‘Number 23’ isn’t a lucky one

Funnyman Jim Carrey has had a mixed track record when he’s gone dramatic on the big screen. For every success like “The Truman Show” and “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” he’s done such turkeys as “The Majestic” and “The Number 23,” which arrives today on DVD in an unrated edition (New Line, $29). Directed by Joel Schumacher, the story revolves around a dogcatcher who is given a book called “The Number 23” by his wife (Virginia Madsen). He begins to notice similarities between the story and his own life, and soon the tome overtakes his life.

Extras include formulaic production documentaries, numerous deleted scenes and Schumacher’s commentary, which is far more pleasant than the film. The disc’s highlight is the creepy documentary “The Number 23 Enigma.”

The Korean monster flick “The Host” (Magnolia, $30) is a terrifically fun and funny scare fest directed by Joon-Ho Bong. After a giant, lizard-like monster emerges from the Han River in Seoul, a dysfunctional family must put aside their differences and overcome government obstacles to track down a daughter who is in danger of being eaten by the creature. The two-disc set includes commentary with Bong in English; an amusing featurette in which the filmmaker apologizes to certain actors for cutting their scenes out of the movie; and extensive, well-produced documentaries on every aspect of the production.

Also new

“The Big Bad Swim” (Echo Bridge, $20): A sweet little movie from 2006 that saw limited theatrical release. A film festival winner, the comedy-drama revolves around a diverse group of adults who take a swim class. Paget Brewster (“Criminal Minds”), Jeff Branson, Ricky Ullman and Jess Weixler star. Extras include a decent behind-the-scenes production documentary and appealing commentary from first-time feature director Ishai Setton and others who give insight into the difficulties of making a low-budget indie.

“Classic Musicals From the Dream Factory, Vol. 2” (Warner, $60): This seven-film set is a mixed bag, with few genuine classics. The best of the lot is 1948’s “The Pirate,” featuring the music of Cole Porter (“Be a Clown”) and the fanciful direction of Vincente Minnelli. Gene Kelly and Judy Garland star in this Technicolor delight that for some bizarre reason left critics and audiences cold 60 years ago. The collection also includes 1951’s “Royal Wedding,” directed by Stanley Donen and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell as a brother-and-sister musical comedy team -- no one seems to notice that Astaire was 30 years older than Powell. This is the film in which Astaire does his remarkable ceiling dance.

Rounding out the collection is the lumpy 1948 biopic “Words and Music” about songwriters Richard Rodgers (Tom Drake) and Lorenz Hart (a sorely miscast Mickey Rooney); the tepid 1952 Astaire vehicle “Belle of New York,” in which he teams with Vera-Ellen; the lackluster 1985 celebration “That’s Dancing!”; and Mario Lanza’s first two films -- both with Kathryn Grayson -- 1949’s “That Midnight Kiss” and 1950’s “The Toast of New Orleans,” which features Lanza’s big hit, “Be My Love.”

Extras on the set include cartoons, shorts, trailers and outtakes.

“Les Enfants Terribles” (Criterion, $40): Jean-Pierre Melville’s startling and unsettling 1950 erotic drama based on Jean Cocteau’s seminal 1929 novel. Cocteau wrote and produced the film about a near-incestuous relationship between a brother (Edouard Dermithe, Cocteau’s lover) and sister (Nicole Stephane) who create their own private universe in the bedroom of the family’s apartment until love and bitter jealousy destroy their world.

Extras include interviews with Stephane and costar Jacques Bernard, producer Carole Weisweiller and assistant director Claude Pinoteau; a 2003 documentary “Around Jean Cocteau,” in which filmmaker Noel Simsolo discusses Cocteau and Melville’s often stormy relationship; and arid commentary from film critic and writer Gilbert Adair.

“Benson -- The First Complete Season” (Sony, $30): This popular 1979-86 ABC sitcom was a spinoff of the network’s landmark comedy series “Soap.” The series revolved around Benson DuBois (Robert Guillaume), who had been the butler -- and the only sane person -- to the Tate family in the earlier show.

In “Benson,” he’s sent to work for Jessica Tate’s widowed cousin James Gatling (James Noble), who had just been elected governor.

Guillaume, who won the Emmy in 1985 for best actor in a comedy series, is the only African American to receive the award in that category.

“The Land of the Giants: Giant Collection” (Fox, $200): Though Irwin Allen’s ABC sci-fi series lasted only from 1968 to 1970, it has developed a rabid cult following over the years, especially when the old episodes aired on Sci-Fi.

Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Don Marshall and Kurt Kasznar starred in this fantasy set in 1983 about seven earthlings on a suborbital flight from the U.S. to London who are caught in a time warp and land in a strange world that resembles Earth, only everything is 12 times bigger.

The nine-disc set features interviews with the cast and Allen’s home movies from the set.

And

“Zodiac” (Paramount, $30); “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” (Paramount, $30); “Renaissance” (Miramax, $30); “Slow Burn” (Lionsgate, $28); “Hardboiled” (Dragon Dynasty, $25); “Malpertius” (Barrel, $30); “Todd McFarlane’s Spawn: The Animated Collection” (HBO, $40).

susan.king@latimes.com