Halloween DVD Review Round-Up: Part 2

Those creepy DVDs keep coming at us so we're ready to share more thrills, chills and things that go bump in the night with you! Again, we offer some classic horror as well as recently-released film frights and one very recent sci-fi blockbuster. All the better to make you scream all through the witching season!

From Dimension Home Entertainment

Planet Terror: Extended and Unrated

Warning! This film is rated R for horror violence, language and some sexy stuff! Robert Rodriguez' tribute to those 1950's B horror films brings us Rose McGowan from "Charmed" as a special effects-equipped chick with a machine gun leg! Gruesome but way creative!

Here's the haps: Smalltown docs William and Dakota Block (Josh Brolin and Marley Shelton) work the nightshift and are suddenly overwhelmed by locals who are covered with seeping sores and a zombie-like zoned look. Another patient with a different problem is Cherry (Rose McGowan) a go-go dancer who is legless due to an attack. Her ex-BF Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) is at the hospital with her when the patients start "turning" into flesh-chomping zombies and the race is on as the duo teams up with some unlikely allies to save Planet Terror...or at least the folks in the area.

Video/Audio: Okay, this film was part of the "Grindhouse" duo (the other film Death Proof was also released on DVD). These films are supposed to look beaten up, grainy, lots of debris etc. because they were a tribute to those old "B"-movies in theaters. As such, the DVD looks as good to me as in theaters. Color remains pretty bright. Picture looks "normal" and not compressed for your TV screen. Sound is good. Lots of speaker division and rumbles from the bass on action sequences. You get a few pops and crackles to resemble a damaged soundtrack but, like the video, this is intentional. Dialogue comes through fine.

Special Features: You get a great commentary track from director Robert Rodriquez on disc one. Since Robert does everything (write, direct, score the music, do effects, etc.) he is the best fellow to comment on the making of the whole movie. His comments really give you everything from ideas to final print. Good track. An "Audience Reaction Track" is fun since it gives you the sounds of an audience watching the movie.. all the cheers, gasps and "ewwww's" are there. Fun. On disc one is also poster art, some stills and you do get that very funny fake trailer for a film about Machete (Danny Trejos' character).

On disc two you get several brief featurettes that are interesting if not "in depth". Rodriguez does another of his "10 Minute Film Schools" where he explains how he saved money etc. He goes into detail on Rose McGowan's machine gun leg, very funny. There is behind-the-scenes footage that will entertain. You get "The Badass Babes Of Planet Terror" and "The Guys Of Planet Terror" and these zone in on the cast with plenty of interviews with the main performers along with Rodriguez and also Tarantino. Also a little more behind-the-scenes footage that is a kick.

"Casting Rebel" is a cute talk where Rodriguez explains why he cast his own young son in the movie, his feelings as a dad and some of the cast members talk about the boy and Rebel himself gets in the mix. Again, cute.

"Sickos, Bullets And Explosions: The Stunts Of Planet Terror" is an above average exploration of the many action sequences in the movie with the actors talking about their experiences and the stunt team showing us how it was done. "The Friend, The Doctor And The Real Estate Agent" has Rodriguez explaining why he hired some of his friends as day players for the film. Kind of unnecessary but interesting.

Wrapping Up: This movie is very icky, gory and over-the-top but it's a lot of fun, especially for Halloween. It would have been cool to release both "Grindhouse" movies on one DVD but, for some reason, this wasn't done. Alone however, Planet Terror is a hoot and a great tribute to those old hot babes and ghouls summer movies from days gone by. Definitely rent if not buy.

From Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

The Reaping

This creepy crawler spookfest has Hilary Swank as Katherine Winter a once-religious gal who has lost her faith with the deaths of her husband and daughter so she runs around proving that so-called "miracles" aren't real. Doug Blackwell (David Morrissey) calls her to investigate some occurrences in the swampland of Haven, Louisiana. A child was killed, the river is now blood and it looks like the plagues of Egypt are coming fast. Katherine and partner Ben (Idris Elba) witness some of this for themselves and, this time, Katherine can't debunk the happenings. A tween named Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb) is suspected of killing her brother and the locals think the plagues are her fault. Katherine tries to save the girl and uncover a possible conspiracy while fighting true evil.

