Bestselling Scottish author Alistair MacLean may no longer be a household name these days, but his influence is still felt far and wide. That’s not just true of the publishing world, but the filmmaking world as well. While there’s an abundance of cinematic adaptations of his work, he had a clear influence on other thrillers like Juggernaut and ffolkes (aka North Sea Hijack). While he’s often associated with World War II and cold war stories like The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, and Ice Stations Zebra, the actual settings were never as important as was his intricate plotting. In one form or another, MacLean’s stories usually involved men on a mission, with the road from A to B being anything but a straight line. The narratives were never what they seemed to be on the surface, and they were filled with characters who also weren’t what they seemed to be. Deception was layered on top of deception, and double-crosses were inevitable—sometimes, the double-crossers themselves would end up the victims of yet another double-cross. The magic with MacLean is that he was perfectly willing to double-cross his readers as well, withholding necessary information and context until he deemed them appropriate. You’re never sure of your footing with Alistair MacLean.

Cinematographer Alex Thompson shot Fear Is the Key on 35mm film using Panavision cameras with anamorphic lenses, framed at 2.35:1 for its theatrical release. This version from Arrow Video uses a high-definition master provided by Paramount, with no other details available regarding the source elements that were used or any work that was done to them. It looks like an older master, with some minor damage like light scratches still visible. The opening titles and any other optical work really look like optical dupe elements, especially in any shots featuring traveling mattes in the windows of the submarine. The night shots also look a little rough, with flat contrast and boosted levels that adds some noise to the prominent grain. With all of that out of the way, it’s still a generally decent transfer, with colors that look quite good if sometimes a bit uneven—the 2B Bright Red paint on the Gran Torino looks a little orange in a few shots, but to be fair, it always has (and it’s a color that doesn’t necessarily photograph consistently anyway). It’s not a perfect transfer of Fear Is the Key, but it’s a more than adequate one.

Audio is offered in English 2.0 mono LPCM, with optional English SDH subtitles. There’s not much in the way of dynamics and the bass is somewhat limited, but it’s clean and free of noise or obvious distortion. Some of the dialogue sounds a little muffled, but that may be partly due to bad ADR—Suzy Kendall sounds like her dialogue was frequently looped. Roy Budd’s memorably jazzy score sounds fine, however.

Arrow Video’s Limited Edition Blu-ray release of Fear Is the Key comes with a reversible insert featuring new artwork by Nathanael Marsh on one side and the theatrical poster artwork on the other, as well as a fold-out poster offering both artworks. There’s also a slipcover with the new artwork and a 20-page booklet featuring an essay by Sean Hogan. The following extras are included:

  • Audio Commentary by Howard S. Berger
  • A Different Kind of Spy Game (HD – 23:33)
  • Fear in the Key of Budd (HD – 16:34)
  • Producing the Action (HD – 29:55)
  • Bayou to Bray (HD – 39:30)
  • Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 2:16)