Kino Lorber brings ‘Mimic’ to 4K with Guillermo del Toro’s preferred director’s cut

Master filmmaker Guillermo del Toro dove into the sci-fi horror genre for his first English-language film back in 1997, and it gets a fitting debut in 4K format and presented the way the director had originally intended in Mimic (Kino Lorber, rated R, 1.85:1 aspect ratio, 112 minutes, $59.95).

In the story, a plague killing hundreds of children in New York City caused by its cockroach population has officials call in the deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam), who recruits his girlfriend and entomologist, Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino), to solve the outbreak.

She uses a genetically engineered bug called the “Judas Breed,” a hybrid between a termite and a mantis, that releases secretions causing roaches to starve to death.

Three years later, her meddling with Mother Nature leads to the unintended evolution of an insectoid species in the Big Apple that’s now hunting humans rather than stopping disease.

The cast also includes Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) in one of his first film roles as a sewer treatment worker; Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”) as CDC assistant; and F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”) as Dr. Tyler’s professorial mentor.

Mr. del Toro’s monster film provides much insight into his stylish visual chops playbook. He embraces stark, poorly lit gritty settings to deliver creeps that would serve him well five years later with his twisted take on the vampire genre in “Blade II.”

In this three-disc set, viewers get both the theatrical release and the coveted director’s cut in ultra-high definition and high definition, with Mr. del Toro’s definitive version adding about seven minutes of exposition to the movie.

4K in action: Viewers get a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative with high dynamic range enhancements, all approved by the director.

The unsettling visuals start with a long and stark-white corridor, flanked by hospital beds on either side covered with white sheets hiding sick children, and offer a crisp and stark glimpse into Mr. del Toro’s early flair for horror.

Expect lots of close-ups of creepy crawlers and sticky fluids throughout, presented in sharp clarity, as well as focal points such as a terrified, sweating face barely illuminated with a lighter; beams from a flashlight highlighting an orangish-yellow egg sac; streaks of light cutting through a college classroom; and the effective use of silhouettes in locations such as underground sewer passageways.

Moments to visually savor include watching a dead body pulled through a sewer grate on a glistening rainy night; exploring the underground subway areas with rusted sinks and water leaking from pipes; an abandoned church with religious statues wrapped in plastic; the autopsy of a large insectoid with all the gooey innards on full display; and a creature lumbering along in the shadows of a rain soaked alleyway.

By the way, Ms. Sorvino’s face looks absolutely stunning in 4K, with one standout scene offering a very soft and slightly amber skin tone that eventually has her covered in sweat and dirt, blackening her cheeks and forehead, offset by her red lipstick.

And Marco Beltrami’s musical score, which punctuates every creature kill, every and very jump scare, comes to life through an enveloping DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

Best extras: The three-disc set (two 4K discs and one Blu-ray disc) first includes, in both formats, an all-important and vintage optional commentary track on the director’s cut by Mr. del Toro.

He quickly offers the disclaimer that everything he is about to say is exclusively his opinion to the best of his recollections and some names were changed. He would also occasionally curtail some comments due to potential liability issues.

Mr. del Toro covers the title sequence, his wanting to create creatures based on real physiological characteristics, the cast’s performances, the horrors of science gone wrong, and his process for making the film.

Most interesting, the director explains the crippling interference caused by the producers; their fixation on creating big cockroaches in New York City; the changes made from the theatrical cut; and the myriad of screenplay rewrites.

Mr. del Toro offers an honest discussion of the challenges in making his difficult “imperfect child.”

Next, two guys who drank way too much coffee — horror cinema expert Arne Venema and cinema author Stefan Hammond — offer a brand-new, enthusiastic and joyous dive into the film.

After starting with a detailed dissection by famed opening title sequence artisan Kyle Cooper (he also did “Seven”), the pair calm down and micro focus on the careers of the actors and crew; retread the animosity on the set (reading quotes from those involved); themes of the story; and locations in a film they call “about fear.”

They also offer stories on the kidnapping of Mr. del Toro’s dad as well as Paul Sorvino’s hatred for Harvey Weinstein (stemming from the allegations by his daughter) and mixed in with some critical analysis delivered through many laughs.

Next, all of the extras found in the director’s cut of the film released in high definition by Lionsgate back in 2011 are found on the Blu-ray disc.

An exceptional and brutally frank invasion into the filmmaking mind of Mr. del Toro starts with his one-minute introduction to his cut of the film.

The director continues his thoughts through a 14-minute featurette covering the horror, sci-fi and suspense genres related to “Mimic” while equally touching on his struggles with the studio heads and trying to restore the threads of the original screenplay in his definitive version.

Next, viewers get 10 minutes on creating the Judas Breed species, including building the human-size animatronic puppets of the insects and their various forms, as explained mainly by creature designer Tyrubben Ellingston and Mr. del Toro.

Other extras include a five-minute promotional production featurette with some of the cast and a very young and clean-shaven Mr. del Toro offering his perspective on the themes of the film; six storyboard sequences; and three deleted scenes that feature an alternate ending.