Rating: 
Summary: More Bruce, please!
Review: I know everyone reading this is probably already familiar with the movie, so I won't go into the movie here - just comment on the extras & commentary tracks.
I saw Bruce Campbell when he spoke at Mount Holyoke College on his book tour, and that tour included a screening of his documentary 'Fanalysis', which is included here. I loved 'Fanalysis' (and I think I may have recognised some of the folks involved in it...), it reminded me so vividly of my time on the SF/Fantasy convention circuit. Well worth seeing.
The outtakes are pretty straightforward, nothing really funny or hugely gross in comparison with the movie per se (aside from some really funny scenes in which the effects just weren't working at all).
Trailers and TV spots are also pretty straightforward.
'Discovering Evil Dead' is ok, I guess, but not quite as interesting as I'd hoped.
The commentary tracks, though, are where this one shines - specifically Bruce's solo commentary track. The commentary track from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert is a little annoying - they're poorly miked, or not aware enough of the mikes, and the track is overflowing with distracting and somewhat gross noises - lips smacking, small grunting and swallowing noises, and what sounds like sucking on hard candy, among other weird sounds, and they keep talking about the financial side of the movie, 'was this your idea or mine?', and how Bruce is probably complaining about this or that on his track, and they're just, frankly, somewhat boring and kinda glah.
Bruce's commentary track, on the other hand, glows. Bruce is really *real* on the track - informative, witty, somewhat self-deprecating - overall, possibly my favourite part of the DVD.
I keep reading other reviews, many of which mention 'Within the Woods' being on this disc - if it's there, I can't find it (a shame, cos I'd love to see it). All the same, in conjunction with my newly-bought Official Bootleg Edition of 'Army of Darkness', I foresee a lot of great late-night viewing in my future...
Rating: 
Summary: "Within The Woods-Less"
Review: I Bought the DVD From Sam Goodies, Everything was great.. Loved the "Book Of The Dead" And all, But the REAL Reason i bought the DVD Was for "Within The Woods", Wich once i got home... Wasn't on the DVD, Wich REALLY Made me Dissapointed.. I've seen Thousands of Reviews, About Within The Woods being on this DVD, I Dont know Who got rid of it, But i loved the Necromocon case, And the pages we're done good by Tom Sullivan, THX Just Messed up big time.. The Picture was Awsome and all, But what i wanted the DVD for wasn't there..
Thanks,
-Ryan
Rating: 
Summary: the way it should be
Review: This is the seminal movie in demonic possession. While films such as the excorcist survive on nothing more than overated reputation, evil dead rises to the top as a film that still delivers the goods today. I won't waste time on the story itself because more than likely, if your thinking of buying this DVD, you've seen the movie. This book of the dead edition is how the film should have been released in the first place. In an undying quest for profits however, all films must be released twice, an original followed by a "special edition". This is a blatent cash grab but i digress. This Version is outstanding. The film looks amazing (I have an old VHS copy and the difference in quality is unbelievable) and sounds even better. What can be better than the sound of rotting flesh splattering on the ground in all its fetid glory? This remastering really brings out all the little details like that. As well, there is an abundance of special features that actually add to the experience. Not just the usual deleted scenes. Folks..theres a reason in these things that scenes were deleted! Here, there is an insightful commentary by Bruce Campbell that actually is worth listening to! Theres also a cool featurette on Fanatacism. The other featurette on the roots of evil dead is dull but has some cool stills. Then there is the obligatory alternate takes and deleted scenes. However, these weren't added as some kind of hidden gem. The 'cuts' are obviously horrible and are quite funny to watch.One of them has a scene where the woman attacked by the tree branch is walking around the room growling and the voice effects weren't added in yet. Very funny. worth the purchase. wish they would have released it this way the first time.
Rating:
Summary: The Evil Dead
Review: If you`ve never seen a movie that scared you so bad that you won`t even stay alone in a lighted room, or even worse a dark room, you`ve never seen The Evil Dead. The film opens with five collage students driving to an old cabin deeb in the woods. The night they get there they find an old book and a recorder with something on it. They listen to the recording and a lot of freaky stuff starts to happen. And one by one the students start to turn into zombies. Bruce Cambell leads the cast as Ash. Overall this is one of the best horror films i have ever seen. The fact that they say about fifty words in the whole movie does not bother me. Followed by a much much lesser sequal.
Rating:
Summary: ULTIATE EDITION!
Review: It seems as though there have been "ultimate edition" of DVDs that are presented after several other previous DVD releases of a movie seem favored by the public. It seems this DVD is such a case. After the interest that dead heads showed in the previous DVDs there is now an ULTIMATE edition. The casing is awesome and a definate stand out in ANY collection. The transfer is excellent and there are some interesting "easter eggs" on this as well. This Evil Dead edition is packed with extra features and has ACTUAL PAGES FROM TEH BOOK OF THE DEAD! Well worth the extra scratch if you can come up with it!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Horror Movies.
