A dark and melancholy mystery-thriller that unfortunately failed to reach a wide audience during its all-too-brief theatrical release, director Brad Anderson's The Machinist should find solid life on home video thanks in part to this impressive release from Paramount Home Video. Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, cinematographer Xavi Gim~nez's moody, nearly monochromatic compositions make for a truly unsettling viewing experience thanks to a beautiful transfer that boasts dark-as-night blacks and shows no evidence of digital artifacting. The sound design of The Machinist is a key component of the film's ability to get under the viewer's skin, and the English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix offers impressive surround effects throughout. An English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround mix and English subtitles are also available. In terms of bonus materials, Anderson's easygoing commentary offers notable insight into the dark journey of haunted protagonist Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) while also playing up the film's dark humor. Though frequent references to Alfred Hitchcock get somewhat tiresome after a seemingly endless barrage of "H-bombs" are dropped by the hero-worshipping director, Anderson also offers insight into some of the more subtle influences on the film (including Dostoyevsky and German expressionism). Genre specialist Nacho Cerd~'s impressive featurette "The Machinist: Breaking the Rules" does indeed break the rules of typical, by-the-numbers making-of segments by offering considerable insight into the production and presenting the material in a refreshingly artistic light, and a collection of deleted and alternate scenes will no doubt prove intriguing to fans of the film despite their ultimate disposability. A theatrical trailer rounds out the special features, making this release a true winner for fans of The Machinist and an ideal introduction to the winning sleeper for the uninitiated.