{"id":9331,"date":"2010-10-07T21:36:07","date_gmt":"2010-10-07T20:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=9331"},"modified":"2010-10-07T21:44:03","modified_gmt":"2010-10-07T20:44:03","slug":"blu-ray-dvd-the-evil-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2010\/10\/07\/blu-ray-dvd-the-evil-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray: The Evil Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sam Raimi’s low budget horror debut The Evil Dead<\/a><\/strong> is getting re-released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

The unsettling mix of genuine scares and black humour is also something many lesser horror directors have since failed to emulate.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>” campaign.<\/p>\n

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

If you are already a fan, you will be wondering if it is worth the upgrade to Blu-ray from DVD.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

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The additional features break down like this:<\/p>\n