Evil Dead 2/Intruder/More Brains! A Return To The Living Dead
(1987/89/2011/Lionsgate Blu-ray/Synapse Blu-ray/MPE DVD)
Picture:
A-/A-/C+ Sound: A-/B/B- Extras: A Films: A-/C+/B+
Evil Dead 2 is Sam Raimi's sequel to the
ultimate experience in grueling terror.
After being brought up to speed through a condensed recap of the events
of 1981's The Evil Dead, the story
kicks off with Ash becoming possessed by the evil force that plagued he and his
friends throughout the first film. Soon
a new set of characters will happen upon the secluded cabin and be forced into
dealing with the demonic presence. The
movie is famous for its balancing act of horror and comedy, approached in a way
that made both aspects work well, when many times in the past one or the other
would typically suffer. It makes for a
fun time, and is my personal favorite of the series.
Much of
the cast and crew from this picture soon went on to make another, less
remembered film together – Intruder,
directed by Scott Spiegel. While its
status as a classic isn't as assured as the Evil Dead films, it does make for an adequate slasher movie, and
has some of the best gore effects of the era thanks to the crew at KNB Effects.
This was the company's first film
credit, though Robert Kurtman, Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger had all worked
on Evil Dead 2 together under Mark
Shostrom.
The
Blu-rays for both of these movies also happen to have some excellent special
features produced by Red Shirt Pictures. Rarely outside of the Criterion Collection is
such attention lavished upon a film, but here we see every facet of the
productions through the recollections of nearly every significant cast and crew
members’ viewpoint, and far more than just a few short minutes worth. Upgraded picture and sound aside, genre fans
would do well to double dip with these discs, just for the special features
alone.
Another
release, More Brains! A Return to the
Living Dead, makes for an excellent companion to The Return of the Living Dead series. While not quite as slickly produced as the
featurettes from Red Shirt Pictures, with a runtime of two hours (plus an
additional two hours of bonus material), you can't say that this documentary is
lacking in content. The first two
sequels are touched upon briefly as well, though the most recent made for TV
installments have been overlooked, and rightly so.
Much of
the bonus content here is just as good as what's been left in the documentary,
with little that could be described as dodgy. Also included is the final interview with Dan
O'Bannon shortly before he passed, and while sad knowing he's now gone, it is
comforting to see the level of respect and admiration he had for fans of his
work.
Picture
and sound on Evil Dead 2 are
excellent, and this is the best the film has looked yet, besting the previous Anchor Bay
Blu-ray. It is presented in anamorphic
widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and with 5.1 DTS-HD lossless surround
sound. Intruder also looks great,
with a 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced aspect ratio. The original soundtrack mix has thankfully
been preserved in 2.0 DTS-HD stereo. More Brains! looks decent for what it
is, having been shot digitally, but isn't the best ever.
Each of
these releases would make an excellent addition to the discriminating horror
collector's library, and I recommend them highly.
For your
reference, here is our coverage of the trilogy on home video to date:
Evil Dead Ultimate Edition 3-DVD U.S. Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6688/The+Evil+Dead+%E2%80%93+Ultimat
Limited
Edition U.S. Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10494/The+Evil+Dead+%E2%80%93+Limite
Evil Dead 2 U.S. DiviMax DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3288/Evil+Dead+2+(Divimax+Edition)
Army Of Darkness: Evil Dead 3
MGM Region 3 NTSC version
vs. Anchor Bay Boomstick Region 1 Edition DVDs
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2112/Army+Of+Darkness+(MGM+R3/NTSC
HD-DVD/DVD
Combo Edition
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4419/Army+Of+Darkness+%E2%80%93+HD
- David Milchick
