Some Ghostly Chills and Gory Thrills on DVD

“The Others” is such a ripping good ghost story that one can almost forgive the rather disappointing two-disc DVD (Dimension, $30). Where is the audio commentary with director Alejandro Amenabar or star Nicole Kidman? This is the type of a movie that shrieks out for a commentary track.

Kidman, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, headlines this atmospheric horror flick about a nervous woman who lives with her two children in a spooky house without any electricity on the secluded British island of Jersey. Her husband went off to fight in World War II, and although the conflict has ended, he has yet to return home. Her children have a rare disease that prevents them from being exposed to light. When three servants mysteriously arrive one morning for work, things start to go bump in the night.

The digital edition features a ho-hum featurette that was produced for television and a short but interesting visual-effects featurette. “Xeroderma Pigmentosum” is a good mini-documentary focusing on a real family whose youngest daughter suffers from the disease afflicting the children in the movie. Rounding out the disc is a behind-the-scenes look at Amenabar, a 28-year-old Spanish director, at work.

Although “The Others” doesn’t include many extras, Fox’s two-disc set of the gory thriller “From Hell” ($30) has too many. In fact, it boasts six hours of “spine-tingling” extra features.

Directed by Albert and Allen Hughes, “From Hell” stars Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane and Ian Holm in a bloodcurdling retelling of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders that took place in London’s Whitechapel district in the late 19th century.

The discs, like the movie, are creepy. Especially gruesome is the documentary “Jack the Ripper: Six Degrees of Separation,” which features the real morgue pictures of his victims and information on the various suspects in the unsolved case. The Hughes brothers offer a gleefully ghoulish “Tour of the Murder Sites” at the re-creation of Whitechapel built near Prague.

The discs also feature a pedestrian “HBO First Look” special with Graham as host, an interesting glimpse into Martin Childs’ production design and an examination of the graphic novel on which the film is based.

Albert Hughes provides audio commentary for 20 deleted scenes and an alternate ending. The main commentary track features the Hugheses and Coltrane.

The gore fest continues with the two-disc “millennium edition” of the outrageous 1985 cult flick “Re-Animator” (Elite, $30). Based on the stories by H.P. Lovecraft, “Re-Animator” is a gross but very funny tale of a mad scientist (a perfectly cast Jeffrey Combs) who wants to bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately, every time he does, the dead become violent.

The disc includes a commentary track with director Stuart Gordon, who, before moving to horror films, operated the Organic Theater Company in Chicago. There is also a breezy commentary track with producer Brian Yuzna and actors Combs, Robert Sampson, Barbara Crampton and Bruce Abbott. Also included: several extended scenes and one deleted scene; new video interviews with Gordon, Yuzna, writer Dennis Paoli, composer Richard Band and Fangoria magazine editor Tony Timpone; multi-angle storyboards of three scenes; and a discussion of the music in three scenes with Band.

“The X-Files” wraps up its ninth and final season this Sunday. Earlier this week, Fox released the fifth season of the Fox sci-fi series on DVD ($150). The six-disc set features every episode of the series, a 46-minute special (which originally aired on FX), and an OK documentary that looks at several of the season’s episodes. Also included are interviews with creator Chris Carter and several of the directors and writers.

“Stephen King’s Rose Red,” the six-hour ABC miniseries about a haunted mansion, also made its DVD debut this week (Lions Gate, $25). Critically lambasted but a ratings hit, the silly thriller stars Nancy Travis, Matt Keeslar and the late David Dukes. The two-disc set includes a documentary, storyboards and commentary from director Craig Baxley.

Happy trails to you: New from Hollywood Attic are the DVD ($20) and VHS ($15) debut of the recently discovered and newly restored uncut version of the lively “Cowboy and the Senorita,” a 1944 musical western that marked the first pairing of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. The DVD also features a tour of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans museum, production notes and musical highlights.

Also available is “The Roy Rogers Television Collection: Pilots and Rarities” (also from Hollywood Attic; DVD, $20; VHS, $15), a collection of rare TV episodes including the Dale Evans series, “Queen of the West,” promotional film with the two, and a campy 1962 hourlong musical variety show with them from the Seattle World’s Fair.

Columbia TriStar is hitting the trail with the six-flick DVD set “John Wayne: The Duke” ($27), which features six of the fast-paced B westerns Wayne did in the early ‘30s: “Desert Trail,” “Paradise Canyon,” “The Trail Beyond,” “Two-Fisted Law,” “Riders of Destiny” and “West of the Divide.” Unfortunately, on five of the titles, the original scores have been pulled and substituted with the same annoying, repetitive music.

Also from Columbia TriStar is the taut, well-acted 1958 sagebrush saga “Cowboy” ($20). Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford make a good team in this western about a hard-drinking, hard-driving cattle boss who loses his earnings in a poker game and ends up taking a $3,000 loan from a Chicago hotel desk clerk. In return for the loan, the cattle boss must take the tenderfoot on his next drive.

“Marilyn Monroe: The Diamond Collection Volume II” (Fox, $20 each; $44 for the set) shines the spotlight on five of the sex symbol’s films. Each film has been beautifully restored for the DVDs and features a demonstration of the restoration process.

The best of the lot is 1953’s “Niagara,” a nifty mystery in Technicolor with Monroe just perfect as the adulterous wife of a troubled World War II vet (Joseph Cotten).

Monroe goes dramatic with decent results as a demented baby-sitter in the enjoyable 1952 melodrama “Don’t Bother to Knock,” which also stars the always-watchable Richard Widmark and a very young Anne Bancroft.

The actress’ deft comedic flair is on display in the 1952 Howard Hawks screwball comedy “Monkey Business,” which stars Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers and Charles Coburn.

Monroe and co-star Robert Mitchum give it the old college try to no avail in Otto Preminger’s threadbare 1954 western, “River of No Return.” Rounding out the collection is the tired 1960 musical comedy “Let’s Make Love,” which casts Monroe opposite French heartthrob Yves Montand.

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What’s Coming

Tuesday: “Vanilla Sky,” “Lantana,” “Sidewalks of New York,” “Out Cold” and “How High.”

May 28: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Dark Blue World” and “Slackers.”

June 4: “The Mothman Prophecies.”

June 11: “Black Hawk Down,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Kate & Leopold,” “Charlotte Gray” and “Behind the Sun.”