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Shock Corridor (1963)
Shock Corridor (1963) poster

Shock Corridor (1963)

Drama, Thriller, Mystery • 1h 41m

Director: Samuel Fuller

Criterion Blu-ray

1080p Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

Overview

With the help of his girlfriend Cathy and Dr. Fong, a psychiatrist, ambitious journalist Johnny Barrett poses as a madman in order to be admitted to a mental institution where a bloody murder has been committed.

Release details

Best Video Release

Criterion HD transfer, France is using the same transfer

Featured Lists
National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 1996

TSPDT
2026: #830
2025: #809
2024: #816
2023: #818
2022: #818
Criterion Forum
Review

Picture: 8, Audio: 6, Extras: 6

Length
101 mins
Type
Movie

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: John Carpenter

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Universal 4K Blu-ray. Maybe Turbine Blu-ray instead for better audio?

Best Audio:
The Thin Man (1934)

Director: W.S. Van Dyke

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

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Warner Archive Blu-ray, 4k scan

The Terminator (1984)

Director: James Cameron

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Steelbook and Mediabook announced for 2026

Best Video:

2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Best Audio:

1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix

Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Director: Martin Scorsese

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Best Video:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding

Best Audio:

Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray

Swing Time (1936)

Director: George Stevens

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray, 2K restoration

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion or Arrow Blu-ray

Best Video:

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Best Audio:

1989 MGM LaserDisc

Alien (1979)

Director: Ridley Scott

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray 

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray  (additional scenes appear to be upscaled)

Best Audio:

Original Theatrical 70mm 6-Track Stereo: Fox 4K Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 4.1)

Original Theatrical 35mm Matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1999 DVD? (2.0 mix on the UHD is a downmix)

2003 Directors Cut: Fox 4K Blu-ray, Fox Blu-ray (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

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UHD Blu-ray
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Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray or Blu-ray

Best Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
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Best Audio:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.

Additional Info:

The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.

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1080p Blu-ray
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WB Blu-ray

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WB Blu-ray

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray source features proper gamma and black levels with a superior contrast. MoC Blu-ray source features improper gamma and black levels and too bright a contrast, making the picture appear washed out. See caps

Additional Info:

Caveat:  MoC Blu-ray has slightly better encoding than Criterion

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1080p Blu-ray
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Warner Archive Blu-ray

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Director: Samuel Fuller

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

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Director: Carol Reed

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray

Best Audio:

StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source

Additional Info:

StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray

Tampopo (1985)

Director: Jūzō Itami

1080p Blu-ray
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Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan Toho Blu-ray

The Secret Agent (2025)

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is slightly better than French 4K Blu-ray see caps

Summer Interlude (1951)

Director: Ingmar Bergman

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Best Video:

BFI Blu-ray > 2018 Boxset Criterion (slightly). 2012 Standalone Criterion significantly worse.

Best Audio:

2004 R2 Tartan DVD

Wild at Heart (1990)

Director: David Lynch

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray

Uncensored version: old DVD

Upcoming Release:

2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut

Best Video:

Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray

Uncensored version: old DVD

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Director: Joachim Trier

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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MUBI 4K Blu-ray has zero extras

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Director: David Lynch

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and doesn’t have the low-pass filter the Criterion 4K Blu-ray has.

Best Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD

Additional Info:

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UHD Blu-ray
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Best Video:

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The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review

Best Audio:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:

I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.

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1080p Blu-ray
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Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

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1080p Blu-ray
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Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray has English audio 

Germany Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion but by StudioCanal 

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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