Video/Audio: Video looks okay on this disc and the strange swampy locales look good but am I crazy or is some of this out of focus? Maybe it was shot that way but, none-the-less, watchable but average. Sound is good with lots of creepy critter noises moving across the screen. Very good.

Special Features: Not a lot. In "The Characters" you just get the cast talking about who they play, okay but average press kit stuff. "A Place Called Haven" is sort of a tour of the locales. Kind of eerie and atmospheric. Okay extra. "The Science of the Ten Plagues" is really interesting as it presents scientists explaining how the 10 plagues in the bible might have really happened due to natural phenomenon. This idea is put forth very briefly in the movie but this featurette goes in depth. Enjoyable and educational too.

"The Reaping: The Seventh Plague: Those Creepy Bugs" is kind of a special effect exploration of the big bug infestation scene in the film in which people cringe or get creeped out by the little critters. Actor Adris Elba just freaks. Kind of funny but not exactly an in-depth look at the effects.

Wrapping Up: AnnaSophia Robb is very good in this film as is Oscar-winning Hilary. It's a strange, kinda disturbing and moody film. Worth a watch for sure for Halloween but maybe as a rental, not a buy.

Poltergeist: 25th Anniversary Edition

This horror classic is still creepy as heck and funny at times too. A normal American family Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams and their three kids live in a new California suburb that real estate agent dad Craig helped settle by selling homes there. He has no idea of a terrible secret lying below the housing tract. Suddenly the youngest daughter Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) starts talking to the "TV people" through TV set static. Finally, weird stuff starts happening; furniture moving, a creepy tree coming to life and trying to "eat" the son etc. Carol Anne gets sucked into an evil spirit world and is trapped there until mom, dad and some parapsychologists and ghostbuster types help get her back.

Video/Audio: This film was released before on DVD but this new transfer is much, much better! Very clear, almost as good as in theaters in the 1980's. No debris, or scratches, colors are bright and crisp. Super job on this digitally restored and remastered DVD! The soundtrack provides good ambient noise and there is a good balance between dialogue, sound effects etc. Very nice.

Extras: Hey, updated interviews with the cast, director Tobe Hooper, producer Spielberg and some commentaries would have been great but you don't get 'um. You get a documentary called "They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeist Revealed." This is a two parter... "Part 1: Science of the Spirits" and "Part 2: Communing with the Dead." These feature experts in the paranormal fields with just a few interviews with some of the cast who just talk about real life hauntings. Okay but more updated and behind-the scenes stuff would have been fun.

Wrapping Up: I can't believe this movie is this old now but this new DVD really cleans it up. Some of the effects still hold up great today, others look a little cheesy but the story, dialogue and scares still work wonderfully. This movie is frightening but is something the whole family can enjoy together! We're short of extras here but you won't see a better transfer of the film. Rent it for sure and if you don't have it in your collection or want to update your old DVD, definitely buy this wonderfully cleaned-up version of a classic Spielberg film (he produced but he might as well have directed. His "mark" is all over the movie).

From Paramount Home Entertainment

Transformers: Two Disc Special Edition

Okay, some reviewers think this popcorn film is purely for fanboys who played with the toys as kids. But hey, it has kick-butt action, a little romance and a female lead who isn't all helpless! Storywise, you know the drill. Biggest action movie of the summer, giant robots do battle on earth. Some wanna help mankind the others wanna destroy us. Caught in the middle is cute Shia LaBeouf whose car turns out to be one of the Transformers, and his would-be gal pal hot Megan Fox. Playing soldiers fighting for Mankind are hunks Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson.

Video/Audio: This new film transfer works fine on DVD. Finally, you can freeze-frame on some of the transformer action and really see how these cars turn into robots. Michael Bay's direction is so darn fast that I was disappointed in the film, to not see this happening more slowly! Colors are fine. You can see all the night action pretty well, lots of detail is evident and the transfer is clean. Lookin' good. Sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 and is top of the line. I could hear the dialogue on the DVD better than in the theater where the sound was so cranked that I missed a ton of it. Effects are spread over all the speakers, battle sequence sound includes great crashes of metal on metal etc. No complaints here.

