Evil Dead [Blu-ray]

THE EVIL DEAD Limited Edition Blu-ray

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Year: 1981

Rated: Unrated

Film Length: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (1.85:1) and (1.33:1)

Audio: English Dolby True HD 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Release Date: August 31, 2010

The Movie

The Evil Dead is the story of a group of young people who are terrorized by zombies at a remote cabin and must battle for their survival. Bruce Campbell (Burn Notice, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.) originated the role of "Ash" in this film, a role he would go on to play in 2 sequels to this film. Much of The Evil Dead was filmed on location at a remote cabin in Tennessee, with the remainder filmed in the principals’ home state of Michigan.

The Evil Dead is arguably a good film, not a great film, but it succeeds in entertaining the viewer and transcends its shoestring budgetary limitations. Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) was an unknown film director in the late 70s and early 80s, and he got together with several high school pals to shoot a low budget horror movie. Raimi’s high school pals on this project included Bruce Campbell, then an unknown actor, and Rob Tapert, now a successful film and television producer (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Hercules, Xena). Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell acted as executive producers of The Evil Dead and the surprisingly high quality of the final product established their respective careers.

As legend has it, following a difficult location shoot in Tennessee, the young producers found themselves out of money with only about half of the footage necessary for the completed film. They returned to Michigan and proceeded to cobble together additional funds from investors, including many friends and family. They proceeded to complete photography in Michigan and began editing the footage into the final film. Raimi was assisted in editing The Evil Dead by Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country for Old Men). Once they started shopping the film around to distributors, it did not take long for the distribution rights to be sold, given the unusual high quality of this 16mm production. The Evil Dead was blown up to 35mm film for theatrical exhibition, and the rest is history. The Evil Dead quickly developed a cult following during its theatrical exhibition, and this increased even more as it became very successful on home video during the 1980s, which in turn led to 2 sequels by the original producers (Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness). Steven King was a fan of this film and his glowing endorsement was used to promote the film successfully in its advertising materials.

Video

The movie is in 1080p high definition in either a 1.85:1 or 1.33:1 aspect ratio, according to preference. The reason that a 1.33:1 aspect version is included is that this is actually the original aspect ratio. The Evil Dead was filmed on 16mm film which was later blown up to 35mm for theatrical exhibition. The original aspect ratio on 16mm film was 1.33:1 and this version was cropped to created the 1.85:1 version seen in theaters. Anchor Bay deserves credit for including both versions, under the supervision of director Raimi, rather than just giving us one version or the other.

The picture quality is surprisingly good when you consider that The Evil Dead was filmed on 16mm stock. Director Raimi apparently supervised the transfer of both versions on this Blu-ray edition, and the result is a transfer that looks as good as or better than many films that were produced originally on 35mm film stock. There are a few scenes that appear out of focus but most of the film looks excellent. The out of focus scenes are just that, film footage that was shot slightly out of focus, and not a fault in this high definition transfer. Edge enhancement and DNR are seemingly non-existent; if digital enhancement was applied at all, it was done minimally and judiciously. This film will probably never look better than it does in this Blu-ray edition.

Audio

The English Dolby True HD 5.1 tracks do great service to this film. The sound effects are surprisingly immersive given the original release date of this film. This may not be the greatest audio ever on Blu-ray but it serves the film and has no apparent flaws. The film probably never sounded this good in its original theatrical release in the 1980s.

Special Features

On December 5, 2009, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell recorded an all-new commentary that is included as an audio option with the film. Their commentary recorded for previous DVD versions of The Evil Dead has not been ported over to this release.

Also included with this limited edition Blu-ray is a special features DVD including all of the following special features:

One By One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of The Evil Dead (53:43): Featurette on the making of the film with interview comments from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and Eli Roth (Cabin Fever).

The Evil Dead: Treasures From The Cutting Room Floor (59:20): This includes alternate takes and flubbed lines by actors.

The Ladies of The Evil Dead Meet Bruce Campbell (28:53): Bruce and the female cast discuss the film at a convention.

Discovering The Evil Dead (13:05): This featurette recounts how The Evil Dead was discovered by fans in the United Kingdom in context with its legal and cultural significance.

Unconventional (19:08): The cast provide Q & A during the Flashback Weekend Horror Convention on July 30, 2005.

At The Drive-In (12:03): The cast of The Evil Dead appear at a screening in Chicago.

Reunion Panel (31:17): Another Q & A with the cast.

Book of the Dead: The Other Pages (1:57): Extended over the shoulder footage of Ash leafing through the Book of the Dead. This brief snippet reveals many of the pages that were not shown in the final cut.

Makeup Test (1:08): Consists of blood dripping and a head decomposing as part of special effects preparation.

Trailers & TV Spots: Included the theatrical trailer (1:54) and 4 TV spots (all 0:33).

Also included is a photo gallery of promotional artwork and production stills.

Conclusion

The Evil Dead is a surprisingly slick and entertaining survival horror film that transcends its low budget. The video and audio on this Blu-ray edition are excellent, and The Evil Dead has certainly never looked and sounded better than it does on this release. The inclusion of both original aspect and theatrical aspect ratios in high definition is welcome; I hope other studios are watching and follow this trend. The bonus DVD with special features ported over from earlier releases is a nice addition, as is the new commentary provided by Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell. Their commentary from previous releases has not been ported over to this release, so hardcore Dead-ites will not want to discard the previous DVD release. If you enjoy films in the survival horror genre, you could do a lot worse than The Evil Dead Limited Edition Blu-ray. If you are already a fan of the Evil Dead series, then this Blu-ray edition is a must-buy.

Bruce Campbell spoke recently to the Home Theater Forum about his career and the making of The Evil Dead.  The interview may be read here:  http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/303256/bruce-campbell-on-evil-dead-an-exclusive-htf-interview-with-bruce-campbell.