Horror

Supernatural - The Complete Second Season

Twenty-two years ago Sam (series star JARED PADALECKI) and Dean (series star JENSEN ACKLES) Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. As a result their father John (recurring guest star JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN - "Grey's Anatomy") raised the brothers to be soldiers. He taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America...and he taught them how to kill it. Sam however wanted nothing to do with this violent and dangerous life and he left it behind until the day Dean appeared on his doorstep with troubling news. Their father had gone missing on a "hunting trip." Sam and Dean have spent the last year cruising the highwaysof the United States in their 1967 Chevy Impala searching for their lost father and encountering creatures that most people believe exist only in folklore superstition and nightmares. Along the way they have battled the various supernatural threats--and each other as well for their sibling rivalries and conflicts were never far from the surface. Finally they found their father just as he was closing in on the Demon who claimed their mother.Running Time: 903 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 085391126232 Manufacturer No: 112623

As programs ranging from Kolchak: The Night Stalker to, well, Night Stalker have proven, it's difficult to scare TV audiences on a weekly basis, but Supernatural seems to broken the trend. Not only has its blend of Route 66 and The X-Files provided some of the more chilling TV moments in recent history, but its core story--two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki) battle the forces of evil to avenge their late mother--has been compelling enough to warrant a second season, which is compiled in its entirety on this six-disc set. Season Two maintains the show's "Monster of the Week" approach while adding compelling layers to the main characters and their history; in "What Is And What Should Never Be," a djinn offers the boys a glimpse of how their lives might've played out had their mother not succumbed to demonic forces, while the two-part "All Hell Breaks Loose" brings the season to a close with not only a rift between Sam and Dean, but the gates of Hell swinging open to unleash monstrous spirits. And if that's not enough of a creepshow for you, the boys also encounter a cannibal clown ("Everybody Loves a Clown"), seductive demons ("Crossroad Blues"), a town gripped by mass psychosis ("Croatoan"), as well as a barrage of ghosts, vampires and werewolves. If it's chills you want, the second season of Supernatural has them by the score. There's also a wealth of extras on the Complete Second Season set that should please longtime fans and help newcomers catch up with developments since the show's debut. Informative and entertaining commentaries are featured on three episodes: "In My Time of Dying" (by Ackles and Padalecki), "What Is And What Never Should Be" (by series creator Eric Kripke), and "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 1" (by Kripke, writer Sera Gambles, and director Robert Singer). There's also a featurette on "All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2" that offers observations by the cast and crew on the season as a whole; viewers should note that the 11-minute short is difficult to find and is accessible only after accessing "The Devil's Road Map," a virtual tour of the places (and monsters) visited throughout the show's history. Padalecki's screen test for the role of Sam is also included, as well as three webisodes about the writers, visual effects and props for the show, and an amusing gag reel. -- Paul Gaita

I Am Legend [Blu-ray]

Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable incurable and man-made. Somehow immune Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. For three years Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last best hope Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 085391176350 Manufacturer No: 1000026365

Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson's central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbors who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith's Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time--and after enduring a personal tragedy--Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease.

The film's first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence's extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It's impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages. Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don't look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson's vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith's remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film's latter half goes too far in portraying Smith's Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into bathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

Supernatural - The Complete First Season

Bound by tragedy and blood to a dangerous otherworldly mission two brothers travel in mysterious back roads of the country in their '67 Chevy Impala searching for their missing father--and hunting down every evil supernatural force they encounter along the way. Bring home all 22 episodes of the first season of the thrilling new show Supernatural along with must-own bonus features. Supernatural is a completely new kind of thrill ride that takes viewers on a journey into the dark world of the unexplained.Running Time: 936 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 012569806788 Manufacturer No: 80678

Call it Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The College Years or Buffy the Vampire Slayer for Boys, but the horror series Supernatural delivers some of the most satisfying small-screen scares in recent memory. The premise is deceptively simple: brothers Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki from Gilmore Girls and Jensen Ackles, both appealing) travel the darker corners of the American landscape in search of their father, who's gone missing while hunting the malevolent forces that lead to the death of their mother. In the course of their search, the siblings encounter a host of otherworldly creatures, including vampires, ghosts, and witches, as well as such distinctly American phenomena as the urban-legend favorite the Hook ("Hookman"), monsters from Native American mythology ("Wendigo"), and fearful figures from children's games ("Bloody Mary"). Supernatural's integration of elements from American pop culture and folklore, combined with its skilled cast and crew (creator/co-writer Erik Kripke delivered 2005's Boogeyman, while director/executive producer David Nutter is a veteran of The X-Files and Millennium), and better-than-average attempts at atmosphere and suspense place the series well above the other spookshow programs that arrived on networks at about the same time (Invasion, Night Stalker), and should hold considerable appeal for fans of frightful fare.

The six-disc set contains all 22 episodes of the debut season, with commentary by Ackles and Padalecki on "Phantom Traveler" and Nutter, Kripke, and producer Peter Johnson on the pilot episode; two making-of documentaries (one on the show itself, and the other on its stars), as well as a brace of unaired scenes and a gag reel round out the set. For those with DVD-ROM capabilities, the set also includes a link to a web site which offers a sneak preview at season 2 and the pilot script, among other bonus features. --Paul Gaita

The Matrix

By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.

Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that The Matrix is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). --Jeremy Storey

Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells of a computer hacker (Reeves) who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth. The computers are powered by human beings...

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by C. Moss, J. Gaeta, & Z. Staenberg
Featurette:"Bullet Time" Featurette (6:01) "What is the Concept" Featurette (10:50)
Music Clips:2.0 Music only with commentary
Other:HBO 1st Look Special: Making the Matrix (25:48) "White Rabbit" Clips (22:22) [4x3]

I Am Legend (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition)

Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable incurable and man-made. Somehow immune Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. For three years Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last best hope Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 085391139621 Manufacturer No: 1000023980

Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson's classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson's central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbors who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith's Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time--and after enduring a personal tragedy--Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease.

The film's first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence's extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It's impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages. Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don't look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson's vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith's remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film's latter half goes too far in portraying Smith's Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into bathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour. --Tom Keogh

2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray]

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.

Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series

The third installment of Doctor Who is full of new thrills new laughs new heartbreak and some terrifying new monsters. From the moment the Doctor walks into the life of medical student Martha Jones he changes it forever. In Elizabethan London they meet William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre while back in present day London 76-year-old Professor Lazarus recaptures his youth with consequences that threaten Martha's entire family. And the Doctor's sworn enemies the Daleks who have been hiding in 1930's New York return with a terrifying plan for humanity. Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 794051420220 Manufacturer No: E4202

Doctor Who fans concerned that the departure of popular companion Rose (Billie Piper) at the end of the second season might spell an end to the venerable UK science fiction series' revival were soon reassured by the program's third series, which is compiled in its entirety in this six-disc set. Not only did Freema Agyeman (as Earth doctor Martha Jones) prove to be more than a worthwhile replacement for Rose, but the quality of the series' 14 episodes maintained--and in many cases surpassed--the blend of wit, excitement and drama brought by head writer Russell T. Jones when he revived the program in 2003. Highlights from the third series include the Christmas special "The Runaway Bride" (starring comedian Catherine Tate as a temporary companion to the Doctor as he mourns the loss of Rose), "Gridlock" (the Face of Boe summons the Doctor and Martha to a future New York City to stop an invasion by his old enemy the Macra), "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" (a two-part serial in which the Doctor changes his biological form to escape the clutches of an alien brood who seek his immortality), and the three-part "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums" and "The Last of the Time Lords," which not only revives the Doctor's greatest adversary, The Master (played by Derek Jacobi in "Utopia" and John Simm in "Drums" and "Time Lords") but also revives Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and introduces his new position with the Torchwood team. Supplemental features are included on each of the six discs in the set; chief among them are commentary by Jones, Tennant, Agyeman, producer Phil Collinson, and members of the writing and production team (in various permutations) on each of the 14 episodes. The Doctor Who Confidential series, which aired on BBC Three and offered behind-the-scenes looks at elements from each episode, is included in its 15-minute "cut down" version (as well as an hour-long episode that covered a live performance of music from the show by the National Orchestra of Wales and hosted by Tennant), as are several video diaries shot by Tennant, who proves as engaging behind the camera as he is on the show. A smattering of deleted scenes, outtakes (mostly featuring Tennant reacting good-naturedly to his own blown lines), BBC promos for all 13 episodes (including the amusing "Vote Saxon" spot, which offers Sharon Osbourne and UK pop stars McFly throwing their support behind the Master's disguise as a human MP in the series' final two episodes), and trailers for other BBC series like Jekyll, Torchwood, and MI-5, round out this terrific set. -- Paul Gaita

2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition)

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.

The Lost Boys

This 1987 thriller was a predictable hit with the teen audience it worked overtime to attract. Like most of director Joel Schumacher's films, it's conspicuously designed to push the right marketing and demographic buttons, and granted, there's some pretty cool stuff going on here and there. Take Kiefer Sutherland, for instance. In Stand by Me he played a memorable bully, but here he goes one step further as a memorable bully vampire who leads a tribe of teenage vampires on their nocturnal spree of bloodsucking havoc. Jason Patric plays the new guy in town, who quickly attracts a lovely girlfriend (Jami Gertz), only to find that she might be recruiting him into the vampire fold. The movie gets sillier as it goes along, and resorts to a routine action-movie showdown, but it's a visual knockout (featuring great cinematography by Michael Chapman) and boasts a cast that's eminently able (pardon the pun) to sink their teeth into the best parts of an uneven screenplay. --Jeff Shannon

Strange events threaten an entire family when two brothers move with their divorced mother to a California town where the local teenage gang turns out to be a pack of vampires.

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

The Omega Man

Welcome to the future. Biological war has decimated life on Earth. Los Angeles is a windswept ghost town where Robert Neville tools his convertible through sunlit streets foraging for supplies. And makes damn sure he gets undercover before sundown when other "inhabitants" emerge. The Omega Man adapts Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend into a high-impact high-tension saga of a fate not far removed from reality. Charlton Heston is Neville fending off attacks by The Family sinister neopeople spawned by the plague. He also becomes a man with a mission after meeting Lisa (Rosalind Cash) another unifected survivor - and guardian of some healthy children representing our species' hope. Year: 1971 Sound: ENG FR; Subtitles: ENG FR Screen Format: Side A: Standard; Side B: WiedescreenFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY UPC: 085391163213 Manufacturer No: 116321