A word of warning to anyone out there who offers you a DVD copy of Dario Argento's 1972 giallo, Four Flies on Grey Velvet: It's a bootleg.
Four Flies is the last major Argento film not yet available on DVD and it isn't even legally available in Europe or Asia. Fans have been demanding it for years, but rights issues have tied up. Although Paramount released the feature in the U.S., there's some question as whether or not they still own it, giving someone else the perfect opportunity to take the initiative and make their own -- rights be damned.
The DVD on the market comes from Germany and is in the PAL video format. It's also taken off of a 16mm print, so the picture quality isn't so hot.
That said, a lot of work has gone into the disc, as it contains English and German audio, German subtitles and a series of trailers, TV commercials and alternate credits. Not bad for a bootleg, really.
And it begs the question as to just what is taking Four Flies so long to make it onto disc. Paramount has never shown much interest in the film, despite constant fan inqueries, and efforts to license the film have thus far proven fruitless. But complicated rights issues have been worked out for other films, and who knows, maybe this boot will convice the powers that be to get their acts together. But in the meantime, be aware -- this release really is too good to be true.
