Hannibal Rising (DVD)

If you liked 2001's rather over-the-top Hannibal, you cannot go wrong with the latest chapter in the canny cannibal's oeuvres. Hannibal Rising is an origin story, influenced by a few pages from writer Thomas Harris's Hannibal novel, which led to the Hannibal Rising book and movie. This version methodically yet entertainingly goes from A to Z, first showing us the young Hannibal Lecter as a very young boy who's scarred by a horrible incident perpetrated on his family by the Nazis, up to the final course in his menu of victims.

Dedicated director Peter Webber creates art in nearly every shot, without sparing we horror fans any of the gory details. Gaspard Ulliel, while he looks nothing like the more mature Hopkins Hannibal, is 'cheeky' indeed – he has got the languid grace, quippy tongue, and cold killing style we all know and love down-pat. Truly a grand-guignol gothic revenge-western, Hannibal Rising is sumptuous cinematic experience.

It's true, the movie is love-it-or-hate-it type thing, which fans did find divisive and confusing during its theatrical release, but for those who stayed away in fear now is the time to take a chance. The unrated DVD doesn't add an awful lot in the way of blood and gore, but it does introduce a bit more dimension and character elements.

The DVD has a lot of supplemental materials, including a good audio commentary from Webber and producer Martha de Laurentiis. Unfortunately, they're spliced together, each one's comments obviously recorded separately. de Laurentiis offers up some informative, if more technical info, but it's Webber who really weaves the vocal magic here. The funny, smart and detail-oriented filmmaker is definitely worth a good listen.

There are five deleted scenes, each running about as long in total. These are: Boiling the Photo Album; Hannibal Gets Off the Truck; Prison Sequence (Extended); Hannibal at the Lock Keeper; and Lady M and a Photo of Hannibal. Commentary from Webber on each is an option.

There are two featurettes: Hannibal Lecter: The Origin of Evil, has a pretty self-explanatory title, but it really only touches on the novels and previous films. Allan Starski: Designing Horror and Elegance goes in depth about the sets, design, props and so on — explaining what we see overtly, and what's more subliminal.

A nice touch: Both featurettes and deleted scenes are captioned for the hearing (or heavy accent) impaired.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson