Del Toro twosome with a deluge of extras

Hellboy

Ron Perlman, Selma Blair

Columbia TriStar, $29

Acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro brings a lot of warmth, humor and heart-pounding action to this entertaining adaptation of

Mike Mignola’s popular comic book series. Hellboy is a demon baby who has the power to destroy the universe but is raised by a peaceful professor to battle evil.

Ron Perlman is perfectly cast as the cat-fancying, cigar-smoking title character, and veteran John Hurt as his surrogate father ably matches him. Selma Blair also stars as the fire-starter Hellboy loves.

The two-disc special edition should please fans of the Dark Horse comic book and the film. The first DVD includes savvy commentary from the larger-than-life Del Toro and the shy Mignola, as well as an amusing audio track from stars Perlman, Blair, Rupert Evans and Jeffrey Tambor.

One can also access eight new DVD “Hellboy” comics by Mignola and Del Toro and four classic cartoons Hellboy himself recommends, including three “Gerald McBoing Boing” shorts and the truly creepy “Tell-Tale Heart” read by James Mason.

The second disc includes 27 short documentaries on the making of the film and three deleted scenes with commentary.

*

The Devil’s Backbone

Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega

Columbia TriStar. $20

Del Toro also directed this atmospheric, chilling 2001 Spanish-language horror film set during the Spanish Civil War. A young orphan is abandoned at an isolated orphanage that is haunted by the ghost of a boy who was murdered at the facility. It’s best to watch with the lights on.

This special edition includes a Spanish-language making-of documentary, conceptual art galleries, excerpts from his notebook, deleted scenes and English-language commentary from Del Toro.

*

Greendale

Sanctuary, $25

Rocker Neil Young, using the pseudonym of Bernard Sharkey, directed this film based on his CD of the same name.

The movie, which was also photographed by Young, tells the fictional story of the Greens, a multigenerational family in a small community in Northern California composed of anti-

war and environmental activists. The cast features Young’s friends, family and co-workers. There is no traditional dialogue; the actors lip-sync to his songs.

Extras include a documentary, lyrics to the songs, thumbnail sketches of the characters, a Green family tree and a live performance from Young’s stage version of “Greendale.”