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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1969)

90%
N/A
86%
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N/A
N/A
90 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 18  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 7.3/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Synopsis: The first directorial effort by Italian suspense master Argento. An American writer in Italy becomes an amateur sleuth when he witnesses a failed attempt by a serial killer to take the life of the wife of a wealthy gallery owner. A stylish beginning to a distinguished career, featuring the... The first directorial effort by Italian suspense master Argento. An American writer in Italy becomes an amateur sleuth when he witnesses a failed attempt by a serial killer to take the life of the wife of a wealthy gallery owner. A stylish beginning to a distinguished career, featuring the black-gloved killer that became the director's trademark. [More]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi, Werner Peters, Enrico Maria Salerno

Director: Dario Argento
Producer: Salvatore Argento, Artur Brauner
Composer: Ennio Morricone

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 25, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 0
  • NTSC
  • Keep Case
  • 2-Disc Set - Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 16.9

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Surround EX - English, Italian
  • DTS ES - English, Italian
  • Subtitles - English - Optional
  • Disc 1: THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE - Main Feature

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Alan Jones - Journalist, Kim Newman - Journalist
  • Trailers - 1. Original International Trailer
  • 2. Original Italian Trailer
  • 3. Original U.S. TV Spots
  • Disc 2: Supplemental Material

Additional Release Material:

  • Featurettes - "The Films of Dario Argento Trailer Gallery"
  • Interviews - 1. Dario Argento - Director/Co-Writer ("Out of the Shadows")
  • 2. Vittorio Storaro - Cinematographer ("Painting with Darkness")
  • 3. Ennio Morricone - Score Composer ("The Music of Murder")
  • 4. Eva Rezi - Star ("Eva's Talking")

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Argento's decision to focus more on tense plot twists and less on gore (there's relatively little here) gives this an audience beyond the usual hardcore horror fan.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/26/07
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/4

A heart-stopping horror melodrama with excellent acting from all involved.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/28/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Dario Argento's undistinguished Italian thriller was an unexpected hit in 1969, thanks largely, one suspects, to some violent scenes that were unusually graphic for their time.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/28/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
C+

Short on ideas.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/25/07
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
N/A

Now king of the spaghetti slasher, Argento made his directorial debut with this tightly constructed thriller.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Dario Argento came into his own with this outstanding widescreen Italian suspense flick in which an American writer witnesses a murder through a huge plate glass window.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image
N/A

... the story is only a structure for Argento to spin his painstakingly choreographed visions of violence and terror with a fluid camera and carefully controlled colors.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/14/05
Sean Axmaker
St@tic Multimedia
Ratings Image
3.5/4

The genius of Argento once upon a time was the understanding that every mystery is, at its essence, existential and subjective.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/04/05
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
Ratings Image
3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/04/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
5/5

Terrifying and tense in a Hitchcock way.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
Ratings Image
3.5/5

[It] has the energy to support its elaborateness and the decency to display its devices with style. Something from each of its better models has stuck, and it is pleasant to rediscover old horrors in such handsome new décor.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/09/05
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

Its scares are on a much more basic level than in, say, a thriller by Hitchcock. It works mostly by exploiting our fear of the dark.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

Early Argento and a pretty stylish thriller.

comment Comment
10/01/03
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image
3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/20/03
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
Ratings Image
4/5

An excellent breakthrough film for director Dario Argento with a magnificent use of space and a great Ennio Morricone score.

comment Comment
04/29/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner
Ratings Image
N/A

One of Argento's earliest films, this is the one that launched the director on the horror track.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
3/5

No review available.

comment Comment
01/31/03
Nicolas Lacroix
Showbizz.net
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
01/22/03
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Ratings Image
3.5/4

While Plumage may not demand active spectatorship, the two-killer theory of Tenebre and Stendhal Syndrome makes its first appearance in an Argento film.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/26/01
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image
4/5

If you're a fan of Argento, or just a fan of thriller films in general, then be sure and check out this under appreciated gem.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/13/01
Mike Bracken
ToxicUniverse.com
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