English/Belgian/Dutch/Luxembourgian coproductions don't happen every day, making Villa des Roses of interest from the start. Director Frank van Passel focuses on the pain of remembering in this drama set at the turn of World War I, in which young French widow Louise comes to work as a chambermaid at a dilapidated English guest house. What could have been an offbeat human comedy soon becomes a conventional romantic tragedy, in which the heroine falls for rakish artist Richard Grünewald, with all the frustration and heartache their liaison promises.

Julie Delpy is strong on wistful charm, while Shaun Dingwall gives a confident performance. Timothy West and Harriet Walter are characterful as the ill-matched proprietors, but the most memorable showing is that of Shirley Henderson as streetwise "cook general" Ella. The other guests are little more than a background presence, their narrative potential unused. This is stylish film-making, even if an overall feeling of Anna Karenina meets Upstairs Downstairs is hard to escape.

On the DVD: Villa des Roses' widescreen format reproduces the film's faded elegance with commendable naturalness, though the sombre half-lights and Paul M van Brugge's moody score make Paris seem anything but "gay". The theatrical trailer is also included. --Richard Whitehouse

The original 1960 version of Village of the Damned is regarded as a classic of science fiction and horror, and it remains one of the creepiest movies of its kind. Directed with occasional flair by John Carpenter, this 1995 remake trades subtlety for more explicit chills and violence, but the basic premise remains effectively eerie. In the tiny, idyllic town of Midwich, a strange mist causes the entire population to fall asleep, and when everyone awakes the town physician (Christopher Reeve) discovers that 10 women--including his wife and a local teenage virgin--have mysteriously become pregnant. Their children are all born on the same day, with matching white hair and strange, glowing eyes, grow at an accelerated rate and thus raise Reeve's suspicion that they are not of earthly origin. These demonic brats can control minds and wreak havoc with the power of their thoughts, so of course they must be destroyed. Only Reeve knows how to get the job done, and his performance (the actor's last big-screen role before his paralysing accident in 1995) grounds this otherwise superfluous remake with enough credibility to hold the viewer's attention. But for the real chills, definitely check out the original version--it's 20 minutes shorter but twice as spooky. --Jeff Shannon