DVD Corner

Each week, BDN film critic Christopher Smith will contribute reviews to DVD Corner.

“American Gothic: The Complete Series”: Four years before Haley Joel Osment saw dead people in “The Sixth Sense,” 10-year-old Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) was busy seeing them in the 1995 television show “American Gothic.” Set in Trinity, S.C., this tense, effective horror melodrama hails from producer Sam Raimi (“Spider-Man,” “Evil Dead” series) and unlikely creator Shaun Cassidy. It lasted a year on CBS before the network pulled the plug – but not without allowing the show to come to a satisfying conclusion, which wasn’t the case when Fox botched its cancellation of the cult hit “Firefly.” What Caleb sees in “Gothic” is his dead sister, Merlyn (Sarah Paulson), whose ghost is determined to keep him safe from the sinister Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), the malicious town sheriff who was the last to see Merlyn alive and who now has a dark agenda that involves Caleb. Echoes of “Twin Peaks” abound, with the tight storyline and fine acting overcoming the underwhelming special effects. Grade: B+

“Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Vol. Three”: Of the two Looney Tunes collections released this week, this is the one that’s the stuff of gold. Included in this surprisingly racy box set – which parents should know is intended for a more mature audience – is the reason some of us champion Chuck Jones as one of the kings of animation. He may never have had a theme park, but Jones had something arguably just as formidable – an edge, an irreverent wit, an anything-goes imagination, and especially his endearing cast of characters – Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck chief among them. Warner Bros. pulls out all the stops here, including in this four-disc set 60 Looney Tunes shorts, a good deal of which are uncut and (bleep-bleep!) uncensored. Highlights include the indelible voice work of Mel Blanc and a collectible animation cel. Grade: A

“Looney Tunes: Movie Collection”: Two movies, each of which are the result of stitching together several Looney Tunes shorts into feature-length films. That smells a whole lot like marketing, but here’s the thing – the result is excellent, high-strung camp. In 1979’s “The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie,” Bugs, now retired to the swell life in Beverly Hills, looks back upon his bawdy adventures, with Chuck Jones at the helm. Fantastic. In 1982’s “Bugs Bunny’s Third Movie: 1,001 Rabbit Tales,” the gloss is on, with directors Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson expertly blending together a string of shorts, with Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Daffy Duck, Bugs and others up to their sly antics. For parents, this is their Looney Tunes for tots – maybe even the Looney Tunes for them. Rated G. Grade: A-

“The Munsters: The Complete Second Season”: The second season, the last season, but how it has endured. Included are the final 32 episodes, along with three hours of bonus features, one of which is a must-see for fans of the series – “America’s First Family of Fright.” Unlike many featurettes tacked onto DVDs, this one wasn’t tossed off in an effort to generate sales. It gets to the heart of why the series has mattered for four decades. The antics are what drive “The Munsters,” but it’s the characters that sell it. Fred Gwyne’s Herman, Yvonne DeCarlo’s Lily, Al Lewis’ Grandpa, Butch Patrick’s Eddie and Pat Priest’s Marilyn balance each other while the writers worked hard to throw them off kilter. Four shows are not to be missed: “The Most Beautiful Ghoul in the World,” “Bronco Bustin’ Munster,” “Cyrano de Munster” and the priceless, “Will Success Spoil Herman Munster?” It didn’t, but this series might have had a similar effect on us. Grade: A

“The Perfect Man”: Apparently, if you’re an unhappy teen-age girl seeking companionship for your single mother, the best way to find him isn’t through friends, the personals or a computer dating service. It’s through lies and deception. At least that’s the message nailed to the heart of “The Perfect Man,” a screwy romantic comedy that stars Hilary Duff as Holly, a sweet-faced tween with a bum life whose free-living mother, Jean (Heather Locklear), is a pastry chef with no center, no filling, no creme de la creme. No matter how many men she dates – and there have been plenty – she can’t seem to find the right guy. To be kind to Jean, let’s refer to her as a serial dater. To round out her personality, let’s peg her as a frequent traveler. Indeed, when her relationships spoil, as they tend to do, Jean moves daughters Holly and Zoe (Aria Wallace) to another state so she can date a fresh crop of men. Insensitive? You could say that – and I haven’t even gotten to the identity theft angle, in which a frustrated Holly takes to the computer in an effort to hook her mother up with a decent man (Chris Noth). A ridiculous film, far from perfect, that can’t handle real life or real emotions. Rated PG. Grade: D

“Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”: Completes the prequel trilogy with a sense of mischief and fun before it dissolves into predictable rhythms of darkness and ruin. There are few surprises here, but that’s beside the point. The film exists to seal the deal between 2002’s “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” and the movie that started it all, 1977’s “Episode IV: A New Hope.” Some will view “Sith” as only a means to an end, but it’s a crucial means to that end, at last offering a stage in which to view Anakin Skywalker’s intoxication with the Dark Side, his struggle to accept it, and his ultimate transformation into Darth Vader as a result. This is an action movie whose action has purpose, whose story deepens the franchise and whose themes trump the stilted dialogue. Watching it, you realize that clever Lucas has created his own coup. He has stolen his prequel trilogy back from the brink of disappointment and ended it with an intergalactic bang. Rated PG-13. Grade: B+