Mystery & Suspense

Heroes: Season 2

Rejoin the epic and suspenseful phenomenon as Heroes: Season 2 arrives on DVD! Experience all the new and exciting twists of the astonishing series in this 4-disc set that includes every gripping Season 2 episode. Plus see what could have been with exclusive bonus features that reveal the untold stories that never aired and an alternate ending to the season finale where the fate of humanity takes an ominous turn when Peter fails to catch the vial containing the deadly virus.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025195015493 Manufacturer No: 61101979

Don't believe the hype: though some critics and viewers decried the sophomore season of the hit fantasy series Heroes, the core of the program remained as strong as in its debut network run. To be sure, the 2007-2008 Writers Guild strike hobbled the show, and producers stumbled by stranding two of its most intriguing characters: Super-charged Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) is taken out of the action after being struck with amnesia, while Hiro (Masi Oka) is sent to feudal Japan, where he encounters his own idol, Takezo Kenzei (David Anders). Both are overcomplicated story arcs, even by Heroes standards, and their connection to the rest of the season occasionally requires some mental gymnastics. But the crux of the season--the Company's development of the power-draining Shanti virus and its potentially devastating effects on both average citizens and superhumans like Niki Sanders (Ali Larter), The Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis) and primary villain Sylar (Zachary Quinto)--is solid, gripping material. The introduction of new characters like the lethal Maya (Dania Ramirez) and Kristen Bell as the electrically charged (in both the literal and figurative sense) Elle Bishop also up the dramatic stakes, even if their presence may require a scorecard for some viewers. In short, the few kinks in the armor of Heroes: Season 2 ultimately don't detract from the show's drive and vision. Season two spreads its supplemental features across all four of its discs; chief among these are commentary tracks by the cast and crew on all eleven episodes. The participating talent ranges from creator Tim Kring and stars Ventimiglia, Oka, Quinto and Greg Grunberg to composers Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin, which helps to provide a wide variety of information about almost every aspect of the show's production. Featurettes cover everything from the history of Takezo Kenzei to in-depth looks at scenes from the season, while "Untold Stories" explores storylines that were left unfinished due to the writers' strike. The key extras are, of course, the alternate ending to the season finale (which is unfortunately revealed by the rear cover-art text) and an info-heavy sneak peek at Season 3. --Paul Gaita

Beyond Heroes – Season 2 on DVD

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Before They Were Heroes

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Stills from Heroes – Season 2 (Click for larger image)

Lost - The Complete Fourth Season

LOST: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (DVD MOVIE)

Heroes - Season One

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Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 28-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVD

Arguably the most talked-about television show of the 2006-2007 season, the Emmy-nominated fantasy Heroes gives viewers blends comic book-style adventure with plotting and characters as rich and layered as any graphic novel or drama series. Creator Tim Kring's premise is deceptively simple - ordinary individuals in locations around the globe discover that they have, for lack of a better term, super powers, and wrestle with this reality while facing challenges both global (the destruction of New York City, for one) and personal (indestructible cheerleader Hayden Panetierre has family issues - serious ones, as the true identity of her adoptive father reveals; Milo Ventimiglia's Peter Petrelli, who absorbs other powers, must overcome his own insecurities). Add to this mix a terrific villain - Zachary Quinto's Sylar, who hunts and kills people with extraordinary powers like our heroes - and viewers have a riveting series that exhibits an almost-perfect balance of cliffhanger thrills (the action and special effects are truly impressive for a network program) and genuine drama that sets the show apart from most speculative fiction (save, perhaps, the revived Battlestar Galactica, which it compares too favorably). The seven-disc set of Heroes: Season One offers a wealth of extras for fans, who may be familiar with some of them through the NBC.com website, especially the cast commentaries, which are featured on half of the episodes. Kring is featured on the 73-minute uncut pilot episode, which for some viewers, may be even better than the network version; the main difference is the degree of character development, including an entire storyline for D.L. Hawkins that isn't featured in the broadcast version. Also on deck are some 50 deleted scenes from the episodes, several by-the-books making-of featurettes, including coverage of the special effects and stunt work, and a profile of artist Tim Sale, whose illustrations are used for Isaac Mendez's prophetic artwork. Prospective buyers should note that while all of these supplemental features are included on the HD-DVD version of this set, the special Web-connectivity elements are not available here. -- Paul Gaita

