John Carpenter is back and "John Carpenter's Vampires" is one of his best films in many years!  The plot, modern day vampire hunters, commissioned by the church to seek out vampires,  may at first seem less than compelling, but Carpenter's skill as a director proves differently!  The very first scene in which James Woods and his crew of hit-men take on a nest of vampires in an apparantly abandoned house, is filled with nail-biting suspense.  Unfortunately, the dialogue has James Woods reduced to throwing out stupid sexual entendres to priests.  Carpenter should know better!  The first 20 minutes of this film thrusts the film forward in a completely surprising manner.  While the rest of the film stumbles and regains itself, it never achieves the originality of the first part.

The picture is fantastic!  The darkest moments have great clarity and color definition.  The 16:9 enhancement, a virtual standard of COLUMBIA TRISTAR, comes in handy in presenting this flawless picture.  The dolby digital 5.1 sound is also outstanding, boasting numerous atmospheric and directional effects, as well as aiding in enhancing John Carpenter's own musical score.  Carpernter also offers an insightful commentary on an alternate track. 

With the slew of horror films coming out, it's expected that some will be more "horrible" than "horror".  With this in mind, it's a pleasure to say that "Urban Legend" while suffering a horrible ending, actually creates some great thrills throughout most of its duration.  Never really intelligent, it works on an inane "Friday the 13th" kind of way. 

The COLUMBIA TRISTAR transfer is in great shape, evident from the opening sequence wherein rain creates no artifacts, and there's excellent clarity throughout the darkest elements of the scenes.  The dolby digital 5.1 sound features an active soundtrack with excellent bass and numerous directional effects. In addition to the theatrical trailer, there's an audio commentary with the film's director.

We're actually disappointed with this release.  Mostly because COLUMBIA TRISTAR is pretty much leading the way for continuous and excellent quality releases.   "BUGSY" is arguably one of the most anticipated titles, and its picture quality is decent at best!  There are a large number of artifacts throughout the film, detracting from an otherwise "decent" transfer.  Color values are fine without oversaturation.  The dolby surround sound is fine, with a minimum of directional effects, but adding emphasis to the wonderful musical score.