"Like dancing a tango" is how director Roman Polanski describes his collaboration with actress Catherine Deneuve on the commentary track of the outstanding "Repulsion" DVD and Blu-ray. Originally recorded in 1994 for the film's laser disc release but unavailable in any format since then, the track, which also features Deneuve (recorded separately), is a film buff's dream, corralling the press-shy icons for detailed reminiscing on the making of the movie.

Made in 1965, "Repulsion" was only Polanski's second film (after the Oscar-nominated "Knife in the Water"), but the movie bears the artistic bravado of a much more experienced director. Essentially a horror picture in the vein of David Lynch's "Eraserhead" (which can be seen as a direct descendant), "Repulsion" tracks the gradual mental deterioration of a young woman (Deneuve) who shuts herself inside her London apartment and slowly goes insane after her roommate-sister leaves her alone and goes on vacation.

A deliberate exercise in audience manipulation, "Repulsion" is a singularly creepy and disturbing film. (Polanski never made another remotely like it, not even when he revisited the subject matter of an eccentric apartment dweller in "The Tenant.") The transfer on the Blu-ray version wrings every possible detail from the movie's beautiful black-and-white cinematography, and the image is so vivid and textured it looks more like projected film than video.

On the commentary, Polanski admits his motivation for making "Repulsion" was purely "opportunistic." A producer of soft-core sex films wanted to go legit by making a low-budget horror flick, and Polanski seized the offer, although the movie he made was far different from the exploitation fare the money men had in mind.

Polanski says he purposely paced the first half of the movie slowly, so viewers would let their guard down, making them easier to shock ("You can only zap someone when they're on the verge of boredom"). Accordingly, the film's first big "gotcha!" scare happens at the 47-minute mark and might be one of the most effective in cinematic history (even when you already know what's coming, you're still startled).

Polanski also talks about Deneuve's beauty, remarking that she still looked gorgeous even when shot with wide-angle lenses but that the actress was "very touchy" about nudity. Deneuve confirms this fact, saying Polanski even convinced her to pose for Playboy magazine against her will to help publicize the film's U.S. release, a decision she now regrets - and wishes the photos had at least been in black and white, to match the movie.

Deneuve also talks about how specific Polanski was in his direction, down to showing her the way he wanted her character to rub her nose. Polanski's attention to micro-detail can be glimpsed on one of the disc's extras, a 30-minute French TV documentary from 1964 made entirely of rare footage shot on the "Repulsion" set. Another extra, the 24-minute retrospective featurette "A British Horror Film," features more recent interviews with Polanski, the film's producers and cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, who was handpicked by the director based on the strength of his work on Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove." "Repulsion" is not nearly so well-known as that earlier classic, but Polanski's freaky depiction of psychosis was arguably more influential than Kubrick's comedy. Criterion's fantastic new discs encourage you to make up your own mind.

'Midnight Express'

Once again proving shiny new movies aren't the only ones that benefit from the high-def treatment, the "Midnight Express" Blu-ray wrests an astonishingly clear and fresh-looking image from Alan Parker's controversial 1978 drama, despite the problems the director's signature soft-focus style presents.

The movie that made the term "Turkish prison" synonymous with hell on Earth, "Midnight Express" hasn't exactly aged well. The scene in which the American protagonist, played by the late Brad Davis, stands before a panel of Turkish judges and tells them "For a nation of pigs, it sure is funny you don't eat them ... I hate you. I hate your nation, and I hate your people!" induces more cringes today than it did three decades ago.

But the movie, which earned screenwriter Oliver Stone his first Academy Award, has an undeniable brutish power, and even if the filmmakers took great liberties with the real-life story they were adapting, that fact takes nothing away from Parker's skillful direction or the moving performances by Davis, John Hurt and a young Randy Quaid (in a rare noncomedic role).

The Blu-ray imports all the substantial extras from the 30th anniversary DVD released last year, which include a meaty, 90-minute retrospective documentary. There is also a frank commentary track by Parker, who addresses the claims of racism leveled at the film ("Perhaps there should have been a few more pleasant Turks in the film") and discusses Giorgio Moroder's Oscar-winning synth-pop score, which became a disco hit after the film's release, packing dance floors with people boogieing to music inspired by a story about the horrors of prison. Oh, those crazy '70s!

'Fast & Furious'

Even by contemporary action-film standards, "Fast & Furious" was pretty ridiculous. But the movie was still the highest-grossing entry to date in the car-racing franchise, so what do we know? Original cast members Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster reunite for more high-octane shenanigans involving illegal street racing, undercover agents and bootleggers.

Mostly, the movie is an excuse for returning "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" director Justin Lin (who once showed oh-so-much promise with "Better Luck Tomorrow" and "Shopping for Fangs" before he sold out) to mount elaborate chases and stunts, all of which look and sound fantastic on the Blu-ray edition and will give any home theater rig a proper workout.

The disc includes extensive making-of extras, the most intriguing a 20-minute short film, "Los Bandoleros," written and directed by Diesel, which serves as a kind of prologue to the main attraction. Diesel, too, once showed considerable promise as a filmmaker, until he discovered he could make a lot more money starring in brainless action pictures, and he never looked back. That's show business.