Midsomer Murders Set 11

Midsomer Murders, Set 11 presents four more gruesome yet impish mysteries from this ever-dependable series. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is joined by his latest protégé, DC Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) as they investigate roiling emotions and rash acts in rural England. In The House in the Woods, Nettles first meets Jones while delving into the case of a young house-hunting couple who are garroted in their car. A girl in a bee costume finds a drowned woman' body in Dead Letters, in which a long-dead beauty queen is linked to a series of present-day deaths. The past haunts the present in Vixen's Run, only it's sex and parentage that have been covered up--when a wealthy glutton dies of natural causes, nastiness soon spreads among his heirs, while a series of rhymed clues lead fortune-hunters on the trail of lost emeralds. And in Down Among the Dead Men, the shooting of an obsessive neat-freak reveals a web of blackmail that many involve a policeman that Barnaby deeply respects. The scripts are consistently engaging (Vixen's Run, with its treasure puzzle subplot, is particularly fun), the supporting casts are full of stalwart British thespians (Simon Callow, of Four Weddings and a Funeral, chews the scenery with relish as a lecherous doctor in Dead Letters), and there's always at least one sequence of genuine suspense or spookiness. Nettles--staunch, good-humored, and doggedly determined to catch the culprit--provides a calm axis for all the enjoyable mayhem and pettiness to wheel around. (Newcomers need not shy away, every 100-minute episode is self-contained.) --Bret Fetzer

What evil lurks beyond the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer…

The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby with Jason Hughes (This Life) as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Constable Ben Jones. Guest stars include George Baker, Elizabeth Spriggs, Simon Callow, Joss Ackland, Siân Phillips, Dermot Crowley, and Julia McKenzie.

THE MYSTERIES
The House in the Woods -- According to local legend, Winyard is haunted—and it lives up to its reputation when a young couple dies on the property in a grisly fashion.
Dead Letters -- As Midsomer Barton celebrates Oak Apple Week, the mother of a former festival queen drowns herself. But is it really suicide?
Vixen's Run -- At a family gathering, thrice-married baronet Freddy Butler keels over dead, leaving an estate worth killing for.
Down Among the Dead Men -- The shotgun slaying of accountant Martin Barrett leads Barnaby and Jones on a trail of blackmail.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Fascinating Facts, The Killings at Badger's Drift connection, Caroline Graham biography, production notes, and cast filmographies.

Lost - The Complete Second Season

4 8 15 16 23 42. Push the button and prepare to be blown away by the groundbreaking television event USA Today calls "TV's best series." The multiple Emmy(R) Award-winning drama reaches new heights in its spectacular second season as the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 discover they are not alone in their battle against "The Others" and a contested decision to open the hatch reveals a new realm of mystery and intrigue. Prepare yourself for the DVD experience of Season Two complete with over 8 hours of original bonus material you can't see anywhere else -- including unaired original flashbacks -- and you'll discover for yourself why "everything happens for a reason."Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: TV-14 UPC: 786936300468 Manufacturer No: 04173600

What was in the Hatch? The cliffhanger from season one of Lost was answered in its opening sequences, only to launch into more questions as the season progressed. That's right: Just when you say "Ohhhhh," there comes another "What?" Thankfully, the show's producers sprinkle answers like tasty morsels throughout the season, ending with a whopper: What caused Oceanic Air Flight 815 to crash in the first place? As the show digs into more revelations about its inhabitant's pasts, it also devotes a good chunk to new characters (Hey, it's an island; you never know who you're going to run into.) First, there are the "Tailies," passengers from the back end of the plane who crashed on the other side of the island. Among them are the wise, God-fearing ex-drug lord Mr. Eko (standout Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje); devoted husband Bernard (Sam Anderson); psychiatrist Libby (Cynthia Watros, whose character has more than one hidden link to the other islanders); and ex-cop Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), by far the most infuriating character on the show, despite how much the writers tried to incur sympathy with her flashback. Then there are the Others, first introduced when they kidnapped Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) at the end of season one. Brutal and calculating, their agenda only became more complex when one of them (played creepily by Michael Emerson) was held hostage in the hatch and, quite handily, plays mind games on everyone's already frayed nerves. The original cast continues to battle their own skeletons, most notably Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Michael (Harold Perrineau), whose obsession with finding Walt takes a dangerous turn. The love triangle between Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway), which had stalled with Sawyer's departure, heats up again in the second half. Despite the bloating cast size (knocked down by a few by season's end) Lost still does what it does best: explores the psyche of people, about whom "my life is an open book" never applies, and cracks into the social dynamics of strangers thrust into Lord of the Flies-esque situations. Is it all a science experiment? A dream? A supernatural pocket in the universe? Likely, any theory will wind up on shaky ground by the season's conclusion. But hey, that's the fun of it. This show was made for DVD, and you can pause and slow-frame to your heart's content. Just try and keep that head-spinning to a minimum.

