Laserblast: Water Horse, P2, Day of the Dead
A handful of new titles and a few oldies slip onto store shelves this week. None of them were big hits in theatres, but now is your chance to see whether you missed a neglected gem. Oh wait, there is one blockbuster title coming out today: It seems like only a couple weeks ago that we were reviewing the double-disc DVD of I AM LEGEND. For some reason, the HD DVD combo didn’t arrive until today. As for new theatrical films actually making their home video debut today, there are THE WATERHORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP and P2. The former is a family fantasy, set during World War II, about a young boy who befriends the Loch Ness Monster. The film is available on a two-disc special edition DVD and on Blu-ray disc. Although lacking an audio commentary, there bonus features are extensive, including deleted scenes and an in-depth look at the making of the film.
The other theatrical release arriving on home video today is P2 - a violent horror-thriller, set in a parking garage, that didn’t stay parked in theatres very long when it came out last year. Wes Bentley plays a crazed parking lot attendant, and Rachel Nichol is the unwilling object of his attention. The DVD bonus features include audio commentary with director Frank Khalfoun and producers Alexandre Aja and Gregory Lavasseur and three featurettes: “A New Level of Fear - Making P2,” “Designing Terror,” and “Tension Nouveau - Presenting Frankck Khatoun.”
The week’s other newbie is DAY OF THE DEAD, a “remake” of George A. Romero’s 1985 film, which concluded his original trilogy begun with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. As with 2004’s DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, Romero was not involved, and the film bears only minimal resemblance to the original. Steve Miner (FRIDAY THE 13TH 3D) directed from a script by Jeffrey Reddick. Mena Suvari, Michael Welch, and Christa Campbell head the cast. The film was originally planned as a theatrical release but wound up going direct-to-video, which should tell you something.
As for oldies, THE NANNY arrives on DVD for the first time today. This is a 1965 thriller starring screen legend Bette Davis, who delved into the horror genre a handful of times during the later half of her career. Directed by Seth Holt this is one of several psychological thrillers made in the 1960s by Hammer Film, a company more noted for Gothic horror exercises like HORROR OF DRACULA. Also out this week is a new DVD release of another Bette Davis horror film, the excellent Southern Gothic chiller HUSH…HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE.
Finally, Blu-ray revives a couple of titles that have seen multiple previous home video releases: Terry Gilliam’s fantasy THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHHAUSEN and the Arnold Schwarzenegger action-thriller THE 6TH DAY. You can read a review of 6TH DAY here, including some info about the bonus features, which are basically just ported over from the 2002 special edition DVD.
BARON MUNCHAUSEN arrives as both a two-disc 20th Anniversary DVD and a Blu-ray disc. The later includes all of the bonus features from the DVD, plus a Blu-ray exclusive: a Picture-in-Picture trivia track titled “The Marvelous World of Munchausen.” Unfortunately, this is not the definitive home video release of the film. There was an earlier Criterion Laserdisc that included some exclusive features (an analysis of the script, some posters and trailers and commercials) that are not available here. What you will get is an audio commentary by director Gilliam, an extensive making-of documentary “The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen,” Storyboard sequences, and four deleted scenes.
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