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Written by: DarkWadeX

The Evil Dead: The Book of the Dead Limited Edition

DVD; Anchor Bay, 2002





Welcome to NBrid's very first movie/DVD review! In the recent drought of submissions I thought it would be good for me to bring you guys the first of hopefully many movie reviews. Once I got this idea, I wondered what movie should the inaugural review be about. Well last night I checked the site and saw Bone's great review (see Game Over in Articles) of Bruce "God" Campbell's biography "If Chins Could Kill" (which you best get off your ass and go read). This gave me the idea to review the newest in the long line of Evil Dead DVD's, the new Book of the Dead edition of the original Evil Dead.



As a movie fan and as an aspiring filmmaker there are few movies I think demand to be seen. Clerks, Spinal Tap, and the Care Bears movie being a few of them. Yet at the top of that list is no doubt the original Evil Dead. Evil Dead was one of the most visually revolutionary films of the past 25 years and the world's introduction to one of the finest directors of our time, Sam Raimi.



Filmed in Tenessee for a scant 350,000 dollars, the Evil Dead introduced us to Ash, a poor cowardly bastard whose relaxing trip with his friends turned into a bloody (literally) nightmare. Whereas the story tends to be on the corny side that was always Raimi's intention. This movie was never meant to be a psychological thriller. It was meant to send you on a fun, scary, and disgusting ride and it does that better than any other horror film.



To go any further into the story would really detract from the experience, so I'll just get into the DVD. This movie has been released on DVD almost a 100 times now, and unlike many of the other releases this one really gives you a great amount of stuff that hasn't been released before. First off is the new widescreen presentation. Sam personally supervised the recropping of the film to the original widescreen presentation, and I for one really enjoyed it. Many enthusiasts (aka internet assholes) have berated this disc for discluding the fullframe version, yet I really didn't miss it all. The picture and sound quality too are really excellent.



With all that covered, it is time to get into what all the DVD diehards really look forward too: the extras. This disc has just about everything you could want; the trailer, some 20 year old TV spots, a still gallery, and more. It also has about 15 minutes of blown takes and outtakes. Then there is Bruce Campbell's documentary "Fanalysis". Bruce shot this around 2 years ago and has since been showing it at conventions and trying to get it released. After a deal to get it included as an extra DVD packaged with his biography fell through, he was courted to have it included in this DVD. I thought it was a really entertaining and funny look at fans and their obsession with actors and shows. Just to hear Bruce retell some of his more "interesting" fan letters was worth the price of the DVD.



Then on top of the film and the extras you have the best packaging in the history of home releases, a package that is a replica of the Necronomicon from the movie. It is really well made AND has a smell that can get you high!



Well all in all, you better go out and buy this DVD. It is one of the greatest movies of all time with more extras than you really need, and if that isn't enough you get to see a new reason to watch your ass while walking through a forest.



Until next time...