Review: This low-budget horror movie did not only led careers for creator Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell, but became one of the "mote original features of the year" as Stephen King quoted it. It was started in 1979 (named as BOOK OF THE DEAD), shot in 16mm in Tennessee, and was done by 1982. The money came from Detroit-area dentits and doctors (who got a 350 percent return on there investment) and Joel Coen was the assistant editor. The camerawork "shakycam" has been imitated a lot (especially in Hong Kong movies). The film's plot is a lot like EQUINOX (1967), but with lots of pointless and gore in some scenes, but all in all this is a cool movie with a story...
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely poor!!!
Review: The DVD comes in a neat package but the movie really isn't that good. It's the classic blood horror movie with little theme, beyond the zombies and the poor characters. I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Great but incomplete
Review: Don't get me wrong -- I'm a total Evil Deadhed all the way through. I was just disappointed in the features that should have been a bang-zoom kind of explosion that ended up being some type of Roman candles. Okay, but not what I was expecting.First the good -- the cover is excellent. Kind of this squishy latex foam (stinky) cover to simulate human skin -- it's also chock full of Tom Sullivan's drawing. Artistically, pretty cool but not great to stack with your DVDs. FANanalysis, the documentary by Bruce Campbell was great. Bruce takes Evil DeadHeads behind the scenes at conventions and offers an intimate portrayal of himself interacting. Although it was very short (23 minutes) I thoroughly enjoyed watching this little gem of an addition to this DVD. A must-see. The sound and picture of the Evil Dead is outstanding. Considering this was a cheaply made film, MAN did they clean everything up and clarify all the details of the movie. Probably the best I've seen. Plus, there are some Easter Eggs in this DVD. At main menu:
Egg 1: go to EXTRAS highlight "trailer" > arrow left that should highlight a fish, click it (this will play a screen test for the animation of one of the zombies) Egg 2: at EXTRAS click "more" highlight "fanalysis" > arrow left
that will highlight a skull, click it (this features a short film of a discussion of Evil Dead. Robert Tapert and the actresses who play Linda and Shelly discuss a little about what went on during the filming. Robert briefly mentions his wife Also talks a bit about their next film collaboration that could be the 4th Evil Dead) Now, the not-so-great. Well, unfortunately, the prequel "Within the Woods" was apparently pulled by some yahoo guy at the last minute at Columbia. Why, we don't know but I know a number of fans were really ticked about this. Don't despair! Surf the web and you'll find ways of getting a bootleg --albeit a crappy copy, but it's out there. And you have GOT to see it -- you will see all the inspiration for Evil Dead including the parts that ended up transferring over to the next two flicks. The commentary was cut into two sections: Bruce by himself and Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi on the other. If you have the Evil Dead 2 special edition, you'd appreciate the commentary for the way they kid each other. Bruce is great with technical details but I think they should have had him comment with Sam and Rob. Sam has a tendency to get into his flicks and go quiet so there were long pauses despite the fact Rob was with him. They should have had the three of them together for one commentary as it is too much fun listening to them all kid each other and laugh about how they pulled Evil Dead off. At one point, Rob questions why they separated them for the commentaries (which tells me it wasn't their idea) and I missed their friendly bantering. The outtakes section was interesting, but boring. I got the impression it was them messing up and laughing, but alas, it was merely unused takes and footage. Not bad, but probably interesting for die-hard fans only. Overall, it's a good DVD, but incomplete. I get the impression that "Within the Woods" is thought of by the studios as a money-maker which might be why they pulled it at the last second. If this is apparent, then hopefully the hesitant studios will realize that the Dead series is a money maker and offer the funds for a new flick. Good for die-hard fans, decent collectable.
Rating:
Summary: Great Package - Beware the DVD
Review: If you're a fan then this is worth buying just for the packaging. The DVD itself is pretty good, too. However, the original release of "Evil Dead" was not widescreen but full frame, so this is a rare instance where the 1.33:1 aspect ratio is the correct version and not the widescreen version presented here. So, if you want to see the movie as it was originally shown, the elite version is the way to go, but if you want packaging that rocks - get this.
Rating:
Summary: Great Package for a GREAT MOVIE
Review: Maybe this movie is not what people usually watch, but even if you don't watch movies like this you should give this one a chance. Watching this movie is a great experience if you like Cinema, Raimi gave us one of the most experimental camera work ever and it gave the movie it's own look, that just Raimi have been able to do in his other movies again.
The Book is great for all fans out there, it has some blank pages so you can get your autographs there. And the Extra stuff is Great, but for a movie like this one no matter what they put in the DVD it's never enough, because you will always want more from Ash and the Evil Dead.
|