On the DVD

Commentaries by various cast members and producers reveal little other than the occasional easter egg (the Dharma logo on the shark fin, Walt's mumbling translating to "Don't push the button; the button is bad" backwards). But disc seven opens with an eerie Hanso Foundation instructional video, leading you to eight hours of bonus features, including cast members' own theories, deleted scenes, and featurettes on specific episodes. It's all well and good for Lost fanatics, but if you want the cream of the crop, check out: "Lost Connections," an interactive feature that reveals how all the islanders are actually linked (for instance, one of the officers who captured Sayid during the Gulf War is Kate's father); a Channel UK promo for the show directed by David LaChappelle in which cast members suck in their cheeks and, dressed in evening wear, tango in slow motion as if in a Calvin Klein ad (it has to be a joke, right?); and "The World According to Sawyer," which strings together each of the un-PC nicknames and pop culture references spewed by Holloway's character. Favorites include "Chewie" for Jin and "Ponce de Leon" for Ana Lucia. It's by far the cherry on top of a sweet dessert. --Ellen A. Kim

Planet of the Apes - The Legacy Collection (Planet of the Apes [1968] / Beneath the / Escape from the / Conquest of the / Battle for the)

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Media Type: DVD
Artist: PLANET OF THE APES LEGACY
Title: PLANET OF THE APES LEGACY
Street Release Date: 05/22/2007
Domestic
Genre: SCIENCE FICTION

Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection (Psycho / Vertigo / Rear Window / The Birds / Shadow of a Doubt / Family Plot / Frenzy / The Man Who Knew Too Much / Marnie / Rope / Saboteur / Topaz / Torn Curtain / The Trouble with Harry)

Masterpiece indeed. With 14 films, each supplemented with numerous documentaries, commentaries, and other bonus materials, Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection will be the cornerstone for any serious DVD library. Packaged in a beautiful, conversation-starting velvet box, the individual discs inside come four to a case, decorated with original poster art. No doubt opinionated fans will argue about what should fall under the rubric of "masterpiece" in Hitchcock's body of work, but with the bona fide classics Vertigo, Psycho, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, there's plenty of timeless movie magic here. Eye-popping transfers and gorgeous sound make this set one of the must-have releases of the year.

Should the Hitchcock fan have the energy for more after imbibing on the movies themselves, a bonus disc provides additional documentaries. These include a revealing interview in which the master of suspense discusses, among other things, how much he dislikes working with method actors, going so far as to name names (we're talking about you, Jimmy Stewart and Montgomery Clift). In an American Film Institute lifetime achievement ceremony, the master of suspense is praised by the likes of Stewart and Ingrid Bergman, and seems to be suffering from severe boredom as celebrities pile on the flattery. Then Hitchcock opens his mouth to accept the award, delivering an endlessly witty stream of perfect bon mots that prove once again that he was a master of high comedy as well. Revealing documentaries about the making of Psycho and The Birds round out the feast of extras. The 36-page booklet, filled mostly with stills and poster art, provides little new information about the films.--Ryan Boudinot

Films Included in Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection

Saboteur
Robert Cummings stars as Barry Kane, a patriotic munitions worker who is falsely accused of sabotage, in this wartime thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. Plastered across the front page of every newspaper and hated by the nation, Kane's only hope of clearing his name is to find the real villain. The script as a whole is a clever one--Algonquin wit Dorothy Parker shares a screenwriting credit, and her trademark zingers make for a terrific mix of humor and suspense. Saboteur is a pleasure whether you're a die-hard Hitchcock fan or just someone who likes a good nail-biter. --Ali Davis

Shadow of a Doubt
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favorite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920's serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," the movie sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the façade of small-town tranquility to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon

