Blu-Ray

Howls of Joe Dante in unreleased 4K Ultra HD, thank you Studiocanal

25.08.2021 • 09h20

Following a traumatic incident involving a serial killer, Karen White (Dee Wallace, Cujo's unforgettable hunted mother) prefers to put her career as a TV presenter on hold. She then decides to join a rest center called "the Colony". A place of convalescence that inspires terror more than serenity. And for good reason, werewolves would prowl at night ...

A tribute to werewolf films (all the characters bear the names of filmmakers who have produced lycanthropic fictions), Howls is to be taken in the first as well as the twentieth degree because distance and adhesion are ultimately the singular imprint of a Joe Dante (Gremlins, Small Soldiers) then at the top of his game. After the invasion of small murderous poiscailles in 1978 (Piranhas), the director here explores the mythological figure of the werewolf, develops its disturbing, bestial dimension, without neglecting the dose of grotesque which constantly animates the Dantesque monsters.

New 4K restoration

A horror comedy classic which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The opportunity for Studiocanal to draw the 4K Ultra HD film freshly restored in the VDM laboratory under the supervision of Joe Dante himself, a completely new edition available from October 27th.

A few hundred hours of work

The press release states: "This restoration project was carried out end-to-end in 4K, in 16-bit color depth, so that it could present to the viewer all of the details stored on the original negative.

The 16-bit 4K scan could have been done from the original 35mm negative that had been brought back to Paris a few years ago. The negative image 1.20 was then cropped to 1.85 in order to respect the original projection format of the film.

The film was calibrated in the P3-D65-ST2084 color space, 1000 nits screen. This workflow allows to be able to preserve the maximum of details present on the negative then to be able to decline the cinema versions, HDR 1000 nits and video.

The calibration could be fixed on the reference of positive 35 mm copies of period as well as, for the video part, on the basis of existing reference masters. More importantly, the cinema, HDR and SDR calibrations were presented to Joe Dante at Round About in Burbank, in order to be able to produce versions corresponding to the director's expectations.

Regarding the restoration, it was necessary to spend a few hundred hours doing meticulous filtering and palette work to overcome the defects associated with the age of the film and the wear and tear of time â€.

New exclusive visual, new bonus

The publisher announces a Steelbook metal case, a new exclusive visual, a new featurette entitled A dive into the heart of Joe Dante's career, the documentary Welcome to Werewofland, cut scenes and a blooper.

The film will be offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 VO, PCM stereo VF and German DTS-HD Master 5.1. Not to mention the Dolby Vision HDR for the image. Price: 29.99 euros.