Blu-ray Review: The Evil Dead
The Evil Dead (Blu-ray Review)
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Review by Marc Patterson
Let’s start this review off with a little cinematic confessional. Ahem… *clears throat*
I’ve never been able to sit straight through a viewing of The Evil Dead in just one shot. It’s true. I’ve always had to pause it, get up, and take a break from the maniacal craziness on screen. I’m not talking about having to go for a walk or anything. More like hit the fridge for a fresh beer, take a piss, clear the head a little bit and dive back in. Sure, go ahead call me a wuss. It’s okay. I’ve been called far worse. For me there’s a certain psychological aesthetic to The Evil Dead that is completely unnerving and unsettling. Yeah, I can sit through a bloodbath like Pieces no problem, but the combination of non-stop demonic attack, the crazy camera work, topped off with the full frontal attack of audio madness makes The Evil Dead an intense experience from top to bottom. Plus, I’ve made a point never to watch it more than once a year. I never want to lose that lovin’ feelin’.
When I sat down to watch the Blu-ray it was the first time I was able to watch The Evil Dead beginning to end without interruption. This didn’t sit well with me. Maybe it was a more critical eye, honed from too much time spent in the hack n’ slash genre. Perhaps the Blu-ray was too pristine for this grisly gore-fest. Maybe I had simply seen it one too many times to be affected anymore. I’m not sure what caused it, but I was a little sad to see that sense of fear dissipate. I was bothered that I wasn’t slightly unnerved. The Evil Dead was one of the last bastions of true horror in my life. It has been one of the most pure horror films in my collection and a constant source of inspiration. I mean, everyone knows by now my avid love of the outdoors and backwoods horror, yeah? This is where it started!
But let’s talk about the Blu-ray shall we? Since this is NOT a review of the film proper I’m not going to talk about Bruce Campbell’s ingenuity or Sam Raimi’s brilliance. No sense preaching to the choir. We’re just going to talk about what makes this edition so damned spectacular that you HAVE to go out and buy it. But again – even that is preaching to the choir just a tad bit.
Packaging wise, this is tip top. The best and most complete the film has seen to date. There are two discs packed with extras, and many of the extras are new, including new commentary tracks that any fan will want to sit through. To the feature itself, this is the place to start.
While I love how beautiful this film looked and sounded, I’m not sure I’m opting for this cleaned up version over my battered VHS copy, or even my DVD copy. Watching the “lesser quality” versions gave the visceral experience of the film room to take hold. Here, in glorious high definition, the gags seem too obvious. The stop-motion animation of the finale, muddled by the inadequacies of VHS format is completely passable, even enjoyable. In Blu? Horrible. Horrible to the point it makes me wonder what I ever saw in the film. So, yeah – I’m going to go against the popular trend and say that I don’t particularly care for the treatment of the film. It’s clearly a personal preference, but I’ll gladly stick to my older copies for any future screenings.
But in terms of sheer extras and added features? This edition is really worth the cost. Disc two starts with One by One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead, a nearly one hour long feature where cast and crew tell us about their experiences working on the film, inter-cut with footage from the film to augment the discussion taking place. Filmmakers such as Edgar Wright and Eli Roth join the conversation in speaking to the impact the film has had on them and their careers as genre filmmakers. It’s a fascinating look at the film from a perspective rarely seen all in one snapshot. It’s well documented that making the original film wasn’t all fun and games, but this feature really puts a lot of that into perspective.
Treasures from the Cutting Room Floor couldn’t be more aptly titled. If this doesn’t say all, then I don’t know what will. This is mostly all silent footage shot that never made it into the feature. If you think you’re in for a few short clips think again. There’s nearly one hour of cut footage to reel through. It gets a bit monotonous, but fans will certainly enjoy it.
The Ladies of The Evil Dead Meet Bruce Campbell is a 30 minute panel discussion with Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, and Sarah York, as they chat with Bruce Campbell about making the film. If you’re watching all of these in order listed this begins to get repetitive, but on its own is a fairly interesting look into making the film. Naturally Bruce Campbell dominates the conversation, with Ellen Sandweiss coming in right behind. I’m not sure anyone is complaining, though it would have been nice to hear more from Betsy Baker and Sarah York, because you know the two of them have some interesting stories to tell. Alas, they were relegated to color commentary only.
Discovering the Evil Dead is a 13 minute featurette made by Blue Underground that is again aptly titled, as it goes into the history of getting The Evil Dead discovered and distributed. This is twist of irony as Blue Underground has been in the habit of buying Anchor Bay’s older films and serving them up as re-issues under their label. Here the tables reverse where extras manufactured for a Blue Underground release kick back to Anchor Bay. Woah… I just totally geeked out on you there. Sorry.
Added features include a bunch of shorter bits such as Missing Pages from the Book of the Dead, Makeup Test, At the Drive-In, and a still gallery.
Simply put – there should be no question – this is the “must purchase” Blu-ray of the year. If anything I’ve said above gives you doubt to that then clearly you’re no horror fan and you can properly up and piss off.
