Weather Isn’t Frightful, but Chills Are On the Way

What kind of Christmas spirit is this? New Line has chosen this week to release on DVD two creepy-crawly thrillers about serial killers, “The Cell” and “Seven.”

Jennifer Lopez stars in “The Cell” ($25) as a child therapist who, through a radical therapy, literally travels into the sick and twisted fantasies of a comatose serial killer (Vincent D’Onofrio) in hopes of saving his final victim from a watery death.

The DVD includes the wide-screen version of the film, which received decidedly mixed reviews, and eight deleted scenes with commentary from director Tarsem Singh. There are also bios, the trailer, an isolated score track and a decent documentary featuring Singh and his collaborators discussing his visual style.

There’s also a fun visual effects vignettes track that allows viewers to click on alternate angles of various special-effects scenes.

One of the most enjoyable extras is the Empathy Test, in which viewers can answer 20 questions in order to discover how empathetic they are.

The disc also includes two separate commentaries: one with Singh and the other with the production team.

The DVD of David Fincher’s truly terrifying 1995 hit, “Seven” ($25), scores a 10. The double disc is filled with tons of goodies, including four different audio commentaries: one with director Fincher and stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman; another with professor of film studies Richard Dyer, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editor Richard Francis-Bruce, New Line Cinema’s president of production, Michael De Luca; a third with director of photography Darius Khondji, production designer Arthur Max, Francis-Bruce, Dyer and Fincher; and the fourth with sound designer Ren Klyce, composer Howard Shore and Fincher.

Fincher also supervised the crisp, newly remastered wide-screen transfer of the film, done directly from the movie’s original negative.

The second disc includes a compelling exploration, via multiple video angles, of the atmospheric title sequence. Fincher offers commentary on the original opening of the film, which features Morgan Freeman’s burnt-out detective looking at a small house he wants to buy. This scene was scrapped when the budget didn’t allow the production to travel to New York to shoot Freeman on an Amtrak train.

There’s also animated storyboards, an intriguing and grisly photo gallery of the crime scene photos used in the film (complete with commentary from the photographers) and even commentary from the creators of the killer’s surreal notebooks and photos that appear in the film.

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Director Taylor Hackford, whose latest film, “Proof of Life,” is in the theaters, offers candid commentary on the digital edition of his 1982 hit “An Officer and a Gentleman” ($30), which stars Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Louis Gossett Jr., in his Oscar-winning role as a ramrod Navy drill sergeant.

Hackford talks about the fact that the script by Douglas Day Stewart had been kicking around Hollywood for eight years and that originally John Travolta had been offered the part of the rebellious loner Zack Mayo.

The Navy, though, wouldn’t give the production permission to shoot at the actual training center in Florida because officials thought “Officer” didn’t show the service in a positive light. So Hackford shot the movie at an abandoned base in Washington state.

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DreamWorks is offering two “Road” pictures on DVD: “The Road to El Dorado” ($20) and “Road Trip” ($20).

The animated “Road to El Dorado” didn’t exactly make critics and audiences jump with joy when it was released last spring. It’s a slight comedy adventure that boasts two great talents as the lead voices: Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh.

The special edition DVD isn’t really “special” but families may enjoy it. The disc features the wide-screen edition of the film, an adequate behind-the-scenes documentary, cast and crew bios, production notes, a read-along, the trailer and Elton John’s music video. There’s also a unique look at the film’s color palate and enjoyable commentary from directors Eric “Bibo” Bergeron and Don Paul.

Kline, they say, ad-libbed frequently during recording and the directors ended up keeping many of these lines in the film. As for Rosie Perez, who supplies the voice of the beautiful Chel, the directors admit she complained that her character’s ankles were too thick.

The DVD of the outrageous teen comedy “Road Trip” is sort of a snooze. DreamWorks is offering the hit in its R-rated and unrated versions and each edition includes the trailer, a wide-screen transfer of the film, a handful of so-so deleted scenes and a wan featurette hosted by star Tom Green.

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Pioneer Entertainment and Classic World Productions has released a fourth volume on DVD of the 1963-64 “The Judy Garland Show” ($25). This super digitallyrestored and remastered disc features four episodes from the CBS series that boasts guest stars George Maharis, Louis Jordan and Vic Damone. The disc includes outtakes and rehearsal footage and insightful, heartfelt commentary from director Norman Jewison (“The Hurricane,” “In the Heat of the Night”), who was executive producer and director of episodes 6-13.

In 1962, Jewison had directed Garland’s successful comeback TV special. When he learned Garland’s “people” wanted her to do a weekly series, Jewison warned them she was too fragile for the hectic pace. A year later, he got a frantic phone call from Garland saying CBS wasn’t happy with the first five shows and she feared the series would be canceled. So Jewison promised her he’d work on the show and get it renewed for the entire season. Jewison says he really loved Garland and that she had a wonderful and sick sense of humor. But she was exhausted and having person problems, so much so that she was beginning to drink again. Jewison feels that if she hadn’t done the series, she might still be alive today.