Special Features: Disc one contains the feature-length Michael Bay commentary and it's all about Bay's reactions to everything and some production stories, choices he made etc. Actually pretty informative if self-centered.

Disc 2 contains lots of featurettes broken into several segments: "Our World" is either a long chunk or watchable in four segments. "The Story Sparks," covers the beginning origins of the movie with Bay's involvement, the development of the look and some on-set footage that is pretty neat. There are interviews with the writers, Spielberg, Bay and some cast and crew and the toymakers at Hasbro so you really get the original toy tie in as well. Interesting.

"Human Allies," is about the cast, with interviews including Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox. Some of this is the usual "selling" stuff but you get audition tapes that are always a hoot and the goods on a really close call for Shia on set, how hot Megan looks and how well John Turturro can do imitations. Kinda funny and entertaining!

In "I Fight Giant Robots" you learn how the cast went through a boot camp for the military action. Man, there was some serious training. Probably more interesting to guys. "Battleground" focuses on the fight scenes and how they were shot. Very interesting if you want to understand how Bay did it.

The next collection of features is like an hour-long. "Their War" is a close-up on all the cool Transformer robots. First section is "Rise of the Robots" and you learn all about the cool toys that inspired the film. Fans get to talk about how they feel about their fave Decepticons or Autobots but Bay basically just did the film his way. You get info on his robot voice-casting decisions. Again, interesting. "Autobots Roll Out," is all about the cars picked for the robots to transform into, i.e. Bumblebee is a cool Camaro, etc. Kind of a selling piece for the cars but interesting. "Inside the All-Spark," is your special effects featurette with stuff on all the computer graphics etc. A great in-depth look at the amazing effects in the film.

Last extras section "More Than Meets the Eye" gathers info on the designs, storyboards and interviews. "From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack" takes apart one big battle scene and uses drawings and on-set footage on this scene. A "Concepts" feature shows various versions of the Bots, etc. Good for fans of the "look" of the film. Of course you also get some trailers for the movie. We found a couple of Easter Egg surprises that include a fake commercial, an actor's cameo shoot and a casting session. Good fun.

Wrapping Up: Transformers is an entertaining, big screen blow up that has some cute, funny stuff, a little flirtation and some extreme action. Fans of the toys were mixed in their reactions but you've got to at least rent this DVD to take a sci-fi break from the Halloween horror. If you are a Shia or Megan or Josh fan, you'll wanna buy. This DVD looks and sounds awesome and you'll just have a fun ride!

From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Bram Stoker's Dracula: Collector's Edition

This stylish, visually stunning 1992 movie by famed director Francis Ford Coppola is a feast for the eyes and a creep-out for all the senses. It is supposed to follow the Stoker novel closer than films before it. Story goes, way back in the 1400's, Prince Vlad was a warrior married to the love of his life Elisabeta. He goes off to war, his enemies tell "Liz" that he's dead and she commits suicide. Vlad then returns, denouncing God and taking up with dark forces to avenge her death.

Years later, in the 1800's, Elisabeta seems reincarnated in Mina Murray (a glowing Wynona Ryder) who is engaged to Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves). Jonathan is sent to Transylvania to settle the undead Vlad Dracula's purchase of a London home. Jonathan is held prisoner there while, back home, Vlad, in Victorian cute guy guise, courts Mina and chows down on voluptuous Lucy (Sadie Frost) who has a ton of hot-to-trot suitors trying to win her hand. The day is saved by savvy vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) who, once Lucy turns "undead", swears to protect Mina and put an end to Drac's reign of terror.

Video/Audio: This movie has been released on DVD several times with usually bad results. This time around, they got it right. Coppola has said that he meant his film to be a "nightmare" and it is just otherworldly enough to achieve that goal. This High Definition transfer is really awesome. Colors are rich and the whole film is free of any dirt or other age problems. 5.1 Dolby sound mix is full of atmosphere sounds and the great, sweeping film score is well-blended. Dialogue comes through very well (ha, even Keanu Reeves' pathetic attempt at an English accent will attack your ears!)

