Directed by Jonathan Demme in 1979, Last Embrace, based on the novel The 13th Man by Murray Teigh Bloom, tells the story of Harry Hannan (Roy Scheider of Jaws), a man who has a mental breakdown when his wife is accidentally shot in a restaurant. He blames himself for this as it happened when a man that he was supposed to be bringing into the witness protection program, and some of his goons, open fire and kill her.

Three months later, when he's released from the mental hospital, he returns home to find that his apartment has been sublet in his absence to a pretty but eccentric student named Ellie Fabian (Janet Margolin of Annie Hall). Initially he wants her out as soon as possible but then he finds out that the department that he once worked for no longer wants him back (courtesy of a great minor role from Christopher Walken who plays Hannon's boss, Eckart). On top of that, someone has targeted him with a cryptic death note written in ancient Hebrew. He soon finds that he needs Ellie more than he thought, and the two begin to fall in love.

Ellie introduces him to her ‘friend', an eccentric an mentally abusive man named Professor Peabody (John Glover from John Carpenter's In The Mouth Of Madness) who confirms to him what the local Rabbi already told him: that the note means bad news for Harry. Peabody also lets on that five people before him have received the same note, and that all five have wound up dead under some rather bizarre circumstances. Together, Hannon and Ellie, with some help from a private investigator named Sam Urdell (Sam Levene), set out to solve the mystery and find out who wants Harry dead and why. But things are so very much not what they seem and Hannon finds out some rather disturbing news about not only his new girlfriend and her involvement in these crimes, but also about his own past.

With Last Embrace Demme proved his ability as a solid director of well-paced thrillers. On par with some of the lesser works from Chabrol and Hitchcock, Last Embrace has some great scenes of tension and suspense that will keep you paying close attention and trying to figure out ‘whodunnit.' The problem is that if you pay close attention, it's not too hard to figure that out. It's still a fun ride getting there though, and the movie is quite entertaining throughout. The biggest flaw in the film comes from the way that the love affair between Hannon and Ellie is handled. There are scenes in the film that, to any normal person, would be telltale signs of a very, very bad relationship. That being said, who among us hasn't done something extremely stupid in ‘the name of love' at one point in our lives, so maybe it's justified here despite feeling a little bit contrived at times.

Scheider and Margolin are very good in their respective lead roles. As the story develops, Scheider does a fine job of communicating his character's increasing paranoia while Margolin keeps the mystery behind her character held in check nicely. They have a good chemistry together here despite the fact that, as mentioned, their relationship seems a little implausible. Sam Levene and John Glover are good in their supporting roles as well, and a wild-eyed Christopher Walken delivers a scene stealing turn even if he doesn't get as much screen time as many of his fans will have liked. Minor guest appearances from Joe Spinell (best known for his sleazy role in William Lustig's Maniac) as one of the restaurant thugs, Max Wright as a commuter (who we all know and love as Willy Tanner of Alf fame), Mandy Patinkin (from Chicago Hope) also as a commuter, and director Demme himself as a train passenger make the movie a fun ‘Where's Waldo' film for those who enjoy seeing who pops up throughout.

Last Embrace arrives on Blu-ray in a 1080p high definition offerings from Kino framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. The location photography that took place in New York City and Niagara Falls is well represented here as the image is typically pretty solid. There are some scenes that stand out as softer and/or grainier than others but by and large the picture is a strong one. Detail is definitely well past what standard definition could offer and there are no obvious issues with compression artifacts to complain about. Some minor print damage does show up but it's never more than occasional white specks. Skin tones look nice and lifelike and black levels are quite strong.