AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (DVD/Blu-ray)

Universal/1981/97min/Rated R/SRP $26.98

 Director: John Landis

Cast: David Naughton, Griffin Dunne

Vfx: Effects Associates

 Video codec: VC-1

Video resolution: 1080p

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

 Subtitles: English SDH, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish

Disc: 50GB Blu-ray Disc

 Summary:

Two American students are on a walking tour of England and are attacked by a Werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The Werewolf is killed, but reverts to its human form, and the townspeople are able to deny its existence.

 Bonus/Special Features:

*Beware the Moon (SD/1hr 30min) –- A feature length making-of documentary written and hosted by Paul Davis, Beware the Moon is thoroughly comprehensive. this full-fledged feature covers every aspect of production, with special attention to the ground-breaking special effects, and includes interviews with almost everyone involved.

 *I Walked with a Werewolf (1080i/7min) -- Make-up artist Rick Baker talks about how his fascination with the classic Universal monster movies led to his career in Hollywood special effects, and then goes on to discuss his involvement. Finally, he briefly mentions his work on the upcoming Wolfman re-boot from Universal.

 *The Making Of (SD/5:15) -- This is a vintage promotional piece for the film that features John Landis discussing his innovations for the werewolf genre, and also shows Rick Baker at work creating make-up effects for the film.

 *Interview with John Landis (SD/18min) -- Landis talks about trying to make a contemporary version of an older horror genre and gives a history of how the film came to be.

 *Makeup Artist Rick Baker (SD/11min) -- Baker gives props to John Landis for giving him the time and money to make the transformation scene better than anyone had ever done before.

 Casting of the Hand (SD/10min) -- This is archival footage from Rick Baker's workshop as they cast David Naughton's hand in 1980.

 *Outtakes (SD/3min) -- There's some funny stuff here, but sadly the sound is missing, so we're only getting half of the experience. Still, worth a watch.

 *Storyboards (SD/2min) -- In this section, you'll see storyboards on the top part of the screen while the finished Piccadilly Circus scene plays out on the bottom in comparison.

 *Photograph Montage (SD/3min) -- Nice on-set photos during production.

 *Cast Commentary -- Naughton and Dunne watch the film together for the first time in a long time and offer comments.

 VAN HELSING (Blu-ray)

Universal/2004/132min/Rated PG-13/SRP $26.98

 Director: Stephen Sommers

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale

Vfx: Weta Digital, Digiscope, Pacific Title and Art Studio, Zoic Studios, BUF, CIS Hollywood, Cobalt FX, Howard Anderson Co., yU + Co. and Perpetual Motion Pictures)

 Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC

Video resolution: 1080p

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Disc: 50GB Blu-ray Disc/BD-Live D-Box

 Summary:

Hunter Van Helsing and his priestly sidekick travel to Transylvania to battle monsters and keep the notorious Count from bringing his undead children to life.

 Bonus/Special Features:

*Commentary by Director Stephen Sommers and Editor/Producer Bob Ducsay.

*Commentary with Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp.

 *Van Helsing: The Story, The Life, The Legend (SD/58min) --an EPK promo piece, making-of documentary and monster movie overview all rolled into one.

 *U-Control: A picture-in-picture icon will appear periodically throughout the film, and with a click of your remote you can access additional behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and short, making-of featurettes.

 *Track the Adventure (SD/34min) -- This is an exploration of some of the film's sets, from the icy summit of Dracula's Castle and Frankenstein's Lab, to the Burning Windmill, Village and The Vatican Armory.

 *Bringing the Monsters to Life (SD/10min) --Vfx Supervisor Ben Snow and the special effects team explain some of the technologies used to flesh out the world of Van Helsing.