Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced Alfred Hitchcock's horror classic Psycho for release on Blu-ray on October 19, in a "meticulously restored" 50th Anniversary Edition, with a new 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (the original mono audio track will be included as well). It will be presented in a single-sided BD50. Psycho will also be honored during its landmark anniversary by the upcoming 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
Special features include:
Feature-length audio commentary with Stephen Rebello (Author of Alfred Hitchcock and the making of Psycho)
The Making of Psycho: A feature-length documentary on Hitchcock's most shocking film
In the Master's Shadow – Hitchcock's Legacy: Some of Hollywood's top filmmakers discuss Hitchcock's influence and why his movies continue to thrill audiences.
Hitchcock/Truffaut Interviews: Excerpts from a 1962 audio interview with Alfred Hitchcock.
Newsreel Footage: The Release of Psycho: Vintage newsreel on the unique policy Alfred Hitchcock insisted upon for the release of the film.
The Shower Scene: A look at the impact of music on the infamous "shower scene."
The Shower Scene: Storyboards by Saul Bass: Original storyboard design.
Production Notes: Read an essay on the making of the film.
The Psycho Archives: See the gallery of on-set photo stills from the film's production.
Posters and Psycho Ads: See a gallery of original posters and ads from the theatrical campaign.
Lobby Cards: View a gallery of promotional lobby cards from the film's theatrical campaign.
Behind-The-Scenes Photographs: View rare photos showing the cast and crew at work.
Psycho Sound: A never-before-seen piece that looks at the re-mastering process required to create a 5.1 mix from the original mono elements using Audionamix technology.
Theatrical Trailer: Watch the original promotional trailer from the film's theatrical campaign.
Re-Release Trailers: Watch the promotional trailer created for the re-release of the film.
The sound remastering process was started by Universal's in-house post production sound facility started the re-mastering process with the film's previously preserved and restored soundtrack to create a new 5.1 mix. BluWave then contracted Audionamix, a Paris-based audio technology company, to split the original mono music source into quasi-orchestral tracks. Audionamix, a leader in soundtrack separation, then applied their breakthrough proprietary technology enabling BluWave to create a discrete 5.1 split music mix. BluWave's creative talent gathered the original sound effects from the Studios' extensive effects library and, using these source materials, created a 5.1 up-mix to bring Psycho's soundtrack up to the expectations of contemporary audiences while maintaining the original integrity of the filmmaker's vision.
The mono audio track will also be available for viewers who want to experience the film in its original form.
Saw this one recently and i can say it doesn't hold up very well...
classic or not maybe a masterpiece back then but now is 6/10 at most..
Vertigo is my favorite Hitchcock movie hope they release it soon
Wow! This looks like it's going to be a great set! I think this is the oldest film release from Universal on Blu. I hope they continue with more classics!
Nice announcement but I doubt if it will introduce Hitch to many younger fans. If it's before 1990 and doesn't include CGI, forget it! With his complex plots, full character development and lack of real gore he only appeals to a more cerebral (and most likely older) audience. His work just goes over the head of today's younger audience.
Single-sided? You mean like every other Blu-ray in existence? That's some valuable info right there.
I don't know why they went through the trouble of trying to upconvert the music cues. Seems like it would be easier to just rerecord it with a new orchestra. Worked like gangbusters for the Star Trek TV box sets.
Wow, that audio remastering process that they used seems to be quite impressive. I'm usually against any fake multi-ch conversion, but this could be very different story.
Great news Universal--
now please not another "Out of Africa" disaster.
you sound like you might be putting out a worthy bd so maybe redo OoAfrica while you're at it ok.
just a suggestion.
it did win best picture in case you didn't realize.
as far as Psycho, thanks so much, and I can't wait for the Rear Window and Vertigo blu-ray releases that I know must be coming soon, right?
right?
YES!!! Finally! One of my favorites, we need more Hitchcock on Blu! Give me Vertigo and Rear Window next. And Strangers on a Train, and Notorious, and...........
