White of the Eye review

The third of four films by the late director Donald Cammell is a curious mix of Giallo-style murder mystery and smalltown domestic drama. As you might expect from Cammell's other films (Performance, Demon Seed and Wild Side) what would undoubtedly have been a routine thriller in the hands of anyone else has been transformed into a stylistic tour-de-force, loaded with symbolism and introspection. Flawed but definitely fascinating.

Picture: White of the Eye has been painstakingly restored for this hi-def release and the results are extremely impressive. Given how tricky much of the imagery must have been to reproduce accurately (particularly the extremely grainy low-light shots), this Blu-ray does a masterful job of faithfully recreating Cammell's varying aesthetic choices for the film.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: The disc's LPCM 2.0 track is perfectly acceptable, given the limitations of the source. Dialogue is cleanly rendered, Foley effects are well balanced in the mix and the music score (composed by guitarist Rick Fenn and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason) sounds electrifying.
Audio rating: 3.5/5

Extras: Arrow has pulled together a shockingly comprehensive collection of bonus features for this Blu-ray release. Cammell biographer Sam Umland provides a hugely informative feature-length commentary for the film, and performs a similar duty on two deleted scenes, the original audio for them having been lost long ago.

Made by the BBC in 1998, The Ultimate Performance is an absolutely wonderful 74-minute documentary looking back over Cammell's life and career. Into the White is an 11-minute interview with 'co-cinematographer and Steadicam wizard' Larry McConkey. The disc also serves up alternate credits for the film and the flashback scenes as originally shot (prior to the bleach bypass process used on them in the final cut).

The Argument is a 1972 short by Cammell, assembled by his editor after his death. Once again, Sam Umland is on hand to provide a commentary. Rounding out the set is a 40-page booklet containing writing about the film and director.
Extras rating: 5/5

We say: This cult flick receives a killer hi-def package bursting at the seams with a rewarding array of bonus features

White of the Eye, Arrow Video, Region B BD & R2 DVD, £25 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4/5

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