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BLUE VELVET (Sanctuary Visual Entertainment) Director: David Lynch Hacktors: Dennis Hopper, Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rosselini Rating: Tag-line: None. Although it should be, 'Baby wants to fuck!'. Death Toll: Seven. Only one of which we actually see happen. Cutting Remarks: Lynch's unsettling 1986 feature finally gets something like the full DVD special edition treatment and God knows, it deserves it. While not a horror film in the traditional sense, Blue Velvet is a decidedly scary experience, which even serves up some gore in places. The story sees wannabe sleuth kid Jeffrey (MacLachlan) spying on sexy nightclub singer Dorothy (Rosselini) in her own home, believing her to be involved with shady dealings. Needless to say, he gets way more than he bargains for.          One of the most striking things about the movie is the extreme contrast between the naive, milkshake-drinking life of Jeffrey (MacLachlan) and his Sandy (Laura Dern), and the town's dark, evil underbelly represented by Hopper's Frank Booth. Hopper's truly unhinged performance here is a thing of wonder, and really helps anchor the movie by being an all-pervading presence. When Frank and his boys (a mob including Brad Dourif, who'll be familiar to horror fans) get hold of Jeffrey, the movie really kicks into gear and takes a one-way ticket to Weirdsville.          At 116 minutes, Blue Velvet might seem a tad over-long in these days of fast-moving, tightly edited flicks. Yet its hypnotic, slow rhythm also helps make it the surreal delight that it is. If you haven't seen it yet, turn down the lights and buckle up. Most Memorable Demise: Has to be the last one - a satisfying bullet in the forehead. Look Out For: Frank Booth's insane eyes as he huffs on his mysterious gas. In the new documentary Strange Desires on this disc, Hopper says that he believed the stuff to be amyl nitrate or nitrous oxide. Killer Quote: "Let's fuck! I'll fuck anything that moves!" - Frank finds it hard to reach the end of a sentence without recourse to the word 'fuck'. Interestingly, Hopper notes that David Lynch would never actually swear himself, preferring expressions like 'Golly gee!'. DVD Details: The film itself is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which screen geeks will appreciate. Sound is Dolby 5.1 or stereo. Sadly, there's no audio commentary. What we do get is a new 30-minute making-of featurette, the aforementioned 'Strange Desires', with interviews from Hopper, Lynch (via archive footage) and a few key crew members. While extremely interesting, its sole failing is the overly long nature of the included clips from the movie. A shorter featurette, 'Moving Pictures', is rather regrettable as it's populated with the pretentious likes of JG Ballard and Gavin Millar babbling utter horseshit about the film's Oedipal, Freudian subtexts. We also get the original theatrical trailer. Strangely, the last UK DVD of Blue Velvet, issued in 2000, featured a lengthy interview with Hopper. Given that this is a two-disc set, it's a real shame that it wasn't also included here for the completist. Nevertheless, the colour booklet makes some amends and this is a fine package for devotees of the film and new converts alike. Release Date: April 5, 2004, in the UK. [See this disc at Amazon.co.uk] [See the American equivalent of this disc, with different extras, at Amazon.com] [Reviews Menu] [Home] © Copyright Slasherama 2002-2004