I have to agree with spidey. Psycho didn't age well. But then many Hitchcock's prestige seems a bit over-inflated considering how many of his movies are a little too hokey, contrived and over-reliant on cheap plot tricks like deus ex machina. (And please don't lecture me about McGuffins.) Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder are finely made exceptions.
I cannot wait!! However my bank account probably can wait due to me, eventually, upgrading all the SD films in the Alfred Hitchcock - Masterpiece Collection - 15 disc that will slowly be released in BD. That is Okay though, I am sure it will be worth it.
I agree with all of your picks Dj Matt B, just add Vertigo to that mix and it would be perfection! The scenery in The Trouble With Harry would look gorgeous in HD.
Hmph. Guess some folks don't like "Psycho". I find that it entertains on several levels and holds up to repeat viewings. Sure, I'll upgrade from my DVD. "We all go a little mad sometimes".
This is awesome news, but I probably will pass. Something tells me it's not gonna be too long before we get a Hitchcock box set. That would be AMAZING!!!!!!!
This is beyond exciting. I wish they'd release at least 2 and 3 at the same time. I just saw a screening of all 3 last night here in LA and the prints of 2 and 3 were so good it was like seeing 2 new movies. The soundtracks of each also really boomed, so lossless audio on those would be welcomed.
iap738, I may get flamed for this being a Hitch fan but Vertigo wasnt one of my favs. Dont know why but I just dont get into it as much as others. Its a good movie and technically brilliant and I dont hate it; just not a hugs fan of it. Ill def give it rental when it hits blu though.
And yes Harry will be beautiful in blu. Saw it again recently and it left me drooling for it in blu. Its also quite funny for those who havent seen it. Laugh out loud everytime I see it.
Awesome, I pre-ordered it as soon as Amazon had it offered. Wish it was coming out sooner, but a great restoration/remastering certainly is worth the wait.
It's probably just me but the description of how they are making the 5.1 "up-mix" is kind of scary. It sounds more like a complete Re-Mix - and EDIT!. Sure they'll use the same sounds, if they can find them all, but there's a lot more to Editing Sound Effects and doing Sound Design then just grabbing a sound from a library and putting it into place.
I'll have to read up more on exactly what Audionamix is doing with the sound track. At least the original mono mix is going to be included. I pray it's lossless though.
I hope both the new surround and original mono audio tracks are 24-bit, and that they avoided DNR and edge enhancement.
If this is another "special edition" where they cram all the supplemental material onto the same disc as the feature, I'll probably just rent it. (Wizard of Oz's banding artifacts and 16-bit audio made me regret its purchase.)
It would be nice if the audio track on the commentary and supplementary material was 768kbit/sec DTS, like HBO does with their bluray releases.
If they release a masterpiece collection set they need to anounce it before or at the same time they release more Hitchcocks or it may not be worth double-dipping if you already have some or most Hitchs on blu and they haven't released the set yet. Either way, I'd give up a million bucks for more Hitch on blu.
Also: for anyone who's just checking out Hitchcock--especially his best ones need to leave their expectations and judgments at the door until after they've watched each film. It's not good to judge a film and have your own little expectations or personal standards that have to be met before you'd like it at the same time of watching 'em. You got to watch the movie and accept it for what IT delivers you, THEN decide whether or not you simply like it or not. In any case, you can still accept the movie(s) as they are as well as have your personal preferences.
I once didn't consider Psycho as one of my favorite Hitchcocks or even North by Northwest for that matter, but multiple viewings and viewings of North by Northwest on blu-ray (alone) has totally changed my mind, because with Hitchcock's masterful direction, there are always something new to discover about each film the more you watch 'em and on blu-ray, you can notice the details more and take in everything the director intended for you to take in.
Day 1 purchase for me but I'm not sure about that surround mix; hope the mono is lossless. I hope they release Shadow of A Doubt and Lifeboat too on Blu!
One of the few classic movies I never got around to buying as a DVD, so glad I waited! I'm very curious about the audio restoration as described above; just how does one split mono into "quasi-orchestral" tracks? Why not just drop in the Danny Elfman adaptation used in Gus Van Sant's remake? I remember going to see the restoration of Vertigo at the theater in the90s. So excellent.
