Darkness and Below (2002) ADDED

[Brent_Reid]

Both films share a US BD; the specs for Darkness are absolutely identical to the standalone BD. The current notes for that BD belong to the Spanish release.

Title: Below
Country: US
Region: A
Releasing Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
Case Type: Keep case
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Codec: (MVC, AVC MPEG-4, VC-1, MPEG-2) AVC MPEG-4
Picture: (1080p/1080i 60/1080i 50 etc) 1080p
Soundtracks: English DTS-HS MA 2.0 stereo
Subtitles (are they optional?): None
Cuts: (and if you know it, precise run time) None (105:18)
Commentaries: None
Extras:
"The Process" featurette (12:23)
Deleted scenes:
- "Creepy Comic" (1:36)
- "Hot Fish" (3:39)
- "Red Flare Ending" (3:03)
Notes: Shares disc with Darkness
Easter Eggs: None
Amazon ASIN (UK, French, German, USA releases only): B008D1RCZY
Source:*Own copy

Darkness was also released on a US "Triple Feature" BD with "Phantoms" (1998) and "Venom" (2005) ASIN B007AFC236)

Title: Darkness
Country: Germany
Region: B
Releasing Studio: Splendid Film
Case Type: Keep case
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Codec: (MVC, AVC MPEG-4, VC-1, MPEG-2) AVC MPEG-4
Picture: (1080p/1080i 60/1080i 50 etc) 1080p
Soundtracks: English and German DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles (are they optional?): German (yes)
Cuts: (and if you know it, precise run time) None (102:17)
Commentaries: None
Extras:
"Behind the Scenes" featurette (6:52)
Cast and crew interviews:
- Pele Martinez (3:58)
- Lena Olin (2:27)
- Iain Glen (2:48)
- Anna Paquin (1:59)
- Giancarlo Giannini (2:17)
- Jaume Balaqueró (5:31)
Trailers: "Mambo Italiano" (2:06), "Tube" (2:10), "Gangs Of New York" (2:27), "Narc" (2:21), "Net Games" (1:48), "Fear Of The Dark" (1:35) and "Shadow Of The Vampire" (1:40)
Notes:
Easter Eggs: None
Amazon ASIN (UK, French, German, USA releases only): B009GWHXDA
Source:*OFDb

Missing Darkness ASINs:
US BD: B0080QOLG0
DVDs:
US PG-13: B0007MCQQ2
US Unrated: B00005JNBN
France: B00013ULAK
Germany: B0001EJLC8

I also have the US and Canadian Below DVDs and wanted to add the feature runtimes but can't find them at the mo'...

[Eric_Cotenas]

Added, thanks. Also added the worthless triple feature version too.

[Brent_Reid]

Thanks, Eric. I didn't know the cut US version was issued on BD; hope you didn't waste your own money finding that out.
Like Selznick and other producers before them, the Weinsteins' (un)creative meddling f*cked up countless films. This was just one more example - even though I've had the BD for years, because of its bad rep I only finally watched Darkness last night. Of course, said rep is mostly based on reviewers who only saw the censored version. It's a fine flick and I'd like to know what the director thinks of the Weinsteins crippling his film.

I forgot the standalone Darkness BD didn't have its runtime listed, so you couldn't copy it. Here you go: 102:32.
BTW, it looks like you forgot to link Phantoms on the triple disc to its own BD comparison.

The Below BD comparison footnote says, "Only version so far." But that's not true: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Below-Blu-ray/89390/
The big attraction is unlike the US disc, it has lossless 5.1 audio. Would love to get my hands on a copy but don't know of a good source...

[Eric_Cotenas]

Fixed, missing character in the urls for Phantoms links.

Also added Venom double feature.

Presumably Balaguero must have had some idea how the Weinsteins could treat his film after a decade of such mutilations although The Nameless got through uncut (I presume he was hoping for bigger distribution with Fragile).

[Brent_Reid]

Nah, I reckon he was locked into a contract and had to suck it up after the fact. The US release was delayed by nearly two years, likely because of wrangling and time taken to prepare a new edit. If a cut version was always part of the plan, surely Balagueró would have had one ready to go when he finished his original version.

The Darkness runtime is slightly wrong on the Below BD page.