Hollywood Gothique
The Archive

Laserblast: Eragon and Re-Animator

Some interesting titles show up on DVD today: a big-budget Hollywood fantsy hits store shelves for the first time; a cult horror classic is back in a new edition; and some familiar favorites are repackaged for discount consumption.

ERAGON, the fantasy film about dragon-riders, arrives on DVD in four different versions: a two-disc special edition (shown above), a widescreen edition, a full screen edition, and a Blu-Ray edition.The double disc version offers the film on Disc One with an audio commentary by director Stefen Fangmeier. There are options for Spanish and English subtitles, and the audio is available in English (Dolby Digitla 5.1 and DTS 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround.Disc Two is filled with numerous bonus features, including pronounciation and background guides, still photographs, extended and deleted scenes(The Butcher’s Daughter; Farm Fight/We Don’t Take Charity; Roran and Katrina Say Goodbye/The Butcher Changes His Mind; Milking the Cow; We Can Learn a Lot from Each Other; The Son of a Traitor; The Twins’ Test; The Magic of Blessings), original storyboards (Saphira Hatches, Raising the Ra’zac, Brom’s Tale), “Inside the Inheritance Trilogy: The Magic of Eragon Featurette,” Vision of Eragon with option commentary by Stefen Fangmeier; Arya’s Ambush (original animatic sequence), and Vision of Eragon: Conceptual Art Gallery.

RE-ANIMATOR, director Stuart Gordon’s classic cult horror movie, based on the stories by H. P. Lovecraft, arrives on DVD once again. The film was previously available on an excellent “millennium edition“double  disc with audio commentary, new video interviews, storyboards, trailers, photo galleries, and extended and deleted scenes. The new two-disc DVD apparently features the same transfer of the film and many of the same bonus features, along with one or two new ones. In other words, if you already have the Millennium Edition, you don’t need this one too, but if you haven’t purchased the film yet, here’s another chance.

Want a double bill of dynamic dino action? Well then, this is for you: now you can buy Peter Jackson’s version of KING KONG packaged together with Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK. A great deal for bargain hunters who don’t feel the need to own super-deluxe special editions with all the trimmings.

And another two-pack for bargain shoppers, this time with SLITHER and SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Personally, I think SHAUN deserves better company than this, but if nothing else, seeing the film’s back to back may open the eyes of some misguided enthuiasts who seem to think that SLITHER is some kind of cult classic in the making.

As for the rest…