Blue Underground has released the 1970 directorial debut of Dario Argento, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage in a very nice two-disc set that includes plenty of bonus features as well as some recently discovered and never-before-seen footage which contains a bit more violence.

Sam Dalmas (Tony Mustane) is an American writer vacationing in Italy and attempting to write a book. One night, Sam is wandering the streets trying to come up with some ideas for his book when he sees a woman being attacked by someone wearing a raincoat and black gloves in the window of an art gallery. Sam rushes to aid the woman, but gets trapped between two glass doors and stand by helplessly as the woman is being attacked. The woman is stabbed, but does survive the attack and Sam is told she is the first to survive the attack from a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city. Sam is taken to the police station and questioned as to what he saw during the attack and then it's decided that Sam can't leave the country until the case is solved, so his passport is confiscated to keep him in the country. Less than pleased with the situation, Same decides to solve the case, himself. Sam begins snooping around and appears to be getting close to solving the mystery, but in doing so, he places not only himself in danger, but his girlfriend, Julia (Suzy Kendall) as well, as the killer has no plans of seeing the case solved or identity revealed.

Blue Underground's two-disc set is a big improvement over the VCI release....I own that disc and must say, this looks to be a much cleaner and brighter picture. Audio options are plentiful and include for English language tracks; 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, 6.1 DTS-ES, Dolby Surround 2.0 and Original Mono. For the Italian language tracks, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Surround 2.0 and Original Mono. The majority of the bonus features are housed on disc two, but disc one does have an audio commentary with British writers, Alan Jones and Kim Newman. Alan Jones published, 'Profondo Argento' and Newman is a writer for Video Watchdog and both bring a host of interesting tidbits to the commentary. Other bonus features on disc one are International and Italian theatrical trailers and two American TV spots. Disc two houses some wonderful bonus features as well and first up is; Out of the Shadows-Interview with Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento, Painting With Darkness-Interview with Cinematographer Vittorio Storano, The Music of Murder-Interview with Composer Ennio Morricone and finally, Eva's Talking-Interview with Actress Eva Renzi, who passed away shortly after she was interviewed.

If you're a fan of Argento's work, this is one disc you'll definitely want in your collection and if you're new to the films of Argento, this is a nice place to begin your Argento viewing, I think it will have you looking for more of Argento's films.

Buy the The Bird with the Crystal Plummage Two-Disc SE on DVD at  Amazon.com