This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Vlad Rodriguez) is limited to 3,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.
Paul Reis (Beau Bridges, The Landlord) returns to his almamatter, St. Charles, an exclusive Catholic boarding school for male adolescents, as the new physical education teacher. When he arrives, he finds two of his new colleagues, English teacher Joseph Dobbs (Robert Preston, Victor/Victoria) and Latin teacher Jerome Malley (James Mason, Lolita), engaged in a bitter rivalry. As tensions rise, and anonymous threatening phone calls disrupt the usually tranquil environs of St. Charles, Reis finds himself embroiled in an unpredictable cycle of violence which begins to reflect in the increasingly aggressive behavior of the students.
Sidney Lumet’s (Serpico, Network) often overlooked marriage of coming-of-age angst and subtle thriller dynamics is a deft adaptation of Robert Marasco’s (Burnt Offerings) play of the same name. Featuring claustrophobic photography by Gerald Hirschfeld (Fail-Safe) accompanied by a paranoia-inducing score from Michael Small (Klute, The Stepford Wives), CHILD’S PLAY is vintage Lumet. Cinématographe is proud to present this beguiling entry in the career of America’s most treasured auteurs in a brand new 2K restoration from its original camera negative.
directed by: Sidney Lumet
starring: James Mason, Robert Preston, Beau Bridges
1972 / 100 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.637931 / 5 from 116 reviews.
Customers highly appreciate the limited edition packaging and upgraded film version of 'Child's Play' by Vinegar Syndrome. The film's thrilling and mysterious elements, combined with excellent performances and cinematography, make it a standout release. The product's fantastic looks and well-received treatment add to its appeal.
Review topics: ["quality","looks","packaging","film","upgrade","feel","release","performances","thriller","lumet","extras","features","drama","transfer","cinematography","movie","play","school","teacher","flick","restoration","acting","turn","director","art","points","story","behavior","documentary","treatment"].
"I’m a sucker for films about weird kids in stuffy boarding school environments, though haven’t seen this for a while. I had a previous Blu-ray edition but couldn’t resist an upgrade because of Cinematographe’s packaging, which, as ever, is beautiful."
"Really gaining an appreciation for Lumet’s unheralded work from this era. Topnotch cast, with a real sense of setting. Foreboding, quietly malevolent atmosphere. Watch this late at night, and it really gets under your skin in that best of way. Love the film; love the packaging."
"Sidney Lumet was never an easy director, and this films honors that, a very high quality filmmakers effort, Child's play puts us in between the rivalry of two institute teachers and makes us see how, sometimes students tend to be cruel anda unfair. The extras are phenomenal and the artwork suggest a tense story, highly recommended!"
"Certainly not on par with Lumet’s best works, but not without its charms. Great performances all around, especially from James Mason, but the whole is much less than the sum of its parts. The big reveal is not much of one and everything seems pretty unmotivated."
"The filmmakers went for looks in this stone cold chiller thriller."
"Child's Play was already impossible for me to ignore because of the title, but Beau Bridges being involved definitely pushed me into finally picking it up. I really liked how understated and tense the movie is. There’s this constant uneasy atmosphere running through everything that slowly builds. It honestly feels more psychologically unsettling than outright scary, which made it stick with me a lot more afterward."
"Dug it and thought the performances were great. Looks and sounds good!!"
"Such a good transfer and love the packaging"
"Great thriller drama that takes place in a religious boys school. There is a flight club vibe among the students, and the faculty are potentially plotting each other's demise. Great cast, excellent transfer quality and the usual fancy packaging. Pretty sure one of the teachers plays the recruiter in the last starfighter."
"Child's Play is a psychological mystery drama directed by Sidney Lumet, based on a Broadway play by Robert Marasco. Set at an exclusive Catholic boarding school, the story follows a young gym teacher who becomes caught in the escalating feud between two veteran instructors — the beloved English teacher and a strict Latin teacher — as student behavior turns increasingly violent and sinister. Rather than a supernatural horror, the film uses tension, rivalry, and ambiguity to explore themes of conflict, perception, and the darker side of human relationships. The Cinématographe Blu‑ray release presents Child’s Play in a high‑definition restoration that enhances the film’s 1. 85:1 cinematography, bringing out the atmospheric period setting and performances from James Mason, Robert Preston, and Beau Bridges. This edition, issued in a limited mediabook format with booklet, allows us to rediscover this overlooked Sidney Lumet work with improved picture and audio, along with generous bonus features including a retrospective documentary on Sidney Lumet."
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