Woman Who Came Back (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Aug 07, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Walter ColmesRelease Date(s)
1945 (June 7, 2024)Studio(s)
Republic Pictures (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B-
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Released in December of 1945, Woman Who Came Back is a mostly forgotten horror and suspense film that contains many familiar genre trappings, but pulls them off well enough to make them interesting. Produced and directed by Walter Colmes (Identity Unknown, Accomplice), it was a Republic Pictures release that’s fallen far under the radar for many modern horror fans, and truly deserves re-evaluation.
Lorna (Nancy Kelly) is on the way back to her hometown of Eben Rock, Massachusetts when her bus crashes into the nearby lake after a mysterious old woman, who declares Lorna to be the descendant of infamous witch-hunter Elijah Webster, boards the bus. Lorna manages to survive the accident and makes it back to Eben Rock, where her former fiancé, Doctor Matt Adams (John Loder), tends to her injuries. The small New England town begins to buzz with Lorna’s miraculous survival and sudden return, suspicious of her intentions and curious as to why Dr. Adams is so intent on trying to reconcile with her. After considering the words of the old woman and reading further into her family’s history, Lorna begins to believe that she’s the supernatural reincarnation of a witch who died at the hands of Webster, and after a series of incidents, the townspeople grow to believe that they’ve come under her spell. Despite the doctor’s dismissal of all of this, it isn’t long before a hysteria takes hold and Lorna is forced to confront whether or not she’s cursed to be an actual witch. The cast also includes Otto Kruger, Elspeth Dudgeon, and Ruth Ford.
First and foremost, the title, Woman Who Came Back, carries with it a double-meaning. Lorna has come back to her hometown, but she also believes a supernatural force is taking her over, itself coming back from the dead. The paranoia that runs rampant throughout the town about whether Lorna is a witch or not, especially after a series of unfortunate events (one being tragic), is a case of history repeating itself since the so-called evil spirit was also ostracized, and subsequently put to death. It also reflects the continued attitudes towards women by men, which, of course, created witch-hunts, trials, and executions in the first place. Lorna had suddenly backed out of a marriage to Dr. Adams and left the town altogether, and though it’s never made fully clear why she’s returned (likely a fear of a cursed bloodline), the townspeople look upon her with disapproving eyes; perhaps to them, the non-traditional and non-betrothed are evil. Sound familiar? But, intentional or not, it’s definitely a part of the film’s various layers.
For these reasons and many more, Woman Who Came Back is also a very Val Lewton-ish production, evoking shades of Cat People (in one scene in particular), but also predates The Haunted Palace and Carnival of Souls, in which many similar thematics and story beats can be found. Sadly, the supernatural elements, as is so often the case with films of this vintage, are tossed out during the film’s finale. It tries to explain away everything, rendering it nothing more than hallucination and happenstance, even if things don’t line up perfectly. It’s also very exposition-heavy film, but with a brief 68-minute running time. Then there’s the upbeat, humor-laden ending, itself a cliché as plenty of horror and suspense thrillers of this era and beyond all have similar endings, attempting to leave audiences with a laugh. Instead, it falls flat, as does the entirety the climax.
Regardless of its shortcomings, Woman Who Came Back is a worthy horror film with plenty of impressive visuals and cinematography (Henry Sharp, Dr. Cyclops and Ministry of Fear), as well as a fine performance from Nancy Kelly. It won’t win any awards for originality or audience applicability, but it offers up enough atmosphere, complexities, and a tight storyline to keep you interested.
Women Who Came Back was shot by cinematographer Henry Sharp on 35mm black-and-white film, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Imprint Films brings the film to Blu-ray for the first time with a new 4K restoration from the original nitrate camera negative, carried out by StudioCanal. It features excellent grayscale with deep blacks and plenty of nuances of white and gray. Grain is mostly even throughout with a bitrate that sits primarily between 35 and 40Mbps. There are variances throughout, including scratches and speckling, some of which have been removed digitally, softness during transitions, and the use of rear screen projection. Even so, the bulk of the presentation is sharp and organic with lots of fine detail to appreciate.
Audio is included in English 2.0 mono LPCM with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s a tad narrow and perhaps muffled at times, but dialogue is discernible, while the score has plenty of heft to it. There are a few minor thumps and dropouts along the way, but nothing problematic. The most intrusive moments occur when background hiss becomes prevalent with an almost swirling quality to it. It occurs here and there intermittently, almost as if the soundtrack has been patched together from different surviving elements. It needs some work, but it’s plenty listenable.
Woman Who Came Back on Region-Free Blu-ray sits in a clear Amaray case with an insert featuring a still from the film on the front and the inner sleeve. Everything is housed in a slipcase featuring the original theatrical poster artwork. The following extras are included in HD:
- Audio Commentary by Kelly Robinson
- Portraits of the Past: David Huckdale on Woman Who Came Back (29:03)
- Haunted by the Witch: From Salem to Eben Rock (13:48)
Woman Who Came Back was released on DVD in 1999 by Image Entertainment and in 2012 by Mr. Fat-W Video, both bare bones releases. Imprint Films corrects that with three new pieces of bonus material. The first is an audio commentary with writer and film historian Kelly Robinson. It’s a little clunky and goes on more than a few tangents, but plenty of good contextual information about the film and its makers are provided. In Portraits of the Past, writer and musicologist David Huckdale delves into the film’s story and its visuals, as well as its score by Edward H. Plumb. He compares the film to other films in the genre, while also pointing out inconsistencies in the plot. Haunted by the Witch is a video essay by author Joseph Dwyer, who discusses the film’s thematics and setting, comparing it mostly to I Married a Witch.
Woman Who Came Back is not an easy film to track down a copy of in the US these days (as of this writing), but Imprint Films makes it available on Blu-ray with a decent set of extras and a fine presentation. It be lacking compared to other, similar works, but it’s definitely worth a look.
- Tim Salmons
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