Mixed Blood 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Presented in 1.85:1 from a new 4K restoration of the original 35mm camera negative, the UHD image leverages HDR and Dolby Vision to striking effect. Color is natural yet assertive, with primaries showing real separation—reds and blues in wardrobe and graffiti pop against the gray, concrete-and-brick backdrop. Skin tones remain lifelike; makeup accents and the brightness of Carol’s blonde hair read cleanly. Blacks are deep and stable, protecting shadow detail during darker passages, while highlights are controlled and never clip. Exterior and interior scenes alike retain depth, rendering Alphabet City’s decayed textures with convincing dimensionality.

Fine detail is consistently strong, exposing pores, fine facial hair, and fibrous fabric weaves without edge stress. Grain is fine, organic, and film-like, matching the gritty aesthetic and never appearing frozen or noisy. The source is in excellent condition, with dirt, scratches, and other debris essentially absent. A handful of early, soft, out-of-focus shots—largely wide city establishing views—stand apart; the balance of the feature is crisp and clean, with razor-sharp clarity. The HDR grade smartly balances the flash of fashion and decor against the colder street milieu, yielding a lively but grounded presentation that respects the film’s texture and tone.

The disc provides a single audio option: a 1.0 mono DTS-HD MA track. For a single channel, it maintains firm prioritization of dialogue while capably integrating the Latin jazz score by Coati Mundi and lively merengue needle drops. Exchanges are generally clear across a range of accents, and the mix keeps speech intelligible even during bursts of gunfire and street-level chaos. A few lines skew muddy—attributable to production limitations rather than the encode—and Richard Ulacia’s delivery can occasionally be hard to parse, making optional subtitles a practical assist.

Music comes through with appealing instrumentation, from softer cues to more assertive soundtrack selections, without swamping voices. Sound effects register as blunt but effective—bullet hits and ambient bustle have presence, if not dimensional spread, consistent with the mono design. Levels are set with care, avoiding abrupt spikes and preserving headroom so that dialogue, score, and effects share the single channel cleanly. The result is a stable, front-focused presentation that suits the film’s raw aesthetic and, within the constraints of 1.0 mono, feels precisely balanced and well-managed.

A well-curated package contextualizes the film within Paul Morrissey’s career. New interviews, a sharp historian commentary, and a video essay probe casting, editorial constraints, and hazardous NYC locations. Archival material adds perspective; the only notable omission is a theatrical trailer.

Extras included in this disc:

• Tremendous Drama: Leonard Finger on casting and 1980s NYC (15:51, HD).
• Nothing as Wild: Scott Vickrey on cutting limited footage and tone (18:41, HD).
• The Real Pieces: Steven Fierberg on additional photography, risks, and cash woes (19:04, HD).
• Archival Interview: Paul Morrissey on The Joan Quinn Profiles (1994) (17:16, SD).
• The Brazilian on Avenue B: Video essay by Chris O’Neill (17:48, HD).
• Audio Commentary: Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell (UHD and Blu‑ray).
• Image Gallery: BTS, marketing, publicity, Polaroids, script pages.
• Booklet: Essays by Madelyn Sutton, Erica Schultz, Paul Attard.

Mixed Blood, directed by Paul Morrissey, plunges into early‑1980s Alphabet City, where drug matriarch Rita La Punta (Marília Pêra) leads the Maceteros while protecting her son, Thiago (Richard Ulacia). A ruthless rival, Juan (Angel David), escalates a turf war, as ex‑cop Hector (Marcelino Rivera) and The German (Ulrich Berr) hover at the edges of control. Desire and distrust intensify when Carol (Linda Kerridge) enters the fold, setting off betrayals and violent reprisals that push Rita’s maternal authority and Thiago’s loyalty to a breaking point.

Reviews emphasize the film’s fierce location authenticity—crumbling tenements, abandoned interiors, and streets largely untouched by police—paired with a raw, often amateur ensemble. Morrissey minimizes exposition, dropping viewers mid‑conflict, favoring momentum, periodic gunfire, and abrupt spikes of brutality (including a rooftop “message”). The tone deliberately wobbles between gritty realism and camp: grand monologues, near‑Shakespearean scheming, and mordant comedy thread through the carnage. Dramatic clarity can be diffuse, yet atmosphere and texture are potent, with Marília Pêra commanding every scene. Geraldine Smith adds grit, and a blink‑and‑miss debut from John Leguizamo surfaces on a neighborhood court. The result is an odd, compelling hybrid—street‑level verismilitude fused with theatrical flourish.

As a film, Mixed Blood splits opinion but intrigues. Reviewers note the vivid Alphabet City location work—tours of storefronts and neighborhoods (including a Menudo-themed shop) lend texture, while Morrissey’s vision threads urban decay with chosen-family dynamics and positions Carol as a catalyst within the turf order. The first half plays as an arresting, off-kilter immersion before the back half leans on familiar beats, thinning the exploratory edge. Performances are uneven: Pera’s commitment pops, yet much of the ensemble struggles, with Ulacia’s inexperience and audible speech impediment undercutting key dramatic turns, reinforcing a sense that style and surface often take priority over control.

As a 4K UHD package, consensus is far more upbeat. The presentation delivers strong A/V performance and a robust slate of supplements, making the release the preferred way to experience the film’s street-level textures and tonal pivots—from hard-edged docu-drama to heightened melodrama and flashes of comedy. Even for viewers mixed on the narrative’s trajectory or acting caliber, the disc’s technical polish and extras provide meaningful value and context, securing a confident recommendation for collectors and the curious alike.