The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)
Ensayo de un crimen
Comedy, Drama, Crime • 1h 31m
Overview
A bizarre black comedy about a man whose overwhelming ambition in life is to be a renowned serial killer of women, and will stop at nothing to achieve it - but not everything goes according to plan...
Director: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Ernesto Alonso, Miroslava, Rita Macedo, Andrea Palma, Rodolfo Landa, Ariadna Welter, José María Linares Rivas, Leonor Llausás, Eva Calvo, Enrique Díaz 'Indiano', Carlos Riquelme, Carlos Martínez Baena, Manuel Dondé, Armando Velasco, Armando Acosta, Eduardo Alcaraz, Janet Alcoriza, Rafael Banquells hijo, Antonio Bravo, Emilio Brillas, Lupe Carriles, Jorge Casanova, Jorge Chesterking, Ángel Di Stefani, Enedina Díaz de León, Enrique García Álvarez, Jesús Gómez, Leonor Gómez, Elodia Hernández, Francisco Ledesma, Salvador Lozano, Ángel Merino, Roberto Meyer, José Peña, Ignacio Peón, Chabela Durán
Director: Luis Buñuel
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray uses a newer 4k scan than Criterion Blu-ray or older StudioCanal Blu-ray see https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=4373
Director: Luis Buñuel
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray
StudioCanal 50th Anniversary Blu-ray uses a newer 4k scan than Criterion Blu-ray or older StudioCanal Blu-ray see https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=4373
Director: Luis Buñuel
Radiance's audio is ported from the Criterion DVD, see Blah-ray
Director: Luis Buñuel
Radiance's audio is ported from the Criterion DVD, see Blah-ray
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
4k transfer, no disc https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2019/films/lage-dor/
Director: Luis Buñuel
4k transfer, no disc https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2019/films/lage-dor/
DVD or unreleased restoration
Japan IVC Blu-ray but not English-friendly
Film Foundation has 4k restoration https://www.film-foundation.org/world-cinema but no EN-friendly release yet
DVD or unreleased restoration
Japan IVC Blu-ray but not English-friendly
Film Foundation has 4k restoration https://www.film-foundation.org/world-cinema but no EN-friendly release yet
StudioCanal has 4k, good encode, accuracy of the color grading is debatable vs Criterion
StudioCanal has 4k, good encode, accuracy of the color grading is debatable vs Criterion
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Rudolph Maté
Director: Rudolph Maté
Director: William Beaudine
Director: William Beaudine
VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray
VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray are both MP2 encoded, most likely from the same master. Judging from the size and the caps from DVDBeaver or BR for VCI or caps-a-holic for Filmjuwelen, they are probably very similar.
VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray
VCI US or Filmjuwelen Blu-ray are both MP2 encoded, most likely from the same master. Judging from the size and the caps from DVDBeaver or BR for VCI or caps-a-holic for Filmjuwelen, they are probably very similar.
Director: Victor Halperin
Kino Lorber "raw' version or VCI replacement Blu-ray
Kino Lorber "raw' version or VCI replacement Blu-ray, no comparison available
See DVDBeaver for the whole fiasco but Kino Lorber's main feature was a DNR mess but it fortunately included the "raw" version. VCI initially had a bitrate < 10 Mbps but have sent out new disc with bitrate around 35 Mbps.
UCLA has a new restoration done in 2015, but no release yet
Only VCI has optional subtitle and commentaries, while Kino Lorber doesn't
Director: Victor Halperin
Kino Lorber "raw' version or VCI replacement Blu-ray
Kino Lorber "raw' version or VCI replacement Blu-ray, no comparison available
See DVDBeaver for the whole fiasco but Kino Lorber's main feature was a DNR mess but it fortunately included the "raw" version. VCI initially had a bitrate < 10 Mbps but have sent out new disc with bitrate around 35 Mbps.
UCLA has a new restoration done in 2015, but no release yet
Only VCI has optional subtitle and commentaries, while Kino Lorber doesn't
Director: Lewis Milestone
Director: Lewis Milestone
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Edwin H. Knopf
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Edwin H. Knopf
Director: Henry King
AlphaVideo or VCI DVD
AlphaVideo or VCI DVD
Director: Henry King
AlphaVideo or VCI DVD
AlphaVideo or VCI DVD
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Edit History
6/1/2026
Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
4/30/2026
