The Deaths of Ian Stone offers the fest's most intriguing premise--after a terrible accident, a young man (Mike Vogel of Cloverfield) discovers that he is being reborn as different people, only to suffer an even worse fate with each reincarnation--though the reasons for his condition and the introduction of monsters to the story are ill-conceived and ill-advised. As for the remaining titles, Unearthed is simply Alien in the desert (ground already covered with panache by Feast), while Nightmare Man is a HD-lensed supernatural slasher from the usually reliable Rolfe Kanefsky (The Hazing) that's enlivened only by the presence of B-movie stalwart Tiffany Shepis. With so much varying quality in the entries, what the 2007 HorrorFest needed was a rock-solid entry by an established talent, like Nacho Cerda's The Abandoned and Takashi Shimuzi's Reincarnation, which gave some spark to the 2006 festival. Judging by the tepid box office response to this series, stronger names or more careful selection of titles will be necessary for the HorrorFest to remain an annual event. Unlike the 2006 HorrorFest DVD releases, only a handful of the 2007 festival's discs offer extras. It seems odd that two of the weakest entries--Borderland and Nightmare Man--are the only discs to feature substantial supplemental features, including director and cast commentary, deleted scenes, and making-of featurettes, as well as a short documentary on Borderland about the true-life crimes that inspired the film. However, Nightmare Man's extras have a distinct edge thanks to the participation of Shepis, who brings a salty sense of humor to the commentary and also directs an amusing making-of featurette that elicits funny (and honest) responses from the cast and crew. Included on every disc are The Miss HorrorFest Webisodes, a wan collection of reality show-style vignettes that follow a contest to find the festival's new, scantily clad spokesmodel. -- Paul Gaita

Horror DVD Video

• Science Fiction & Fantasy