NINE years after Sling Blade was first released comes this special edition DVD, packed with fascinating extras.

Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton) stares out of the window of a mental hospital - his home for years - ignoring the rantings of his maniacal housemates.

To outsiders, he seems like a harmless, docile individual and shows little signs of the crazed murderer he once was.

At 12, Karl slaughtered his mum and her young lover after discovering them in a hugely compromising position.

Twenty-five years later, Karl is deemed cured, released from the security of the mental home and put out in a world he barely knows and has no allies in.

He soon befriends a young boy called Frank, superbly portrayed by Lucas Black, his shop assistant mother Linda and her adorable homosexual boss Vaughan (John Ritter).

All would be rosy in Karl's garden but for the constant presence of Linda's odious boyfriend Doyle (Dwight Yoakam).

The violence and hatred which pours forth from him towards everyone he knows drags Karl back into a world he thought he had escaped 25 years ago. This is a wonderfully moving film, with expertly crafted relationships and acting which is second to none. The two hours and 20 minutes' duration flew by.

HC