By Peter Covino

Lifestyles Editor

Before zombies and vampires took over our televisions and movie theaters in the 21st century, there were other threats to man and womankind.

And maybe the worst of them was the insect.

Giant insects have been a problem in Brooklyn and South Florida even before Raid was invented.

But the seriously disturbing insects of movieland undoubtedly got their start in Them!, the classic film about giant ants on the rampage in the desert of the American Southwest.

The lowly insect really took a star  turn more recently in Guillermo Del Toro’s Mimic (1997). The horror film just made its Blu-ray debut (LionsGate) as part of 3-film set with the two other Mimic films. This also is the director’s cut with additional minutes not found on the original theatrical release.

Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) is great at creating spooky locales in dark places and there certainly is a lot of that in this film starring Mia Sorvino and Josh Brolin.

Sorvino plays entomologist Susan Tyler who saves the day after a disease carried by common cockroaches is killing children in Manhattan. She creates a mutant breed that secretes a fluid that kills off those bad cockroaches. Yes, the children are saved.

If Susan had only asked any sci-fi fan, we would have told her: there have to be side effects. There are always side effects.

Three years later, the cockroach she introduced has involved into a large, make that very large roach, that can mimic human form. So that’s what happened to all those missing people in the New York City subway system.

And the race is on for Susan to stop the giant mutant roaches before they move beyond the subway system and take over the world

There is lots of creepy fun, particularly in the underground tunnels. Think Alien.

The Blu-ray also contains  so nice bonuses including an audio commentary with Del Toro (who also co-wrote); and the featurettes A Leap in Evolution — The Creatures of Mimic; Back in the Tunnels — Shooting Mimic; deleted scenes; gag reel and more.

For Mimic fans, the story continues with Mimic 2 and Mimic 3: Sentinel.

Seldom are sequels better, but the third film definitely has an interesting premise. Residents of an apartment complex disappear under the watchful eye of one of the residents confined to his home. He spends his days taking photos of his neighbors from a window making it all very Hitchcock/Rear Window-like.

Mimic 2 is more predictable. It is four years after the first film and some of those giant insects from Mimic survived and are once again threatening humankind.

Both films include a few bonus features.

Pillow Talk

The only insects you might find in Pillow Talk might be the occasional bedbug, but one shriek from Doris Day and those bugs would go running for the nearest window.

Pillow Talk, the first of the three Rock Hudson/Doris Day films has been released in various forms over the years but this one is special: It’s the 50th anniversary Blu-ray edition of this romantic comedy.

It is also another one of  those Universal 100th anniversary releases.

Doris hates Rock in this one. She is an interior decorator. He is a songwriter and womanizer. And they share a partyline. (Editor’s note: Partylines are probably nonexistent in 2012, but back in the 1950s, phone lines were frequently shared by one or more individuals).

Every time Doris tries to use her phone, there is Rock on the other end, serenading yet another woman.

Rock hates Doris too, until he finds out what the other end of his partyline looks like, and then he starts dating her disguised as a Texan visiting the Big Apple.

It is lots of harmless fun, made quite magical via the chemistry of Hudson and Day with some help from Tony Randall.

In addition to a really nicely restored print, the Blu-ray has lots of bonuses sure to please fans.

Start with the digital copy of the film. And then there are many bonus features such as the featurettes Back in Bed with Pillow Talk; Chemistry 101: The Film Duo of Doris Day and Rock Hudson; feature commentary with film historians; as well as three 100th anniversary of Universal Studios features.

The Big C

Television doesn’t get much better than Showtime’s The Big C, currently in its third season on Showtime.

You can catch up on all the poignant comedy and drama in season two just released from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Laura Linney is one of those few actresses who can make setting a dining room table look interesting, but she excels here in her role of Cathy Jamison, a housewife who has been diagnosed with stage four melanoma. It isn’t so much that she is on some kind of “bucket list” mission, but she certainly is out to live life to its fullest. Linney has already won a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal.

Husband Paul has problems of his own, including a cocaine addiction. Oliver Platt  is the other major reason to watch the show.

Guest stars during season two include Alan Alda of M*A*S*H fame and Cynthia Nixon.

The three-disc set contains all ten episodes from the second season.

Car 54

What’s the funniest TV sitcom ever?

Lucy? Seinfeld? The Honeymooners?

One of the best is also one of the most seriously overlooked, the early 1960s classic Car 54, Where are You?

It ran for only two seasons, but officers Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Muldoon (Fred Gwynne) simply define what great sitcoms were all about.

Absolutely ridiculous is the only way to describe the goings on at the 53rd precinct in the Bronx.

Toody was the somewhat mentally slow, loud-talker of the two, and everything he was involved in, would inevitably, be screwed-up.

This is season two of the Nat Hiken series (of Sgt. Bilko fame) and there are several great episodes in the 30 episode four-disc set.

Typical of the way the series operates is “The Biggest Day of the Year.” Toody comes into the precinct making the announcement of what an important day it is. Word is passed around the precinct from cop to sergeant to captain on how today is important, and soon panic ensues.

Everyone is going to the banquet later that night that marks the occasion, the commissioner will be there and the mayor has issued a proclamation. But no one will admit that they have no idea what is important about the day, but they are all going to a banquet that doesn’t exist, and everyone is following everybody else to get there.

The show is helped immensely by its ensemble cast, one of the best early ensembles ever. Along with Ross and Gwynne, also prominently featured are Al Lewis (who starred with Gwynne on The Munsters) as Officer Leo Schnauser, Beatrice Pons as Lucille, Toody’s wife and Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Schnauser.

Guest stars for season two include Molly Picon, Larry Storch, Mitch Miller, Jack Guilford, Shari Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Rocky Graziano.

There isn’t much in the way of bonus features, but a ten-minute standup comedy routine by Ross is a nice, welcome touch.

Note: If you don’t buy the DVD, check out Me-TV on cable and local broadcast early Sunday morning. The channel usually shows two episodes starting at 2 a.m.