We find out the film was shot in just four weeks, with the opening plane crash/ aftermath taking a week alone. And apparently, the set became something of a tourist attraction. The film had a budget of just over a million dollars, and more. This is well worth a play.
On the archive side, we have the following: two commentary tracks, which are both on the Australian version - one is with producer Antony I Ginnane and film critic and archivist Jaimie Leonarder. And the others with producer Ginnane and horror hostess Katarina Leigh Waters. Interviews taken from 2008 doc ‘Not Quite Hollywood’ Interviews with producer Ginnane and cinematographer John Seale(22.10). Three Cast and crew interviews. Clapperboard: ‘The Survivor’ 30.04). Original promotional film(15.04). Behind the scenes( 21.19). The Legacy of James Herbert (9.19), which looks at the film adaptations of the author's work, with a prime focus on The Survivor. Original theatrical trailer, TV spot, and Image galleries: promotional and publicity material.
The finished release comes with eighty page book with a new essay by Sergio Angelini, an exclusive extract from producer Antony I Ginnane’s unpublished memoirs, an archival production report, archival interviews with director David Hemmings and actors Jenny Agutter and Joseph Cotten, and full film credits.
The Survivor is a worthy and enjoyable blend of thriller, investigation drama, and supernatural horror. This new release from Powerhouse features a 4k scan, and a good selection of extras.