The film debut of Joel and Ethan Coen's Blood Simple, one of the great early modern independent films, makes its way to DVD, and the overall results are rather surprising. Most impressive is the image quality. A new anamorphic transfer, framed at the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is used, and it looks quite good, far better than would be expected from such a low-budget film. At times the picture seems a little soft, but it is far from distracting. Darker scenes, which there are plenty, come across wonderfully with just the right contrast. The audio, on the other hand, a four-channel surround track, is not quite as impressive. Sound is reproduced through the main front speaker and lacks any punch. Use of the surround speakers is so limited as to be non-existent. As for extra material, there isn't much. Other than some text production notes and cast and crew information, there is a theatrical trailer and a bonus trailer for the direct-to-video title Boogeymen. Also available is an audio commentary track. Some may be delighted with it while others will most likely be disappointed. The reason? The commentary is not a legitimate track, but more of a mock-commentary given by a Kenneth Loring of Forever Young Films. Who "Loring" is remains a real mystery and it would be no surprise if it was actually one of the Coen brothers joking around. Regardless, it's very funny with some comments that are completely off the wall, and with a film as good as this, anything is welcome.