Evil Dead (Widescreen)

 

 

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Evil Dead(released Oct/81)aka Book of the Dead....wow,what legs this film has grown.Made on a very modest budget of well under 1/2 a million dollars,and now said to have grossed somewhere around 30 million(!),this film has taken its gory place amongst its' followers high on their respective film lists.Of course as we all know this was the film Robert Tapert,Sam Raimi(later of Xena & Hercules,and Bruce Campbell all cut their filmic "teeth" on and the rest is history.The film itself deserves no more than about 3 1/2 stars,being a just above-average flick.I am no fan of Anchor bay but they have put together a three -disc set here,worthy of say a Criterion company release;but more on that later.
The plot as we all know by now involves a couple of guys with girlfriends and a sister tagging along,who all decide to head out into the remote woods to a cabin.There they find a tape recorder and a strange notebook(that we all come to know is the Necronomicon).They play the tape recorder and find it has the voice of a professor on it,and as he chants some ancient words it arouses spirits in the woods that slowly but surely attack the cabin and everyone in it.One by one the girls and eventually one of the guys all become Deadites and attack Ash,who remains the only one still standing and possession free throughout the movie.But Ash has his work cut out for him(literally and figuratively)as he has to kill each one of his friends.The spirits make it clear they want EVERYONE("join us") and at the end,as Ash stands alone outside the cabin,the strange entity comes at him in a head long rush as he screams into the lens...fade to black.
I recall the movie originally and it was quite the gorefest when it first debuted.It certainly looks tame now,as have alot of its contemporaries.They had lightened the rating system I recall in the early 70s so things got a little bit more intense,if that's the word,on screen.Filmmakers really started to push the envelope.What was rated "R" back in the 60s is now about PG today;it's amazing(the times they have a-changed!),but I digress.The special effects,as primitive as they were for the late 70s,still stand up pretty good today.Raimi and company made the most of what they had and used every trick in the book to convey that sense of isolation,dread and horror that became the trademark of the Evil Dead series.Bruce Campbell of course as Ash really makes the movie,as he goes from a very wimpish type character and converts into a much stronger one,due to the forces that he is pitted against.It's do or die and Ash doesn't want to die as his friends did.The rest of the cast do an admirable job and while it is no Citizen Kane,Campbell and company manage to pull it all off pretty well.
Technically speaking the film,though shot in 16mm,looks and sounds very good in these prints.It was originally shot full frame so Anchor Bay has gone and included BOTH the full frame AND widescreen prints here for your edification!Each disc has extras and the third is dedicated to nothing but extras.They include:Commentary on the widescreen print by the directors,commentary on the full frame version by Campbell,poster and memorabilia gallery,trailer and TV spots,make up tests,featurettes about the women of the Evil Dead,Campbell and Ted Raimi WITH the women of E/D,discovering E/D,a premiere in 2006 at a Drive In w/ the full cast,the cast at a convention,a reunion panel AND a replica of one of the original theater posters thrown in for good measure.Phew! As I said this is a release worthy of the Criterion company and as such that is why the high marks;as they just put the whole package right over the top.
All in all a highly recommended release for fans of the first of the three of this gorefest series.Though not the best it's still pretty darn good and it still has some scare the pants off of you moments throughout.This edition has both the original full frame print and the specially made widescreen print.And with all the extras,there is NO other version to get the Deadite of your choosing.Join us!

This film is the ultimate horror movie. Great sneaky gore with a good storyline (unlike most horror movies) and not-so-bad acting or directing to be such a low budget film.

Well, as far as the actual movie itself the Elite DVD version is superior. I have both the Book Of The Dead Anchor Bay edition and the Elite version. The Anchor Bay version is very nice just for the extras and packaging (even though it smells like model glue!). However, the Elite version presents the movie in it's original 1:33 full-screen aspect ratio, exactly as it was filmed and originally released. The Anchor Bay versions present The Evil Dead in a new 1:85 Widescreen transfer which actually blocks out some of the movie at the top and bottom of the screen. It looks nice, but was it really necessary?

Anchor Bay is by far my favorite DVD company, but they really goofed up on the Widescreen transfer in The Book Of The Dead...they should have included both the new Widescreen and Original full-screen versions.

Oh well, the Elite version has recently went down in price to where if you are a fan of The Evil Dead you can just buy both editions.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Before Xena, Hercules, Spiderman, and Darkman ... there was the Necronomicon
Working with a very limited budget and shooting over a couple of years, Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Bruce Campbell, and Joel Coen (along with many collaborators) managed to produce... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Omnes

3.0 out of 5 stars works well for what it is
Evil Dead is a pretty decent movie,offering up some genuine chills.
there is one particularly effective scene. Read more

Published on Nov 6 2006 by falcon

5.0 out of 5 stars Very gruesome and gory, but it's really great !
Evil dead it's a very entertaining movie to watch, but it really impacts to you how bloody and how too much gore does it has, anyway you can't miss this frightening movie which... Read more

Published on Jun 25 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but soooooo over-rated...
I watched this movie tonight not expecting to like it. Why did I watch it in the first place then? Becasue I thought maybe I would end up liking it. Well, I did and I didn't. Read more

Published on Jun 18 2004 by Xanadu

5.0 out of 5 stars commentary is worth the price of the DVD alone !
This is the best movie ever made. It was made by a bunch of friends who used to make movies on their old super-8 camera, and thought they could conquer feature films. Read more

Published on Jun 10 2004 by Jessy

4.0 out of 5 stars Gory and Pleasing
Way to much gore for my liking. But on the other hand, I just thought the acting was pretty good. Everything in this movie is shown, it is incredibly graphic, and there is one... Read more

Published on Jun 10 2004 by Spencer

1.0 out of 5 stars Die Hards Only
The Book of the Dead may be the most extras-laden, fleshiest edition of the original, classic Evil Dead film available in the US. Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004 by J. Gualtieri

2.0 out of 5 stars The Edition to Get
There are about 6,000,000 editions of each Evil Dead film to get. The Book of the Dead may be the most tricked out, fleshiest edition of the film, but only diehards should get... Read more

Published on Jun 1 2004 by J. Gualtieri

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best low budget horror film ever made.
Low budget horror does not get much better than "The Evil Dead". In fact no other low budget horror film even looks like "The Evil Dead" thanks to Sam Raimi... Read more

Published on May 27 2004 by OverTheMoon

4.0 out of 5 stars The Evil Dead
I've only seen this movie once, so forgive me if I'm a little skethcy on the details, but I think it's an important edition to any horror collection. Read more

Published on May 27 2004 by Broken_Harlequin

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