"dreamlike and nightmarish" feel of the scene. Tonion describes the antagonists as "vampire-like", contributing to the "Strindbergian 'ghost sonata. Various authors have compared Lindhorst, as played by Georg Rydeberg, and the other antagonists to Dracula actor Bela Lugosi; Bergman was an admirer of the 1931 Dracula. Hubner also suggests allusions to Middle Age folklore and werewolves, opining that Johan's lipstick (after made over by Lindhorst) resembles blood and Johan's leer is that of a wolf's. Analyzing the opening, Tonion observes the sounds of the crew moving cameras and props and what he presumes to be Bergman preparing Ullmann for her role; this is followed by Ullmann as Alma speaking into the camera, a mise-en-scène repeated at the end. In much the same way as Personas prologue, this opening breaks the fourth wall. Bergman also uses mise-en-scène to add ambiguity to Alma's meeting with the lady with the hat, with a view of Alma and then a pan to the lady; Tonion argues the cinematography creates doubt when the lady leaves as to whether Alma has been alone the whole time. Release Hour of the Wolf was released in Stockholm on 19 February 1968 by Svensk Filmindustri. A U.S. release followed in New York City on 9 April, distributed by Lopert Pictures. It grossed approximately $250,000 in the U.S. At the New York Bergman Festival in May–June 1995, a version was screened with a prologue that had been deleted from previous releases, claiming the film is based on a diary. To mark the centennial of Bergman's birth, Sveriges Television aired the film in 2018 among numerous other works in his filmography. MGM released Hour of the Wolf on DVD both in the U.S. and the UK in single-disc editions and as part of a box set including Shame, The Passion of Anna, The Serpent's Egg and Persona. The U.S. release contains bonus material missing on the UK edition, while the UK box set omits Persona. On 20 November 2018, The Criterion Collection released a Blu-ray version in Region A, along with 38 other Bergman films, in the set Ingmar Bergman's Cinema. Reception The film met with negative reviews in Sweden, with C.H. Svenstedt of Svenska Dagbladet criticizing Bergman for preaching his message and Dagens Nyheters Mauritz Edström writing viewers could not identify with the film. For Vecko-Journalen, Stig Ahlgren wrote a piece examining the story's connections to The Magic Flute. In