Someone Behind The Door [Blu-ray]

In the early 1970s, there seemed to be quite a few interesting international productions that featured American actors in Italy, France, and the U.K., among others (this is a French-Italian collaboration taking place in the UK). This film has an arty quality to it, and it relies almost completely on the dialogue and acting.Charles Bronson is great in this film! I don't watch action flicks (he did so many!), but I've seen a few of his early films, where he really can act. His wife, Jill Ireland, is also in the film. And Anthony Perkins is perfectly cast.It's a psychological thriller, that brings us questions about memory, identity, workaholicism, and of course, relationships. Is it really a 5-star film? To me, it is an almost lost gem that I find fascinating to watch.

Great script, the actors excelled in this little gem. Jill Ireland, Charles Bronson and Anthony Perkins were impeccable. Such an maxing chemistry between the three. Glad I found this on Prime (and the New World Symphony playing throughout the film was beautiful.)

Perkins and Bronson both deliver their roles true to the story here and it is impossible to find flaws as they present their characters and roll out a taught story. Ms. Ireland is always pleasant to watch. There are no plot surprises here, but the story line falls into pace just taughtly enough to keep one watching the story unfold.

After so much post-Psycho typecasting, it’s downright refreshing to see Anthony Perkins playing someone nice and normal in Someone Behind the Door. Joking, of course - full tilt Perkins!Perkins is Dr. Laurence Jeffries, a brilliant brain surgeon whose latest patient is known to us only as “the stranger” (Charles Bronson). That’s because he’s a total amnesiac. Jeffries performs research on the stranger, but not the kind for which physicians are awarded massive grants. After assuring the stranger he’s not Victor Frankenstein, Jeffries invites him to his home, where he performs a “personality transplant.”That’s the err...clinical way of saying, “I’m going to make you think that my wife is really your wife, and then tell you that she’s been nailing some dude that isn’t me — er, you — and that you should do something about it, thereby letting me off the hook.” Mrs. Jeffries (Jill Ireland, of course), you are in troubbbbble!With so few people in the cast and most of the film taking place in one spot, Someone has the feeling of a great — okay, a pretty good — stage play. It’s a game of psychological one-upsmanship in the style of Sleuth or Deathtrap. Bronson proceeds past his acting ability’s comfort zone in the finale, but I’m sure as hell not going to tell him that.Excellent widescreen presentation, unlike the awful 4x3 DVD version.The sole extra is an exceptionally lively commentary by director Nicolas Gessner - director of the singular classic, The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. (Martin Sheen, Jodie Foster and "Bad Ronald" himself, Scott Jacoby.) Co-written by Gessner and Marc Behm, best known for his work on Help!, Charade and the classic proto-slasher, The Mad Bomber.The stellar cinematography never looked better, KL did a superb job with this remaster. The DP work by Pierre Lhomme shines - on par with his DP work with William Klein, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Paul Melville, Claude Berri, Bruno Nuytten, Bertrand Blier and James Ivory.If you like Bronson's early Euro/Art thrillers such as Rider on the Rain, you'll dig this one, too.

Wow! What an unusual and oftentimes disturbing film this is with excellent performances all around from Perkins, Bronson, and Ireland in this tale about a twisted neurologist (Perkins)whose wife's infidelity prompts him to manipulate an amenesiac (Bronson), into killing his wife and her lover.Perkins is well-cast in this role as the doctor who takes Bronson both into his care and confidence later managing to convince him that Ireland is his wife and is having an affair with a French journalist. An unusual role for Bronson, typically regulated to B pictures and action roles, this film showcases his tremendous range where the director has successfully cast him against type. In this case, the victim.Like "Lola" with Susan George filmed a year earlier and directed by Richard Donner, Bronson played a 38 year old author of "adult literature" who marries the 16 year old Susan George--a stretch for an actor of mostly B action pictures like "Death Wish" and "The Evil That Men Do."This film shot on the southern coast of England, as did "Lola," captures another facet of this actor's gifts. This would be one of many pictures where he would collaborate with his wife, Jill Ireland.Perkins is superb as the disturbed neurologist who finds solace in the opening bars of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" and toy puzzles. Perkins always brings a neurotic intensity to any role, and this is no exception. The ending is one that is shocking as well as unexpected.The quality of this DVD is excellent for a film over 30 years old. The transfers from the 16mm print are remarkably clean, and the audio is remastered to Dolby standards. Beware of cheaper versions of this DVD that look like they were taken from a VHS tape.

The film is very good which i had seen beforeBut the DVD i purchased is of a terrible quality the film and sound are out of cinq plus you can see some times tracking marks which makes me wonder where this DVD came fromI payed a good price for this expecting a good quality DVD after reading the reviews by other peaple who had purchased this film on DVD that were also of a very bad qualityThe reason i have given it 1 star is due to the quality of the DVD but the film itself i would have given it a 4 star

The quality of this DVD. is so poor I cannot watch it. It seems to me to be like a pirated copy. The sound is very poor and the picture is even worse.

Rather strange storyline but with good actors. Only purchased the item as I saw the film being shot in Folkestone as I lived there as a child.

Happy with purchase. Cheers!

I love it