Blu-ray Movie Reviews

New Line Movie ••½ Picture/Sound •••• Extras ••••

This innovative DVD of the slick but unoriginal kill-the-kids horror flick offers not just the theatrical cut but also a "Choose Their Fate" version. At key points in the film, you can select an alternative to the plotline. Take it, and new footage appears, creating a completely different outcome to the scene.

Images are rich and well-contrasted - all the better to see more gore. And the Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES mixes use all 6.1 channels aggressively to put you smack in the middle of those nasty blood spatters. In addition to an intelligent commentary by director James Wong and crew, the set includes a second disc loaded with exceptionally entertaining extras, most in anamorphic widescreen. You get a zippy animated short on death and statistics, a fascinating ten-part making-of documentary, a featurette on the roller-coaster sequence, and an in-depth study of the "Dead Teenager Movie" genre. This is the rare situation where extras make the DVD a lot more fun than the movie. [R] English, Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, and Dolby Surround; letterboxed (2.35:1) and anamorphic widescreen; two dual-layer discs.

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