Audio Video News

Alfred Hitchcock fans will get a special treat this fall: Psycho is going to be released on Blu-ray in a new 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

The score by Bernard Herrmann is the highlight of the composer's career and is widely deemed one of the most potently atmospheric pieces of movie music ever composed. Arranged entirely for string orchestra, it complements the monochrome cinematography and encompasses a variety of moods, from reflective to foreboding to over-the-top shrieking attack mode.

Scheduled for October 19, 2010, Universal's Blu-ray release will commemorate the film's 50th anniversary. The video will be "meticulously restored," promises the press release, in addition to the new soundtrack, and the disc will be "packed with extras, including behind-the-scenes bonus features, documentaries, audio interviews and an in-depth look at the re-mastering process." See press release link below for list of extras.

Here's how the press release describes the audio remastering:

Universal Studios BluWave Audio (Universal's in-house post production sound facility) started the re-mastering process with the film's previously preserved and restored soundtrack to create a new 5.1 mix. BluWave then contracted Audionamix, a Paris-based audio technology company, to split the original mono music source into quasi-orchestral tracks. Audionamix, a leader in soundtrack separation, then applied their breakthrough proprietary technology enabling BluWave to create a discrete 5.1 split music mix.

BluWave's creative talent gathered the original sound effects from the Studios' extensive effects library and, using these source materials, created a 5.1 up-mix to bring Psycho's soundtrack up to the expectations of contemporary audiences while maintaining the original integrity of the filmmaker's vision.

For purists, the disc will also include the original mono as an alternate soundtrack.

See Engadget HD including press release.