1999 is certainly the year that the DVD format became the home video format to choose!
LaserDiscs were almost a thing of the past and VHS was starting to suffer in popularity due to the success of DVD.
Without a doubt, one of the main reason as to why the format became so popular was the release of lots of hard to find
genre films, now featuring pristine print, kick ass audio tracks and loads of cool extras.
I compiled a list of the 10 best genre DVDs released in 1999.
The rating is based on the quality of the image, audio, extras, packaging and new availability of the film.

One of many film from Italian master, Dario Argento released by Anchor Bay. The film is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. This version features 28 minutes more then the American released known as CREEPERS. The image looks pretty good even if sometimes the colors are a little soft. There's a remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track which sounds good but nothing spectacular. We also get a Dolby Surround track and a French Mono track. There's an interesting commentary track with Argento, fx guru Sergio Stivaletti, composer Claudio Simonetti and journalist Loris Curci. Unfortunately sometimes its hard to understand Argento's english. We also get the theatrical trailer, bios for the cast and crew, a music video by Simonetti and another one by Bill Wyman. There's a small behind the scene featurette and a tv interview from the Joe Franklin show from 1985. The film is separated in 20 chapters, comes in a keep case, an inlay card and features animated menu with music.
This is the uncut version of TENEBRE which features 10 minutes that were cut from the American release, UNSANE. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image looks very good! We get a very good 5.1 Dolby Digital English track along with a Dolby Surround track and an Italian Mono track. There's a commentary track with Argento, composer Claudio Simonetti and journalist Loris Curci. Unfortunately once again, sometimes its hard to understand Argento's english. We also get the theatrical trailer, cast and crew bios. There's two behind the scenes segments; one about the special camera equipment, the other about sound effects. There's also the bad alertnate end credits music which is typical 80s pop crap. The film is separated in 20 chapters, comes in a keep case, an inlay card and features animated menu with music.
Synapse Films release of Jim Van Bebber's micro budget classic was surrounded by controversy. Van Bebber was unhappy with the end result, and said lots of shit about the transfer and Synapse. This 16 mm film from 1988 could never look better then on this version. It is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The colors are a little soft and bland , there's some scratches and grains from time to time but still looks impressive! The Mono audio track sounds good even though it ain't anything special. There's an interesting commentary track with Van Bebber and producer Mike King. This is a flipper disc, on the other side there's a filmography on Jim, the promo for the never made film CHUNK BLOWER, the very good MY SWEET SATAN short film which is based on the Ricky Kasso story is also included along with outtakes from DAD. The film is separated in 22 chapters, comes in a nice red keep case with an inlay card. The menus are static but nicely done.
This animated classic was unavailable for years because of legal problems with some of the bands who participated to the soundtrack. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image quality depends of the sketches but it looks quite good. The newly remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track sounds great! Its loud and clear. There's also a Dolby Surround track available. There's also a very informative and detailed commentary track which is actually Carl Macek reading his book, Heavy Metal The Movie. We also get 3 deleted scenes, lots of artwork from the film from pencil drawing to conceptual art, single cel and layered cels. There's also two production photos galleries, a very good documentary on how the film was made and a huge cover gallery of the Heavy Metal magazine. The coolest extras has to be the entire rough cut of the film available! The film is separated in 24 chapters, comes in a keep case with a nicely done 4 pages booklet and features nice static menus.
Universal went through some heavy restoration for their Classic Monster Collection, this one is certainly their best. First of all we get the 1931, George Melford classic version of DRACULA featuring Bela Lugosi. The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the image is far from perfect but for a film which is over 70 years old it looks great! The 2.0 Mono audio track sounds good. The original score is available but so is a new one composed and performed by Philip Glass in 5.1 DD. There's also a very interesting commentary track with film historin David J. Skal. The film is separated in 18 chapters. There's a great documentary "The Road to Dracula" which goes into all the details of our Count's history. We also get a poster and photo montage, production notes, cast and crew bios and the trailer. Also included is the Spanish version of DRACULA which was filmed simultaneously, using the same sets and script but came out different. It comes in a keep case with an inlay card.
