Cannibal on the Menu

Goody goody. MGM Home Video is serving up a double dose of Dr. Hannibal Lecter with the release this week of special editions of the 1991 Oscar-winning horror film “The Silence of the Lambs” ($25) and the less appetizing 2001 sequel, “Hannibal” ($30).

It’s still great fun to watch “Silence,” which picked up Academy Awards for best film, best director (Jonathan Demme), best actor (Anthony Hopkins), best actress (Jodie Foster) and best adapted screenplay (Ted Tally). Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, “Silence” focuses on the unlikely relationship between a brilliant but insane, cannibalistic shrink, Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins), and a determined but haunted FBI trainee, Clarice Starling (Foster).

The special edition DVD includes a nice wide-transfer of the film, a photo gallery, trailers, an eerie phone message by Hopkins as Lecter, an average “making of” featurette that was produced when the film was released and a new retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Foster, Hopkins, Tally and other members of the film’s creative team. Notably missing, though, is Demme, who perhaps was too busy working on his latest film, “The Truth About Charlie,” to participate.

The documentary offers a lot of juicy tidbits, such as the fact that the project was originally going to star and be directed by Gene Hackman, who even put up more than $200,000 to get the rights to the book. After he read Tally’s script, though, he deemed it too violent and pulled out. Demme originally wanted Michelle Pfeiffer for the role of Starling since the two had worked together on “Married to the Mob,” but she too thought it was too violent. Foster, though, campaigned heavily for the part. Robert Duvall’s name was bandied around for Lecter, but Demme didn’t think he would be right. He flew to London to get Hopkins, who says that as soon as he read the script, he knew it would be a life-and career-changing role.

The DVD also includes more than 20 minutes of deleted scenes, including several extended sequences between Hopkins and Foster, and a few outtakes--one of them especially funny in which Hopkins does his impression of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky.

The two-disc “Hannibal” DVD is a full-course meal of goodies. Ridley Scott directed the sequel, which finds Lecter living the good life in Florence. FBI agent Starling, now played by Julianne Moore, has run into problems because of a botched shootout. Gary Oldman, as a hideously deformed victim of Lecter’s, uses Starling as bait to lure the good doctor out of retirement. It’s best not to watch this extremely violent movie on a full stomach.

The DVD includes the wide-screen version of the film, a photo gallery, production notes, trailers, talent files, more than 35 minutes of deleted scenes with intelligent commentary from Scott and a comprehensive documentary on the making of the film, including a fascinating look at the gross and gory special effects.

There’s also a neat interactive featurette in which one can look at the shootout scene from various camera angles and also compare Scott’s storyboards for the film with the completed scenes.

Rounding out the DVD is perceptive, entertaining commentary from Scott.

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The wait is over. Christopher Guest’s 1997 mock documentary, “Waiting for Guffman” (Warner, $20), has finally been released on DVD. And it’s tons of fun. Guest stars in this side-splitting comedy as Corky St. Claire, who, after spending years doing off-Broadway flops, has settled in the small town of Blaine, Mo., where he puts on community theater plays. He now thinks he’s written the project that will bring him to Broadway--the city’s 150th anniversary play, “Red, White and Blaine.”

Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara and Fred Willard are among the zany co-stars. They also appeared in Guest’s successful film of last year, “Best in Show,” which was structured much the same as this movie.

The digital edition features production notes, a trailer and 30 minutes of deleted footage compiled by Guest and featuring wry commentary from Guest and Levy, who co-wrote the film.

The writers point out that a lot of the scenes were deleted because they were just too dark, including one in which Willard and O’Hara have left Blaine and are living in a tiny house in Los Angeles waiting for their big acting break. There are also several excised musical scenes, including the highly enjoyable “Bulging River” number sung by Posey and O’Hara.

Guest also points out that he shot 58 hours of footage for the film, which he then edited down to less than 90 minutes.

Guest and Levy also supply the rather acerbic commentary, which works perfectly with this delectable parody.

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Another cult favorite, the thriller “The Wicker Man,” also makes it DVD debut this week. Anchor Bay is releasing it in a one-disc edition ($20) and a two-disc set ($40).

Released in England in 1973, “The Wicker Man” is an uneven but compelling thriller with a twist penned by Anthony Shaffer of “Sleuth” fame. Edward Woodward plays the conservative, inexperienced police sergeant who comes to a small Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. While there, he discovers that the island is populated by a society of modern pagans led by Christopher Lee. Britt Ekland also stars in the film, which didn’t get a major release in the U.S. until 1979.

The one-disc version includes the wide-screen version of the film, enjoyable interviews with the cast and crew and TV and radio ads. The limited edition features an extended version of the movie that runs 11 minutes longer than the theatrical release.

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If you love Cold War thrillers, you’ll definitely want to check out the 1966 spy flick “Funeral in Berlin” (Paramount, $30). “Funeral” was the second of three films in which Michael Caine played the bespectacled British spy Harry Palmer. This time around, Palmer is sent to Berlin to arrange the defection of a high-ranking Russian officer (Oscar Homolka). It all gets a bit confusing, but it’s still a fun ride. Eva Renzi also stars. The digital edition includes a nice wide-screen transfer of the film and the trailer.