Rope
An experimental film masquerading as a standard Hollywood thriller, Rope is simple and based on a successful stage play: two young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) commit murder, more or less as an intellectual exercise. They hide the body in their large apartment, then throw a dinner party. Will the body be discovered? Director Alfred Hitchcock, fascinated by the possibilities of the long-take style, decided to shoot this story as though it were happening in one long, uninterrupted shot. Since the camera can only hold one 10-minute reel at a time, Hitchcock had to be creative when it came time to change reels, disguising the switches as the camera passed behind someone's back or moved behind a lamp. James Stewart, as a suspicious professor, marks his first starring role for Hitchcock, a collaboration that would lead to the masterpieces Rear Window and Vertigo. --Robert Horton

Rear Window
Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder. At deeper levels, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland

The Trouble with Harry
A busman's holiday for Alfred Hitchcock, this 1955 black comedy concerns a pesky corpse that becomes a problem for a quiet, Vermont neighborhood. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut as one of several characters who keep burying the body and finding it unburied again. Hitchcock clearly enjoys conjuring the autumnal look and feel of the story, and he establishes an important, first-time alliance with composer Bernard Herrmann, whose music proved vital to the director's next half-dozen or so films. But for now, The Trouble with Harry is a lark, the mischievous side of Hitchcock given free reign. --Tom Keogh

The Man Who Knew Too Much
Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his own 1934 spy thriller is an exciting event in its own right, with several justifiably famous sequences. James Stewart and Doris Day play American tourists who discover more than they wanted to know about an assassination plot. When their son is kidnapped to keep them quiet, they are caught between concern for him and the terrible secret they hold. When asked about the difference between this version of the story and the one he made 22 years earlier, Hitchcock always said the first was the work of a talented amateur while the second was the act of a seasoned professional. Indeed, several extraordinary moments in this update represent consummate filmmaking, particularly a relentlessly exciting Albert Hall scene, with a blaring symphony, an assassin's gun, and Doris Day's scream. The Man Who Knew Too Muchis the work of a master in his prime. --Tom Keogh

Vertigo
Although it wasn't a box-office success when originally released in 1958, Vertigo has since taken its deserved place as Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, most spellbinding, most deeply personal achievement. James Stewart plays a retired police detective who is hired by an old friend to follow his wife (a superb Kim Novak, in what becomes a double role), whom he suspects of being possessed by the spirit of a dead madwoman. Shot around San Francisco (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of the Legion of Honor are significant locations) and elsewhere in Northern California (the redwoods, Mission San Juan Batista) in rapturous Technicolor, Vertigo is as lovely as it is haunting. --Jim Emerson

Psycho
For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. --Jim Emerson

The Birds
Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and--despite the sci-fi trappings--one of Hitchcock's most serious films. --Robert Horton

Marnie
Sean Connery, fresh from the second Bond picture, From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realizes that she's a professional thief; she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities. His patient program of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge. As it were. Not even D.H. Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute

Torn Curtain
Paul Newman and Julie Andrews star in what must unfortunately be called one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser efforts. Still, sub-par Hitchcock is better than a lot of what's out there, and this one is well worth a look. Newman plays cold war physicist Michael Armstrong, while Andrews plays his lovely assistant-and-fiancée, Sarah Sherman. Armstrong has been working on a missile defense system that will "make nuclear defense obsolete," and naturally both sides are very interested. All Sarah cares about is the fact that Michael has been acting awfully fishy lately. The suspense of Torn Curtain is by nature not as thrilling as that in the average Hitchcock film--much of it involves sitting still and wondering if the bad guys are getting closer. Still, Hitchcock manages to amuse himself: there is some beautifully clever camera work and an excruciating sequence that illustrates the frequent Hitchcock point that death is not a tidy business. --Ali Davis

Topaz
Alfred Hitchcock hadn't made a spy thriller since the 1930s, so his 1969 adaptation of Leon Uris's bestseller seemed like a curious choice for the director. But Hitchcock makes Uris's story of the West's investigation into the Soviet Union's dealings with Cuba his own. Frederick Stafford plays a French intelligence agent who works with his American counterpart (John Forsythe) to break up a Soviet spy ring. The film is a bit flat dramatically and visually, and there are sequences that seem to occupy Hitchcock's attention more than others. A minor work all around, with at least two alternative endings shot by Hitchcock. --Tom Keogh

