In 2021, the world got to see Guillermo del Toro’s (Frankenstein) newest feature, Nightmare Alley, which he co-wrote with Kim Morgan (Seances) and adapted from William Lindsay Gresham’s novel of the same name. While there was some divide on this entry into Guillermo’s filmography, it garnered four Academy Award nominations and is one of his best movies that is unlike any of the other stories and tales he’s told. There are no “creatures,” per say, in Nightmare Alley, and the monster the audience is exposed to and has to contemplate siding with is humanity itself. This could be, arguably, his most humanistic story. There were battles along the way of making this film between COVID-19 halting production, del Toro’s vision being ignored, and, ultimately, del Toro winning the figurative battle. For the first time, the black and white version, the version del Toro wants audiences to see and is extended, is available to own on disk from the wonderful curators at Criterion. We’re going to dive into this expansive four disk digibook edition and break it all down.
Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle in NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
While typically we would dive into the plot and give a little back story to the movie itself, we have done so twice already. So if you’d like to dive into the plot synopsis, please check out the spoiler free theatrical review and/or the initial home release. Let’s break down the slight differences between these two releases instead. First and foremost, there has never been a home release of del Toro’s black and white version of the film which is titled Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light. This four disk (two 4K UHD and two Blu-ray disk) set from Criterion includes Dolby Vision whereas the previous editions only had HDR10, boasting a crisper and cleaner picture this time around. Just looking at a comparison between the two disks and watching five-minute segments here and there, the Dolby Vision does add a new layer of brightness and crispness and allows the film to be more visually impressive than the color versions.
L-R: Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle and Cate Blanchett as Dr. Lilith Ritter in NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
First and foremost, this release includes a digital master of Vision in Darkness and Light, which only screened in theaters previously, and is the director’s cut supervised by del Toro which includes nine minutes of new footage. The film feels more whole and fleshed out with the additional minutes through prolonged moments like the tarot cards introducing the characters and chapters a few times throughout, extended scenes with Zeena (Toni Collete), and some moments in the third act between Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) and Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins). Does the film work without those nine minutes? Yes. And while the tarot cards are a little too spoilery and feel almost out of place, the art on them is gorgeous, so it does add a little bit to the overall ambiance to the film.
L-R: Director/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and actors Ron Perlman, Bradley Cooper, Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, and Mark Povinelli on the set of NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Photo by Kerry Hayes. © 2021 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
Overall, when the film leaves the carnival and becomes about Carlisle’s hustle, it works so much better in this color grading and scheme. The carnival scenes are slightly more muted and don’t work as well at moments, but the scene when Molly Cahill (Rooney Mara) is being “electrocuted” is so much more transcendent being devoid of color. So, it works in twofold but the second and third acts of the movie are significantly better and more visually impressive and engaging without color. This is not the first time that del Toro wanted one of his films to be in black and white and was told no by the studio, but thankfully we have this for Nightmare Alley (the other movie, which is mentioned in the special features, would not have worked in black and white as it needed the vibrant colors).
L-R: Cate Blanchett as Dr. Lilith Ritter and Bradley Cooper as Stanton “Stan” Carlisle in NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Moving forward past the sheer value of being able to see del Toro’s vision completely for the first time (as previously mentioned the theatrical missed the extra nine minutes), the sheer amount of extras here are impeccable, but there is one issue. There are supposed to be new introductions by del Toro on the different versions of the film, but when selecting “Play Movie” on both the 4K and the Blu-ray, there is no option to add this introduction and it is not a separate feature on either of the disks (the features are solely on the Blu-rays), so it appears something *may* be missing. However, past that exclusion, this release features a marvelous and insightful new commentary from del Toro himself where he discusses everything from motifs to inspiration to the genre of noir to the sheer amount of research he had to do to recreate the world for Nightmare Alley. He’s also in three separate interviews: one where he reveals why he wanted the black and white, another where he’s partnered with his co-writer Kim Morgan and they discuss adopting the novel and doing it their way to make it different than the previous adaptation, and an interview between himself and Bradley Cooper where they discuss everything and anything under the sun. Lastly, there’s an almost hour-long documentary that features everything from scouting and design to everyone’s universal love of del Toro. And the booklet, a usual including with Criterion releases, features a new essay by Sarah Weinman, as well as beautiful art by Thomas Ott. Overall, this 4K UHD four-disk first-time ever release of del Toro’s version of Nightmare Alley may be one of the best releases Criterion has ever done.
Nightmare Alley 4K UHD Special Features:
- *NEW* 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- *NEW* 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
- Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features
- *NEW* audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro
- *NEW* documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score
- *NEW* introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film
- *NEW* conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper
- *NEW* conversation between del Toro and co-screenwriter Kim Morgan
- Trailers
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray October 28th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official The Criterion Collection Nightmare Alley webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews
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