Wow! This is one great special edition from MGM. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the image looks very good with a few small spots and nicks appearing from time to time. There's a very good remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital track which makes good use of the 5.1 capabilities when spheres are flying around. Also available is the original Mono track. There's a very interesting commentary track with Don Coscarelli, Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister and Bill Thornbury. There's 10 minutes of deleted scenes that were not shown during its theatrical run. A 1979 interview with Coscarelli and Angus Scrimm. Theatrical trailer, tv and radio spots, behind the scenes footage, still gallery with original posters, lobby cards and international promo materials. There's also a very nice 8 pages booklet. The film is separated in 32 chapters, comes in a keep case and features some nice animated morphing menus.
This is a superb limited edition set approved by THX. Disc one features the North American theatrical version. The film is presented in it original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, enchanced for 16x9 tvs. There's also a pan & scan presentation available. The image looks great! The remastered 5.1 DD audio track sounds great and clear. There's the theatrical trailer, original ending, a cool behind the scenes segment narrated by Bruce Campbell and bios. Disc two features the director's cut which features 15 more minutes in the film including the original ending. The film is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, anamorphic. The audio track is Dolby Surround. The image looks good except for the added 15 minutes which are too dark and in bad shape. There's an interesting commentary track with Sam Raimi, Cambell and Ivan Raimi. There's 4 deleted scenes and storyboards. The film is separated in 23 chapters. The menus features animation and music. It comes in a double size keep case with a 4 pages booklet.
This is an impressive box set from Fox. All film are THX approved and enhanced for 16x9 tvs. ALIEN features a commentary track with Ridley Scott, deleted scenes, artwork and photo gallery, storyboards, isolated musical score, alternate music track, trailers, screensaver, a stunning 2.35:1 with a new 5.1 DD track along with a English and French Dolby Surround tracks. ALIENS features 17 minutes of restored footage in the film, interview with James Cameroun, behind the scenes footage, still gallery and trailer. A very nice 1.85:1 transfer and a loud 5.1 DD track along with a Surround one. ALIEN 3 features a very nice 2.35:1 transfer with a very good 5.1 DD track along with a English and French Dolby Surround tracks. The Making of ALIEN 3 and trailer. ALIEN RESSURECTION also features a very good transfer and great audio track. There's a very nice booklet coming with every film. The menus are amazingly well done. A exclusive fifth disc was avaible for the first who bought this set.
Certainly one of the most impressive box set ever! All seven Freddy Krueger film on a separated disc and an eight one, "The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia" featuring tons of extras, behind the scenes and a labyrinth. The package is nicely done and very stylish. The box features an embossed Krueger. All film are remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital but also features their original track which is either in Mono or Stereo. The menus are superbly done. The first film features a commentary track with Wes Craven, Jacques Haitkin, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon. FREDDY'S DEAD features the 3-D ending and comes with glasses. NEW NIGHTMARE features a commentary track with Craven. All the films features a "Jump to Nightmare" option and dvd-rom contents. There's a very nice 36 pages booklet with tons of infos and pix. This is an amazing set, hopefully Paramount will give the same treatment to the FRIDAY THE 13TH serie one day...
Anchor Bay went all out on this THX approved limited edition of John Carpenter's classic. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16x9 tvs. HALLOWEEN has never looked better! The colors are great, there's no signs of compression or artifacts. A pan scan presentation is also available but who would wanna watch that? The remastered 5.1 DD audio track sounds very good giving "new life" to Carpenter's atmospheric and creepy score. The film is separated in 16 chapters. Halloween Unmasked 2000 is a good documentary on the making of the film. There's the original theatrical trailers, tv and radio spots, bios, still and poster gallery, behind the scenes gallery. The big extra here has to be the television version of the film on a separated disc. This version features 12 additional minutes that were filmed by Carpenter during HALLOWEEN 2. This version is separated in 30 chapters. The disc comes in a double size keep case, with two inlay cards and a post card. There's some nice animated menus with the theme playing in the background. The cover features an holographic image of Michael Myers which looks pretty cool. A must!
 