There's also The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon in October. Also, rkolinski, I think Fox or studio canal or somethin' has the rights to Lifeboat. I wonder who has the rights to Notorious, Rebecca, Spellbound and other classics that was released in the signature collection. They were from studio canal I think. I'm not sure...
paul_66: If I'm remembering correctly, Lifeboat is now Fox and those others you mention are now MGM. (So they were all released together in a set, since Fox controls MGM distribution.)
I would say the odds of some amazing Hitchcock boxset from Universal anytime soon is like 0.
I mean given the almost nil number of titles from before 1970 that been released by Universal on blu it just doesn't make any sense that they are suddenly going to release some big Hitch boxset.
sorry, but I don't see anything like that coming at all.
what I think will happen is the old 1 Hitch a year from Universal starting with "Psycho"
so next year we get "Vertigo" and then "Rear Window" in 2012.
that makes much more sense imo.
I honestly don't know if Universal will ever release titles like "Frenzy" or "Family Plot" on blu.
Now 4 years ago I would have never have thought that all the Hitchcock films would not come out on blu.
but with the way things have been going for titles before 1970, I just don't see it happening anymore.
At this point, I'm trying to feel optimistic about even half of all of Hitchcock's films coming out on bd when all is said and done.
Cool. This is a must have! Not only am I a fan of good thrillers like the many which Hitchcock made, but this in particular is a gem, partly because Janet Leigh is in it; Jamie "scream queen" Lee Curtis' mother.
Now I also want Rear Window!
You may be right, Arkadin, and that's basically how they did the first DVD releases, and they did The Birds after that. If they do a collection in the future, it may not be until maybe a while after those titles are released, which would still be all right with me. But then these are all still assumptions as well as hopes and desires every which way. You never can really tell. I've been expecting Warner to release Strrangers on a Train next, but seems like they might have their eyes set on Dial M for Murder, which is still all right with me. More Hitch on blu the better.
More of you here hoping for more pre 1970s films on BD. Ain't gonna happen in a big way. Sure you might get Rear Window and Vertigo in the next couple of years but studios don't see much of a market for the "classics". Witness the lack of buzz the few older films have caused so far when released on BD. Aside from a few film buffs who noticed last week's release of Doctor Zhivago (only marginally better than the DVD unfortunately)? Or the African Queen? Even Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz on BD barely received any notice and sales were dispappointing. Lots of possible explanations for this but overall these films have had their day and their fans are sadly dwindling with the passage of time.
Oh my goodness, I've been waiting for I don't know how long to hear about the original Psycho coming to bluray and it's coming out in my birthday month, too! Damn, this just made my day!
Now if they can just work their Criterion bluray-magic on me some Scarface (w/ Al Pacino) I'd be one happy sista.
The best news of the year! The more Alfred Hitchcock on Blu-ray the better. I have loved the 'Psycho' franchise for decades. Now we need 'Vertigo', 'The Birds', 'Rear Window', 'Shadow of a Doubt', Saboteur', 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. etc. from Universal Studios. Also, I would love to have 'Psycho II', 'Psycho III' and 'Psycho IV' on Blu.
Even the Showtime 'sequel'.... 'The Birds II: Land's End' would be welcomed.
Too bad Hitchcock himself isn't still alive to see how beloved his films still are.....even more so nowadays. And them getting restored and re-released on Blu-ray. I think he would be proud of the millions of fans and the following his movies have.
One of my very favorite films by one of my very favorite directors finally is to receive the BD treatment. I have the gorgeous Hitchcock Masterpiece (SDDVD) Collection Universal provided a few years ago and am expecting a blu-ray release of the entire box down the line. I very well may pick up this stand alone BD of Psycho, since a few extras have been added and, of course, the picture and sound quality will be a considerable improvement.
This (and the upcoming release of Spartacus) is a hopeful sign that Universal will release many more of its classic films from decades long past. Not just more Hitchcock, but also Touch of Evil, To Kill a Mockingbird, Dracula, Frankenstein and more.
but I'll buy it on day 1.
