ADDITION: Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - September 13': Quite a significant increase in quality - the package is labeled "Collector's Edition" and it wins in every measurable category over the SD counterparts. The image is much crisper, brighter (at times), color shifts seem normal now (greens and earthy browns) - and contrast is notably superior. Even the kinescope-looking dream sequences improve. Really this dual-layered video transfer is strikingly better. Some visuals give a sense of depth and there isn't a hint of noise in all the darkness. The bitrate is high and this is easily the definitive release.

John Carpenter and Alan Howarth's creepy pulsating score exports rich bass via the lossless rendering. There are some jumpy separations in the surround and there are optional English subtitles.

Supplements offer a Carpenter commentary and a handful of new featurettes including new "Red Shirt Production' interviews with Writer/Director John Carpenter, Alice Cooper, Special Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Grasmere, composer Alan Howarth and more.

This is one memorable film. I saw it with a bunch of buddies as we drank excessive beers an there wasn't much conversation. The film had us mesmerized. One of my favorite Carpenter flics... absolutely recommended!  

***

ON THE DVDs: The Universal and Studio Canal DVDs sport dual-layer transfers with the Ultra Stereo mix encoded as Dolby 2.0 Surround, while the Image DVD encodes it in 2.0 stereo (there is little difference and it is a strong mix on all three discs). The French DVD also features okay 5.1 remixes of the original English surround and French mono tracks. The French disc image appears a tad softer than the Universal (of course, it sacrifices some of its bitrate to 5 audio tracks and more extras). The Image DVD (which I thought was amazing when it first came out) is brighter than the newer transfers, but that occasionally causes highlights to blow out. I suspect the newer transfers may be more accurate in terms of color (retaining the candlelit warmth of the basement scenes - Carpenter acknowledges that the actors were also lit with gold gels so their skin tones should look warmer during these scenes). On the other hand, the 2.47:1 Image DVD reveals more info on the right side of the screen, while at other times it reveals more info on both sides of the frame than the newer transfers. The wider framing does accentuate the bowing of the straight lines caused by the wide-angle anamorphic lenses (but this is also apparent in the newer transfers). The Universal DVD is also marred by some interlaced passages (most notably the opening few minutes and a sequence in the middle of the film) but it features the original trailer.