Categories
DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Monday 11th October 2010

UK DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

The Exorcist (Warner Bros.): The classic 1973 horror about a young girl (Linda Blair) possessed by an evil spirit and the priests (Jason Miller and Max von Sydow) who try to exorcise the demon, at the request of her distraught mother (Ellen Burstyn).

Directed by William Friedkin, the new Blu-ray features the remastered Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut along with various featurettes and audio commentaries. [Read the full review here]

> The Exorcist at the IMDb
> Buy The Exorcist on Blu-ray from Amazon UK

The Evil Dead (18): Sam Raimi’s 1981 low budget horror debut is about a group of college kids who make an ill-fated trip to a remote mountain cabin where all hell breaks loose.

Controversial its day, the film still has a demented, raw energy and this Blu-ray features plenty of supplementary material and a brand new audio commentary from director Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell and producer Robert Tapert. [Read the full review here]

> The Evil Dead at the IMDb
> Buy The Evil Dead on Blu-ray from Amazon UK

ALSO OUT

30 Days of Night: Dark Days (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Ben 10: Alien Swarm (Warner Home Video) [Blu-ray / with Digital Copy]
Bend It Like Beckham (Lionsgate UK) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Carlito’s Way (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
David Attenborough: Planet Earth – The Complete Series (2 Entertain) [Blu-ray / Special Edition Box Set]
Devil’s Playground (E1 Entertainment UK) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Dollhouse: Complete Seasons 1 and 2 (20th Century Fox Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / Box Set]
Goodnight Mister Tom (ITV DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Hunt to Kill (Anchor Bay Entertainment UK) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Jane Austen Collection (ITV DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Lost in Space (Warner Home Video) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Lost: The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / Special Edition Box Set]
MacGruber (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Monster House (Sony Pictures Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / 3D Edition]
Night of the Demons (Kaleidoscope Home Ent.) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Ong-Bak: 3 (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Rush Hour (Warner Home Video) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Sharpe: Classic Collection (ITV DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Losers (Optimum Home Entertainment) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Rolling Stones: Ladies and Gentlemen – The Rolling Stones (Eagle Rock Entertainment) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute (Fabulous Films) [Blu-ray / Normal]
The Take (ITV DVD) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Ultimate Gangster Collection (Universal Pictures) [Blu-ray / Box Set]
Veer (Eros International) [Blu-ray / Normal]
Wild Target (EV) [Blu-ray / Normal]

> The Best DVD and Blu-rays of 2009
> UK Cinema Releases for Friday 8th October 2010 including Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Categories
DVD & Blu-ray Reviews

Blu-ray: The Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s low budget horror debut The Evil Dead is getting re-released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.

Shot on 16mm in the backwoods of Tennessee for just $350,000, it established the young director and led to a slew of imitators down the years (e.g Cabin Fever) which never matched the original’s energy and style.

The story involves five students on a break from college – Ash (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), and their classmates Scott (Hal Delrich), Shelly (Sarah York) and Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) – who spend the night at a remote mountain cabin.

After discovering a strange looking book and a reel-to-reel tape recorder, the group starts getting possessed by evil spirits, which leads to a frantic and blood-filled evening.

Despite the low budget production values, the energy and pace of the film are striking reminders of Raimi’s early talent as a director, with the wild camera work and clever sound design adding to the atmosphere.

The unsettling mix of genuine scares and black humour is also something many lesser horror directors have since failed to emulate.

After considerable word of mouth (and an endorsement from horror author Stephen King), the film became a major cult hit on home video, especially after it was banned in Britain during the hysteria of the “Video Nasties” campaign.

Compared to the jokier sequels, it remains one for the genuine horror purist, and apart from one notorious scene involving trees, is relatively restrained by today’s standards.

If you are already a fan, you will be wondering if it is worth the upgrade to Blu-ray from DVD.

The answer to that is yes, mainly because of the improved picture and sound, along with some new extras (alongside several others included on previous DVD releases of the film).

The additional features break down like this:

  • 1080P 1.85:1 Widescreen: The original film was shot on 16mm, which means that the picture quality has some limitations despite being remastered for Blu-ray. Despite that the image still holds pretty well throughout.
  • All New Commentary with Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell: This commentary was recorded in 2009 and is a highly imformative discussion of the production as they discuss a wide range of things from casting, make-up, effects and how the film was distributed. It is one of those commentaries that tends not to directly discuss what we are seeing on screen, but for anyone new to the film, it is a great introduction.
  • Picture-in-Picture: Join us! The Undying Legacy of The Evil Dead: This is the visual equivalent of an audio commentary and allows you to watch the film as different directors (including David Slade, Alexandre Aja and Brian Yuzna) comment on the film and specific scenes.
  • One By One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of the Evil Dead (54 mins): An excellent making of documentary from the previous DVD version, featuring interviews with key cast and crew about how the film got made and its influence.
  • Treasures from the Cutting Room Floor (59 mins): A lengthy deleted scenes reel that includes a lot of alternate takes and shots.
  • At the Drive-In (12 mins): A Q & A featuring Tilly, Sandweiss, Baker, DeManincor, Campbell, Ted Raimi and Tom Sullivan from August 2005 at a drive-in presentation in Chicago.
  • Discovering Evil Dead (13 mins): A short featurette which Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell talking about how they discovered The Evil Dead and were instrumental in distributing it in the UK, where they released it simultaneously in cinemas and on video. Bill Warren, author of The Evil Dead Companion, also talks about the background to the release.
  • Make-Up Test (1 min): Short make up test featuring the fake blood and make up of a face melting.

The film still holds up well today and along with being a key horror of the 1980s, also ranks as one the most influential low-budget productions in the history of cinema.

The Evil Dead is out on DVD and Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Monday 11th October

> Buy The Evil Dead on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon UK
> The Evil Dead at the IMDb
> Find out more about Sam Raimi at Wikipedia