Malpertuis – Harry Kümel’s gothic horror film co-starring Orson Welles – has undergone a 4K restoration overseen by the director and will be released for the first time on Blu-ray on October 14.
The bonus material includes a featurette on the casting of Welles in the 1971 movie with outtakes. Welles, hired for a three-days shoot, clashed with Kümel and caused delays. Apologizing for his behavior, Welles worked for a fourth day free, and completed his remaining scenes for the Belgian director in a single morning, putting the production back on schedule.
In Malpertuis, Mathieu Carrière stars as Jan, a sailor newly arrived onshore. He is unsure about returning to land but makes the journey to visit his childhood home only to find it no longer there. He goes to Bar Venus and joins his friends but an altercation leaves him knocked out cold. He wakes up in Malpertuis, a gothic mansion presided over by his uncle, Cassavius, played by Orson Welles. All the inhabitants of Malpertuis are waiting for Cassavius to die and the opportunity to inherit his vast fortune. But Cassavius wishes anyone who inherits to stay there forever. Jan investigates as those who leave meet with mysterious deaths.
The movie was first released in the U.S. as The Legend of Doom House.
Radiance / MVD Group Entertainment will release the Malpertuis as a limited edition region-free Blu-ray disc. It carries a $44.95 list price and can be pre-ordered at a discount from mvdshop.com/products/malpertuis-blu-ray.
Special features include:
• New 4K restoration of the film overseen by director Harry Kümel
• Audio commentary by Harry Kümel and assistant director Françoise Levie
• New interview with Harry Kümel
• New interview with author and gothic horror expert Jonathan Rigby
• Malpertuis Archive – an archival documentary on the making of the film featuring Kümel, actor Mathieu Carrière and director of photography Gerry Fisher among others (2005)
• Orson Welles Uncut – a featurette on the casting of Welles, including rare outtakes of the actor (2005)
• Susan Hampshire: one actress, three parts – an archival interview with the actress, including screen tests and contributions from cast and crew (2005)
• Archival interview with Michel Bouquet and Harry Kümel from Belgian television (1971)
• Jean Ray, John Flanders 1887 – 1964 – an archival interview with the source novelist and co-writer of Malpertuis (2005)
• Malpertuis Revisited – Harry Kümel revisits locations from the film (2005, 4 mins)
• Malpertuis: The Cannes Cut – the rejected version of the film which premiered in Cannes(100 mins, SD)
• The Warden of the Tomb – Kümel’s early film based on Franz Kafka’s play (1965, 37 mins)
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition 80-page booklet featuring new writing by Lucas Balbo, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, David Flint, Willow Catelyn Maclay, Jonathan Owen
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in rigid box and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
_____________