The Devil’s Bride (1974) Blu-ray Review

Deaf Crocodile Films

Blu-ray Release: September 16, 2025 (standard edition)

Video: 2.35:1/1080p/Color

Audio: Lithuanian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono

Subtitles: English

Run Time: 76:33

Director: Arūnas Žebriūnas

A devil named Pinčiukas (Gediminas Girdvainis) is booted from Heaven and drops into a frog pond owned by farmer Baltaragis (Vasilijus Simčičius). Pinčiukas promises Baltaragis the hand of his beautiful blonde love, Marcelė (Vaiva Mainelytė), in exchange for their as-yet unborn daughter, Jurga (also Mainelytė), and wicked complications ensue. (From Deaf Crocodile’s official synopsis)

Have you ever wondered what a Soviet era Lithuanian version of Ken Russell’s Tommy (1975) might look like? Right, of course, we all have. And what if that Soviet era Lithuanian Tommy took on the sensibilities of early-’70s folk horror, namely Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973), but with the whimsical parts emphasized over the existential horror? Well, that’s the best shorthand I can muster to describe Arūnas Žebriūnas' singularly odd-yet-familiar feature The Devil’s Bride (Lithuanian: Velnio nuotaka, 1974 – not to be confused with the alternate title of Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out, 1968).

Žebriūnas' film is based on a 1973 rock opera by Russian jazz pianist Vyacheslav Ganelin with lyrics from poet Sigitas Geda, based on the novel Baltaragis's Mill (Lithuanian: Baltaragio malûnas, pub: 1945) by Kazys Boruta. Some reports (including the extras on this disc) claim Ganelin was directly inspired by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar (1970). While there’s very little English language information I can find about the composer or film, The Devil’s Bride certainly shares a vibe with Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair (1967), Godspell (1971), and the other hippie era, early rock musicals. Comparisons to Tommy and other Russell films pertain mostly to the film’s absurd sense of humor, which, to me, sets it apart from Webber & Rice’s largely sincere work.

The Devil’s Bride is so densely-packed, metaphor-heavy, and tonally anarchic that it is practically designed to alienate any viewers who are already allergic to the inherent artificiality of musicals in general. Fortunately, Ganelin’s score, which blends folk music, late ’60s acid rock, and traditional symphonic cues (think of it as Bernstein-meets-Cream), is genuinely infectious and Žebriūnas doesn’t pause to examine any one idea for too long. There’s little time to find oneself bogged down in greater meaning. Like all the best rock operas, The Devil’s Bride invites you along for a ride and doesn’t require that you ponder its message too intently. In fact, the pacing is so relentless at times that you’ll probably have to wait for a second or third viewing before you have the space for thematic interpretation, anyway.

Video

Not surprisingly, The Devil’s Bride has never been available on North American home video. I’m not even sure it had any kind of English-friendly release, theatrical or video. To make up for lost time, the film has been lovingly restored by the Lithuanian Film Centre and supplied to Deaf Crocodile, who is presenting it here in 1080p and its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

It’s a gritty, highly textured film, filled with busy, complex medium and wide-angle shots. The transfer avoids oversharpening these elements and maintains a naturally detailed look throughout. The overcast exteriors, sunny excursions, and dimly-lit interiors require some pretty extensive dynamic range, too. Colors are eclectic, vibrant, and consistent, though there is a slightly yellow/orange quality that, along with the occasionally crushed blacks, implies that the LFC might have gone a little too aggressive on the post-scan grading. The effect is a (much) subtler version of what we saw from L’Immagine Ritrovata transfers about seven or eight years ago. Overall, this is a punchy and attractive North American introduction to the film.

Audio

The Devil’s Bride is presented in its original Lithuanian mono sound and uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio sound. It’s not surprising that the singing is all post-dubbed, because singing tends to be post-dubbed in even modern musical blockbusters, but the location shooting also seems to have forced the production to ADR all spoken dialogue as well, so the lip sync is a bit weird throughout (noting that, according to the commentary, none of the on-screen cast sang their own parts). There also aren’t many sound effects, because that’s part of the score’s job. The music sounds pretty great all-around, like a good mono CD mix, limited only by the original recording. There’s a lot of depth to the string and brass elements and a nice separation of the rock and symphonic parts. 

Extras

• Commentary with Michael Brooke – The critic and Eastern European film expert explores the trials and tribulations of the production, the original novel, Lithuanian culture, Soviet filmmaking in general, The Devil’s Bride’s various inspirations, the wider careers of the cast & crew, and all of the symbolism I didn’t worry too much about during my initial viewing.

• The One Who Carries a Tune: Rock ‘n Roll Sessions and The Devil’s Bride (13:34, HD) – A video essay from Dr. Will Dodson and Ryan Verrill of the Someone’s Favorite Productions podcast, who discuss the history of Lithuanian book smuggling under Soviet (and pre-Soviet) rule, the development of underground Lithuanian rock music, protests tied to cultural censorship, Soviet cinema traditions, and the ways all of these things fed into the rebellious spirit of Žebriūnas’ work.

• Video interview with Monika Edgar (54:30, HD) – Studio co-founder Dennis Bartok interviews Žebriūnas’ daughter, Monika Edgar, in another patented Deaf Crocodile Zoom interview. Edgar speaks perfect English, so there isn’t an issue with live translation stilting the conversation this time around (a minor issue I had with the company’s otherwise fantastic release of Jiří Barta’s The Pied Piper [1986]). The focus on the Žebriūnas family history is also refreshing, given the focus on regional and film history present in the other extras.

• Video interview with Ieva Šukytė (53:27, HD) – In the second of two Zoom interviews, Bartok talks with the critic and programmer (who also speaks perfect English). The subject matter surrounds Šukytė’s work, the Lithuanian industry during the collapse of the USSR (when she was a child), the wider history of filmmaking in Lithuania, common themes, and The Devil’s Bride’s continued influence.

The images on this page are taken from the BDs and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.