Horror, poetry, TV, and drama - isn't DVD grand? Watchers of the home video market will note that it's an awfully light week at the store with one awful horror movie - One Missed Call - and one instant classic of the genre - The Orphanage - stealing most of the headlines of the week. Outside of those two ends of the horror spectrum, New Release shelves at the DVD store will be stocked with copies of Cloverfield, Charlie Wilson's War, and The Savages. All five of those "major" releases are bound to have some fans, but what about people looking for a little more variety? That's where Play All comes in. We've got a foreign horror movie that has nothing to do with Guillermo Del Toro, a TV show like no other on the air, a classic comedy series, and a drama just as effective as Charlie or Savages and arguably more so that didn't get nearly the attention. When you've shaken off the nausea created by Cloverfield, hit Play All.

Black House
Studio: Genius Products
Starring: Hwang Jung-Min, Yu Sun, Kang Shin-Il, and Kim Seo-Hyung
Features: "The Truth About Psychopaths," "The Secret of the Black House," and Deleted Scenes

With Tartan Asia Extreme reportedly refinancing and coming back from the brink of extinction (yea!), Genius Products has been picking up the slack when it comes to Asian horror movies you've never heard of before you spot them on the New Releases shelf. This week's entry is Black House, a film that comes with the always eye-catching "Unrated!" tag that horror fans love and a bloody hand holding a bloodier knife on the front cover. It's attention-grabbing. When you get past the cover design, horror fans will find a 2007 South Korean film directed by Shin Terra and based on a Japanese novel called Kuroi le. The film is about a strange call that leads an insurance investigator to a house of horror. "Inside the walls...beneath the floors...underneath the stairs...lies unspeakable horror." Sounds like where I lived in college. Buckets of blood in Black House prove that the Korean film market is still the one to watch when it comes to Asian horror. Fans of the genre should check it out before Hollywood ruins it with a remake. You know they will.

Def Poetry Jam: Season Six
Studio: HBO
Starring: Mos Def, George Clinton, DMX, Nelly Furtado, Carole King, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott
Features: None

There has always been poetry in the best of rap music, so it was no surprise at all to me when Russell Simmons segued from rap and comedy into spoken word with Def Poetry Jam, a consistent series in the modern history of HBO. In a world where poetry slams are becoming as common as open mic nights or comedy clubs, Simmons tapped into the trend and created an often riveting series hosted by the great Mos Def. HBO debuted the show in 2002 and its still running and remains one of the network's more interesting programs. The season arriving on DVD this week includes six episodes and poetry from such a diverse range of people as DMX, Nelly Furtado, and Carole King. The master of funk, George Clinton, even stops by, proving that Def Poetry Jam still has as much life in it as it ever did. You get the feeling that the show will be on as long as Mos and Russell feel like doing it. Hopefully, they won't end this Jam any time soon.

Laverne & Shirley: Season Four
Studio: Paramount
Starring: Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Michael McKean, and David L. Lander
Features: None

Quick - What was the number one show of 1978-1979? Hint - It was one of the few hit shows set Milwaukee and featured a character named Squiggy. Of course, the answer is Laverne & Shirley, a show that young viewers may think was just moderately popular but, in fact, was one of the biggest hits of its era. Running for eight years on ABC, Laverne & Shirley was a massive hit for at least its first four seasons and the fourth trip around the brewery block hits DVD this week. After this season, ABC moved the series and ratings plummeted, so this edition marks the last time that Laverne De Fazio and Shirley Feeney were truly on top of the world. There really was no stopping them then. Laverne & Shirley has become such a part of the fabric of classic television that it's been referenced in everything from Friends to Wayne's World to South Park. In the same way that you need to see a few classic movies to really understand why modern ones work, you really should check out classic TV shows like Laverne & Shirley just to see how many of your favorite current hits were influenced by it. Why not start with the season that ranked higher than any other the year it was on the tube?

Starting Out in the Evening
Studio: Lionsgate
Starring: Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, and Lili Taylor
Features: Director's Commentary, TV Spot, and Theatrical Trailer

One of the best and most unheralded performances of 2007 came courtesy of Frank Langella in Andrew Wagner's Starting Out in the Evening, a good drama about an aging author and his relationship with a young admirer and a sometimes-troubled daughter that fans of realistic performances really should check out on DVD. Evening is far from a perfect film but Langella gives one of those spectacular performances where you don't really believe you're watching acting as much as you are someone inhabiting another man's shoes. As we wrote in our theatrical review last year, "Langella alone should make Starting Out in the Evening an arthouse holiday season hit, but it's unlikely to break through despite his award-worthy work. Like Leonard Schiller, the author forgotten by the masses who once adored him, Langella's work has the potential to be ignored. Don't let it be." You did "let it be" and Langella missed out on the adoration he should have gotten during awards season. Make up for it on DVD.