Noir queen Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street) stars as Celia, a bored heiress who, while on vacation, meets a mysterious architect named Mark (Michael Redgrave, Dead of Night). They fall in love and are soon married and settled into Mark’s New England estate, where Celia finds herself seemingly suffocating within the spare yet surreal and terrifying confines of her husband’s mansion. As shocking secrets are revealed, Celia is determined to stay and find the cause of Mark’s strange obsession with murder—even though she must risk her own life to do so. Master filmmaker Fritz Lang (Metropolis, M, The Woman in the Window) makes an exquisite feast of a film noir by adding a dash of Daphne du Maurier and a sprinkling of Sigmund Freud to the oft-told legend of Bluebeard. Featuring Anne Revere (National Velvet), Barbara O’Neil (All This, and Heaven Too), Natalie Schafer (Female on the Beach), a spellbinding score by Miklós Rózsa (Spellbound) and chiaroscuro cinematography by Stanley Cortez (The Night of the Hunter).

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Video Quality

Secret Beyond The Door makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p transfer from a 4K scan courtesy of Paramount conducted in 2022. Paramount can be somewhat inconsistent with the restorations they distribute themselves, but their catalog is usually better represented by boutiques since many of them are allowed to do their own remasters. Since Paramount supplied this master, this is one of the titles that look too clean to the point of suspecting DNR was applied. Those who like a pristine picture should be happy, but those looking for something a bit more naturally filmic may be disappointed.

The new transfer showcases a fine amount of depth within the house. Intermittent stray lines and specks of damage remain, but this has been cleaned up considerably. Some amount of detail remains with textures on the clothing and within the production design. Black levels are mostly good with no obvious occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is firmly defined, and the track only experiences momentary instances of flicker and density fluctuation. Kino Classics has treated this one as well as the transfer will allow.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a passable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that realizes this movie well considering its vintage. This track presents a minor amount of age-related wear and tear and some faint hissing, but it is not a significant issue throughout. Dialogue and background elements are deftly balanced with all competing elements. Dialogue remains audible even during more bustling scenarios. The track is somewhat weaker when it comes to the music, which likely can be attributed to the quality of the source elements. Thankfully, the music does not drown out the dialogue or other important information. Kino Classics has provided a good presentation. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Author/Film Historian Alan K. Rode provides an informative commentary track in which he discusses the “vices and virtues” of the picture, how this fits into the career of Fritz Lang, the background of the ensemble players, the score of the picture, how the feature fractured a production company, and many other insights.

Trailers: This disc provides trailers for The Woman In The Window, The Mad Doctor, The Web, Alias Nick Beal, Night Has A Thousand Eyes, Love Letters, So Evil My Love, and Human Desire.

Final Thoughts

Secret Beyond The Door is a serviceable dramatic thriller, but it feels less substantial when viewed in the context of other Fritz Lang pictures. The filmmaker has made many excellent films, and this falls somewhere near the bottom of what we have seen from the artist. The dramatic twists and turns are not too engaging, but they provide a decent enough time. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports an inconsistent A/V presentation and a great commentary track. If you are a fan of the cast or the director, this release is worth a look, but keep your expectations in check. Recommended

Secret Beyond The Door is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.