 

 

 

 


So there you have my personal list of the 10 Best DVDs of 1999. This is by no mean a definitive list as even if i own hundreds and hundreds of DVDs, i always stumble on some i missed. Anchor Bay Entertainment were the big time winner with the number one, four, nine and ten Best DVDs. New Line's ANOES box set still remains today one of the best box set ever! Even though Fox is planning a 9 disc box set of the ALIEN serie, their 1999 edition remains a favorite, i really cant see how they will top this one?!

There were other DVDs released that year that are worth mentioning and owning that almost made the top 10 list and here they are:

After running in so many problems, Synapse Films were finally able to release Jess Franco's masterpiece, VAMPYROS LESBOS. The film is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The image isn't the greatest but this has to be the best version available. The audio is in German since this is the only uncut version available worldwide! There's easy to read removable English subtitles. There's the theatrical trailer, a nice 4 pages booklet with liner notes from Tim Lucas. The disc comes in a nice red keep case, it is separated in 20 chapters.

Artisan gave Vincenzo Natali's independant "nu-classic" CUBE a very good treatment. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The image looks great, something that seems hard to do especially for a film that goes from very dark to very bright. The Dolby Digital Stereo track sounds good. We get the theatrical trailer, a comparative and alternate storyboards, deleted scenes, a look at the production design, a look a the schematic set design, special fx artwork and an interesting commentary track. The menus are static and ok, there's a useless 4 pages promo booklet on other Artisan dvd, the film is separated in 24 chapters and comes in a keep case.

Warners Bros. edition of DEEP BLUE SEA is simply stunning. The film is presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, anamorphic. The image is superb, the colors are beautifully rendered especially all the blues and reds. Skintones are perfectly rendered too. There's absolutly no signs of artifacts or compression. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is great! It's loud and very responsive. The magnificent score of Trevor Rabin really sounds great and it's nicely mixed on this DVD. We also get the possibility of having English subtitles. This DVD is loaded with extras; we get two behind-the-scenes. The first one is about 15 minutes and it's called "When sharks attack". We get to see lots of cool stuff on how they "used" real sharks for inspiration on how to make the cgi and anamatronic sharks. "The shark of DEEP BLUE SEA" is the second behind-the-scenes which is about 8 minutes of more about how they did the sharks for the film. There's 5 deleted scenes that comes with or without a commentary track from the director, Renny Harlin. The first two scenes should have stayed in the film but that's my personal opinion. There's a trailer (in it's correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1), there's a still gallery that features about 30 pix of mostly stills from the film so it ain't really something new. There's a commentary track with director Renny Harlin and actor Samuel L. Jackson. The commentary track is good but Harlin and Jackson aren't in the same room for the recording so it switches from one to the other until Jackson dies in the film, then it's all Harlin. The DVD comes in the usual Warner Bros snap case. There's some DVD Rom features such as the web site, trailers, a retrospective of the history of horror and sci-fi and more on the DVD!

Another worthy addition to your collection thanks to Artisan. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is presented in a weirdly framed full screen version "recreating" the look of the image seen through the video screen. My screener tape i received months before the film was out wasn't like that at all. The 2.0 Dolby Surround audio track sounds good. The menus are nicely done with animation and music. We get cast and crew infos, production notes, theatrical teaser and trailers and a look at the mythology of the curse of the Blair Witch. There's also some dvd-rom features. The film is separated in 18 chapters, comes with an ok 4 pages booklet and in a keep case.

Columbia/Tristar edition of the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake is another must disc. The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is pretty good! There's also a Pan&Scan version for those who "hate these black bars"?! The Dolby Surround English track sounds good, surprisingly we also get a Mono Portuguese track! There's a very good commentary track with director Tom Savini, production notes, a featurette called "The Dead Walk", theatrical trailers and talent files. The film is separated in 28 chapters, comes in a keep case and a four pages booklet.

So there you have it, soon i will be taking a look at the Best DVDs of 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Kim Dubuisson.