Seven Notes In Black: Technical Notes

Video
Beyond (Ha, a Fucli pun) the amateurish and ugly box art and menu systems, you'll find a professionally presented, 16:9 enhanced, 1.85:1 widescreen transfer. Seeing as this is pretty much the only non-bootleg version of the film available on DVD, a lesser transfer would most likely have been tolerated. Fortunately, low expectations are unnecessary. Though there is quite a bit of print damage, including some scratches and dirt, this transfer is light-years ahead of the crusty old VHS version I once rented. Fulci is notorious for his crash-zoom fetishism, and when not presented in their original widescreen ratios, his films become unwatchable studies of the bridge of the human nose. Finally being able to view the film in its original aspect ratio was a joy.

However, there are two pretty major quibbles I had with the transfer, which I find myself unable to put aside. First, there is an annoying tendency for the material to warp periodically. This creates a wavy effect, like what happens when film is temporarily trapped in the projector. The second, and more severe problem is the three instances of missing film. Each instance last about one to three seconds, and though none occur during the height of any specifically intense moment, they are each jarring and maddening. I'm not sure if these represent missing frames in the original negative or a mistake in processing.

Audio
Though the ugly box claims Seven Notes in Black is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo, it is in fact actually presented in mono. The (usually dubbed) dialogue is clear enough and sound levels balanced. Fabio Fabrizi's savvy score sounds OK, but at times things get a little muddled and tinny. Though this is a considerable step above the old VHS, it's too bad the music especially, couldn't have been more, well, digital sounding. At about the halfway point the audio is off by quite a bit, as mouths move separate from their voices, but the problem corrects itself by the next change over.

Extras
The only extra on the disc is a slide show put to the film's opening song. Not very impressive, nor really note worthy.

...I can't wait for someone to go all out with a special edition, stacked with extras, surround sound, and a picture that never disappears. Until that time, this is the best we're going to do.