❉ Expressionist thriller starring Conrad Veidt on home video in the UK for the first time in a special Blu-ray edition.
Eureka Entertainment to release The Hands Of Orlac [Orlac’s Hände], Robert Wiene’s triumphant work of sinister German Expressionism starring Conrad Veidt (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, The Man Who Laughs, Waxworks), on Blu-ray for the first time on home video in the UK as part of The Masters of Cinema Series from 14 June 2021. The first print run of 2000 copies will feature a Limited-Edition O-card Slipcase.
“The cinematography, co-credited to Günther Krampf and Hans Androschin and coupled with Stefan Wessely and Hans Rouc’s funereal set design, gives the entire film an air of doom, desperation, and mounting terror. But even so, Veidt’s performance is clearly the main visual and aesthetic attraction here; his compelling descent into madness is a tour de force of silent film acting” – Senses of Cinema.
Based on a novel by medical-horror novelist Maurice Renard, it charts the mental disintegration of a concert pianist (Conrad Veidt) whose hands are amputated after a train crash, and replaced with the hands of an executed murderer. When Orlac’s father is murdered by the dead man’s hands, Orlac begins a steady descent towards madness.
Reuniting the star and director of Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, The Hands of Orlac [Orlac’s Hände] is a deliciously twisted thriller that blends grand guignol thrills with the visual and performance styles of German Expressionism. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Hands of Orlac for the first time on home video in the UK in a special Blu-ray edition.
SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY CONTAINS:
❉ Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase
❉ 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restoration of the original film elements by Film Archiv Austria
❉ LPCM 2.0 audio
❉ Original German language intertitles with optional English subtitles
❉ Brand new feature length audio commentary with author Stephen Jones and author/critic Kim Newman
❉ Brand new video essay by filmmakers David Cairns and Fiona Watson
❉ Alternate presentation of The Hands of Orlac [SD, 110 minutes] – Courtesy of the F. W. Murnau Foundation, a presentation of the film struck from a different print source, featuring alternate takes of certain scenes. Includes a musical score by Paul Mercer
❉ Scene comparisons highlighting some of the differences between the two versions of the film
❉ PLUS: Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by Philip Kemp, and Tim Lucas
❉ ‘The Hands of Orlac’ [Orlac’s Hände] Masters of Cinema special Blu-ray edition (Cat.No. EKA70427) to be released 14 June 2021, Certificate PG (TBC). RRP £20.99. Available to order from Eureka Store.
❉ News source: Eureka Entertainment.
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