The debut movie of Anthony Waller, who would go on to make An American Werewolf In Paris, Mute Witness is the story of Billy Hughes (Marina Zudina), a make-up artist working on a slasher movie in Moscow that is directed by Andy Clark (Evan Richards). She knows him, as he’s the boyfriend of her sister Karen (Fay Ripley).

What she does not know is that there’s also an adult movie being shot on the same set at night and it’s not just a pornographic film, it’s also a snuff movie.

She’s chased by the killer, Arkadi (Igor Volkov) and the director, Lyosha (Sergei Karlenkov), forcing her to jump out a window. Her sister arrives to save her and Lyosha acts like he happened on this accident.

After the police arrive, Billy is able to communicate that she’s seen a killing. They use her special effects to tell the authorities that it was all for a movie. Meanwhile, Arkadi is disposing of the woman’s body in an incinerator and a man known only as The Reaper (referred to as a special guest, we’ll get to that soon) shows up to make sure everything has proceeded properly.

Luckily for Billy, she’s protected by Detective Aleksander Larsen (Oleg Yankovsky), a Moscow cop who has been after this snuff film crew. Not that Billy can’t protect herself, as she throws a hairdryer into a bathtub to take out the director. But can Larsen be trusted? And why does The reaper think she has a disk that has all the information the police need to stop him?

Roger Ebert compared this movie to Halloween and Blood Simple. That’s how good it is. I wish it’s director didn’t get stuck with such a bad movie to make once he got to Hollywood.

As for The Reaper, that’s Alec Guinness. His cameo was filmed nearly a decade before this movie, as Waller worked with him on a commercial. The actor asked for no money, which ended up being one of his final roles. All that he asked was that he not be credited in the film and there be no press surrounding his involvement in it. That’s why The Reaper is played by Mystery Guest Star.

The Arrow Video 4K UHD release of this movie has a 4K restoration approved by director Anthony Waller, who also has a commentary track. There’s a second commentary with production designer Matthias Kammermeier and composer Wilbert Hirsch, moderated by critic Lee Gambin. Plus, there’s visual essays by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Chris Alexander; the Snuff Movie presentation used to get investors; original location scouting footage; original footage with Alec Guinness, filmed a decade earlier than the rest of the movie; a teaser trailer; a trailer; an image gallery; a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais; a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais and an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michelle Kisner.

You can order this from MVD.