A recent trend in the home video market seems to be the "sweeping up" of older catalog titles by the major studios for release as budget double - , triple -, and now quadruple - features. They're nice for the casual consumer, as the price is usually relatively low, and for the more hardcore DVD collector, as several titles usually fit in one space-saving case.

Warner Brothers has been pushing this trend with their "4 Film Favorites" line, and it seems Universal has decided to join in on the act with a "Quadruple Feature" set of releases.

One release in this new line from Universal is Quadruple Feature: Thriller Pack. It sports four thrillers produced between 1991 and 2000, all having notable casts. Each release in Warner Brothers' "4 Film Favorites" line has 2 double-sided DVDs, with one movie on each side. Because of this, extras produced on earlier single disc releases of the movies are often carried over. Universal, on the other hand, has opted to go with 2 single-sided DVDs. The downside to this method seems to be that there are literally no extra features.

The films collected in Quadruple Feature: Thriller Pack are . . .

The Watcher (***)

This 2000 thriller seems to follow the mode of serial killer procedurals made popular in the 1990s by the likes of The Silence of the Lambs and others of its ilk. In it, James Spader plays Joel Campbell, an FBI agent on disability and living alone in Chicago. He had been on the case of a serial killer in California played by The Matrix's Keanu Reeves, but severe migraines and lingering grief over one of the killer's victims have basically left him paralyzed psychologically in life. However, the killer travels to Chicago, and begins taunting Campbell with photographs of young women he intends to make his next victims. This springs Campbell back into his work, where he is magically automatically put into the lead of a police team meant to track down the killer. In the meantime, both seek the counsel of a psychologist named Polly (Marisa Tomei). As soon as the character is introduced, the audience knows she'll be the intended final victim.

The Watcher is an entertaining time-waster. It isn't very plausible, but the pace of the plot keeps things going pretty well. Spader and Tomei are good in their roles, even if the roles themselves are underdeveloped in the script. Reeves, on the other hand, is horribly miscast. His surfer dude image doesn't project menace, and several scenes of him dancing to Rob Zombie music in front of his victims seem silly rather than horrifying. Still, The Watcher is an efficient thriller and worth a look.

Fear (**1/2)

Next up is Fear, a 1996 thriller that fits in with the psycho-boyfriend / girlfriend genre also popular in the 1990s. This one's reminiscent of The Crush in some ways. Here, 16-year-old Nicole (Reese Witherspoon) falls for a seemingly nice boy named David (Mark Wahlberg), who ends up being a villainous orphan with a psychotic violent streak. After their relationship turns sour, his actions spiral out of control. Her father and stepmother (William Petersen and the always likeable Amy Brenneman) don't help matters in their attempts to remedy the situation.

12 years later, what's most notable about Fear is seeing a couple of well-respected actors early - and looking very young - in their careers. Witherspoon, who later won an Academy Award for her role in Walk the Line, is pretty good as the rebellious teenager in a well-to-do family. Mark Wahlberg, recently nominated for an Academy Award for The Departed, doesn't come off nearly as well. For the most part in this film, he struts around trying to look mean. Aside from the acting, everything is pretty much routine thriller stuff here. The parents do a lot of idiotic things - especially the father - in response to what's happening to their daughter, but then, this wouldn't be much of a movie if the parents behaved sensibly early in the movie. The film is punctuated by several good alternative rock hits of the time, including Bush's "Comedown," Prick's "Animal," and The Sundays' cover of "Wild Horses." Fear is okay but not great.

Raising Cain (**1/2)

Disc 2 starts with the 1992 Brian De Palma flick Raising Cain. It's the most unusual story in this lot. In it, Carter, a stay-at-home Dad played by genre actor John Lithgow, suffers from multiple personality disorder. While his wife, played by the lovely Lolita Davidovitch, begins an affair with an old flame, Carter begins kidnapping young children and murdering their mothers. The kids are necessary for someone who may be Carter's father and his research in multiple personality disorder.

Brian De Palma has directed several classic films, including the first adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie and notable crime sagas Scarface and The Untouchables. Raising Cain is not nearly as good as those films, but it's still interesting. De Palma utilizes some inventive camerawork, including several well-conceived and executed tracking shots. Lead actor John Lithgow is hit-and-miss playing the various personalities of his character. Sometimes it's effective and sometimes over-the-top and silly - which may have been the point but leaves the tension of the film undercut. The plot reverts to one too many "it was only a dream"-type scares. Raising Cain doesn't fire on all cylinders, but when it does, it's fairly interesting.

A Kiss Before Dying (***)

Rounding out this quadruple feature is the 1991 woman-in-peril style thriller A Kiss Before Dying. Matt Dillon plays an ambitious young man named Jonathan who has spent a good part of his life scheming how to get at the rich Carlsson family. At the start of the movie, he kills Dorothy, a Carlsson daughter, in dramatic fashion. He then sets his sights on Dorothy's twin sister Ellen, concocting an elaborate fiction of his life story in order to ingratiate himself into the family by marrying Ellen and accepting a position in the formidable family business run by Ellen's father, played by Max Von Sydow. Jonathan is willing to go to great lengths - including additional murders to keep his secret.

A Kiss Before Dying is certainly the hardest R of the four films in this collection. The opening scene showing Jonathan killing Dorothy is violent and bloody - and seems more in the purview of slasher film territory. The plot, based on a book by Ira Levin (the writer of Rosemary's Baby and Sliver), is engaging and interesting. Unfortunately, aside from Matt Dillon, the cast seems dull and lifeless. Sean Young has turned in good performances, but she's surprisingly anemic as the twin Carlsson girls in this movie. Still, while the ending is inevitable and unsurprising, A Kiss Before Dying is a frightening ride and worth 90 minutes of your time.

The DVD

Video:

Fear is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen; The Watcher, Raising Cain, and A Kiss Before Dying are presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. All four films are anamorphic. By far, the best looking film is The Watcher, which also happens to be the newest film. Its image is sharp and clean. A Kiss Before Dying fares the worst. It has a lot of dirt, and details are lacking.

Sound:

As with the video quality, The Watcher offers the best audio presentation of the bunch. Its Dolby Digital 5.1 track is very dynamic, with a good strong bass that's especially emphasized in the music. Fear is also given a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that's fine, although dialogue could have been a bit stronger. Raising Cain and A Kiss Before Dying have Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks that are adequate.

All four films offer English subtitles.

The back of the case suggests Fear and The Watcher have French language options, but I found no evidence of this on the disc itself.

Extras:

4 90+ minute movies on 2 single-sided discs = 0 extra features.

Final Thoughts:

Though none of the films are classics per se, Universal's Quadruple Feature: Thriller Pack offers four reasonably entertaining thrillers primarily from the 1990s with solid casts and storylines. I'd recommend it - though keep in mind that extras are non-existent.

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