Special Features: This 2-disc DVD package looks great, very slick and shiny with cool graphics. Disc one is the movie plus "Watch Bram Stoker's Dracula with Francis Ford Coppola," which puts in a short video intro and the director's comments throughout are full of details and his intent. Really, really interesting. It's awesome that this bigtime director took the time to do this commentary.

Disc 2 contains four documentaries, deleted scenes, and trailers. "The Blood is the Life - The Making of Dracula" is a super cool making-of with some of the best behind-the scenes footage I've ever seen. Really enjoyable. "The Costumes and the Sets - The Design of Eiko Ishioka" is a very cool view of the very unusual costumes created by Japanese designer Eiko with great sketches and shots of poor Drac actor Gary Oldman trying to get used to his strange armor etc. Very enjoyable. There are also new interviews here with a modern Coppola. An excellent overview of the special costumes created by the Japanese designer, including lots of sketches and footage from the creation of the material.

"In-Camera - The Naive Visual Effects of Dracula" presents Francis' son Roman Coppola who supervised effects for the film and the father/son effects duo Chris Warren and Gene Warren, Jr., talking about doing in-camera effects (i.e. this was before computer-generated effects took over films). I found this to be really super interesting!. "Method and Madness - Visualizing Dracula"- Coppola took his cast up to Napa, California to take them through a getting-to-know-you actor's boot camp and it's really fun to see these actors, circa 1992 get into their roles and do scenes in plain clothes that you'll later see in very fancy dress in the film. You see paintings and other art of the era that inspired the look of the movie and see scenes of Coppola sitting and talking out the look with storyboard artists and crew. Really original.

There are twelve deleted and extended scenes and some are still in storyboard form or very rough footage. The extended stuff is interesting but kinda tedious exposition so you can see why it was cut. You get more of Drac as a wolfie guy and the extended ending is happier but wasn't really necessary.

These special features get a "A" for original content and no "selling" PR stuff. All of them really add to your enjoyment of this unique film! Good job!

Wrapping Up: When the film came out, it seemed that audiences either loved it or hated it. I was somewhere in-between. Keanu Reeves was woefully miscast but Gary Oldman (now of Harry Potter fame) was an awesome, if weirdly-costumed Drac. Wynona's performance isn't legendary but she looks beautiful in the role. Sadie Frost (who was married to Jude Law) is a very hot and sexy Lucy. This is one of the best and hottest Dracula films ever and the extras are awesome. If you are a fan then buy for sure but do rent for a Halloween haunt with style!

From Buena Vista Home Entertainment

The Invisible

In this recent spooky thriller, Nick Powell played by cute Justin Chatwin, has to solve his own murder. We see that Nick's dad died when he was a kid and his disconnected, upper-crusty mom (Marcia Gay Harden) is no help. Just out of high school, Nick plans to run away to England and become a writer. His loser pal Pete (played by Chris Marquette) is tortured and teased by a gang of thugs headed by tuff girl Annie (Margarita Levieva). She blames loser Pete for a jewelry store heist and he blames it on Nick (some friend) so Annie and gang beat up Nick and leave him for dead. Nobody can find his bod. He's between life and death and has to convince Annie to tell the truth or he'll exist between worlds and stay invisible for all time.

Video/Audio: This new picture transfer is fine. Color scheme was kind of toned down in the feature film and the look on this DVD is clean. Audio isn't very "surround" but the rock tunes come through fine and dialogue is clear.

Special Features: You get several deleted scenes with commentary by director David Goyer and co-writer Christine Roum who talk about why stuff was cut. This movie was a bit long anyway for this type of film so good thing this stuff went. There are two Audio Commentaries; one with the director and writer Roum and one with another writer Mick Davis. Everyone seems happy with their work and self-congratulatory and you don't really get a lot of inside info that is of that much interest.

The two music videos by 30 Seconds to Mars with "The Kill" and Sparta on "Taking Back Control" are both fine if you like those bands.

Wrapping Up: This teen angst supernatural thriller isn't fabulous or very "edge-of-your-seat" but is quite watchable and moody and at least sort of spooky at times. You might identify with some of the characters. There are some "Death Cab for Cutie" tunes as well. Broody Justin is cute as is Chris Marquette of "Joan of Arcadia" fame. At least it's worth a rent for your spookfest night.

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.