Frenzy
Alfred Hitchcock's penultimate film, written by Anthony Shaffer (who also wrote Sleuth), this delightfully grisly little tale features an all-British cast minus star wattage, which may have accounted for its relatively slim showing in the States. Jon Finch plays a down-on-his-luck Londoner who is offered some help by an old pal (Barry Foster). In fact, Foster is a serial killer the police have been chasing--and he's framing Finch. Which leads to a classic Hitchcock situation: a guiltless man is forced to prove his innocence while eluding Scotland Yard at the same time. Spiked with Hitchcock's trademark dark humor, Frenzy also features a very funny subplot about the Scotland Yard investigator (Alec McCowen) in charge of the case, who must endure meals by a wife (Vivien Merchant) who is taking a gourmet-cooking class. --Marshall Fine

Family Plot
Alfred Hitchcock's final film is understated comic fun that mixes suspense with deft humor, thanks to a solid cast. The plot centers on the kidnapping of an heir and a diamond theft by a pair of bad guys led by Karen Black and William Devane. The cops seem befuddled, but that doesn't stop a questionable psychic (Barbara Harris) and her not overly bright boyfriend (Bruce Dern, in a rare good-guy role) from picking up the trail and actually solving the crime. Did she do it with actual psychic powers? That's part of the fun of Harris's enjoyably ditsy performance. --Marshall Fine

14 of the finest works from the universally acclaimed Master of Suspense come together for the first time in one collection. These captivating landmark films boast three decades of Hollywood legends, including James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery and Doris Day. The premium packaging and collectible book make Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection the must-own, definitive anthology of gripping works by a true genius.

Midsomer Murders, Set 10

Gruesome doings in bucolic villages make Midsomer Murders an addictive British detective series. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles), a staunch, determined policeman with a nose for sniffing out motives and crucial mistakes, investigates murders in this bizarrely homicidal rural district, accompanied by the younger, not as insightful, but still dutiful Sergeant Scott (John Hopkins). Set 10 features three superb episodes and one disappointing one (which, confusingly enough, are from the show's eighth series on the BBC). Each episode is a 90-100 minute movie, cunningly structured so the solution always seems just out of reach yet tantalizingly close. The characters are well-developed and rarely feel like mere puppets designed to distract viewers from an inevitable solution; the psychological richness of the show is crucial to its appeal. In Second Sight, a young lad may have died from electric shocks delivered during tests of his extrasensory powers. As Barnaby struggles to separate science from superstition, he comes across an ominous caged chair, a psychic baby, and a man who fears he's foreseen his own death. Hidden Depths features some truly spectacular revenge killings, including one using a catapult and many bottles of wine; the episode is practically a genteel (and less pretentious) version of Saw or Seven. Sauce for the Goose turns the prosaic setting of a relish factory into a swirling crucible of madness, secrets, lost love, and boiled flesh. Only Midsomer Rhapsody, in which the possibly forged manuscript of a dead composer results in a variety of head traumas, founders in melodramatic backstory. But even when the show isn't at its sharpest, Nettles drives each episode forward with his charismatic blend of compassion and doggedness. Viewers usually resistant to crime-show formulas may find Midsomer Murders more compelling than most, while any fan of mysteries will be hooked in seconds. --Bret Fetzer

As seen on A&E and The Biography Channel

WHAT EVIL LURKS BEYOND THE WELL-TRIMMED HEDGES OF MIDSOMER . . .

The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with John Hopkins (Love in a Cold Climate) as his brash young assistant, Sergeant Dan Scott. Guest stars include Oliver Ford Davies, Annette Crosbie, Owen Teale, June Whitfield, Geoffrey Whitehead, and David Burke.

THE MYSTERIES
Second Sight -- A mysterious death brings the detectives to Midsomer Mere, where villagers claim psychic powers.
Hidden Depths -- Barnaby and Scott face a bizarre crime scene when a local oenophile gets killed by a combination of catapult, croquet, and Chateau Lafite.
Sauce for the Goose -- After a visitor dies while touring Plummer's relish factory, Barnaby and Scott investigate the local food wars.
Midsomer Rhapsody -- Barnaby links a long-deceased local composer with odd events that crescendo to a murderous conclusion.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Caroline Graham biography and cast filmographies.

Seven (New Line Platinum Series)

The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. --Jim Emerson

A retiring cop and his replacement track a psychotic killer who's using the seven deadly sins as a guide. Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Inspector Lewis: Pilot & Series 1