Two classics of very different genres are new to HiDef Blu-ray with lots of new bonus features:
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1.) “Psycho 50th Anniversary Edition” (Universal , $26.98) is not Alfred Hitchcock’s best movie — that would be “North by Northwest” or “Rear Window” — but it is one of his most remarkable and most influential and memorable because of its innovative and trend-setting use of editing, music, and, of course, the shower scene that benefited most by both, as well as the unexpected twist halfway through the movie and the shocking ending that revealed the motel owner dressed up like his deceased mother to kill his guests. FIlmmakers were also influenced by Hitchcock’s use of camera angles and zooms, all of which was accomplished in a relatively low-budget black-and-white horror movie produced his TV series crew in a short shooting schedule, all of which combine to make it remarkable. Now the Blu-ray is even moreso for these reasons:
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— Meticulous HiDef restoration and transfer
— First 5.1 audio mix created by groundbreaking digital separation of original mono track — plus featurette about the process.
— Feature-length retrospective by longtime Hitchcock and Spielberg chronicler Laurent Bouzereau, including fun anecdotes by Janet Leigh and others about the blood in the shower scene being chocolate syrup.
— Interviews with filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, John Carpenter, Eli Roth, and Guillermo del Toro discussing Hitchcock’s influence on them and noting camera angles and editing they copied, including Scorsese’s shot-by-shot- recreation of the shower scene angles in his “Raging Bull” scene where Jake LaMotta fights Sugar Ray Robinson.
2.) “Rocky Horror Picture Show 35th Anniversary Edition” (Fox, $34.99) The midnight cult classic continues to be entertaining to audiences of most ages, and this latest edition offers even more for die-hard fans:
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— Restored picture for HiDef video.
— Click-to-trigger throwing digital toast, rice, etc.
— Pop-up trivia
— Picture-in-picture fans matching lines of dialogue at midnight showings.
— Two-part extensive documentary tracking auditions for the mimmickers to “shadowcast” every line in the movie for this Blu-ray edition, including judging by stars Barry Bostwick and Patricia Quinn (see video highlights below).
— By Scott Hettrick