"The Book is bound in Human Flesh and inked in Human Blood. It deals with Demons, Demon resurrection
and those forces which roam the forest in dark bowers of Man's domain." - Professor (Tape Recording)
The Evil Dead
Book of the Dead Edition
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Year of Release - 1982
DVD Release - Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2002
Region 1 - NTSC - Unrated
Running Time - 85:18
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York.
Music: Joe LoDuca
This review is very similar to the Evil Dead - Elite Entertainment review with some differences.
After making the short Horror film Within the Woods in 1978, college buddies Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert were able to raise enough money to finance a feature film they had scripted, called The Book of the Dead. They began filming in the woods near Morristown, Tennessee in 1979. The initial shoot took over three arduous months, but the film wasn't finished for some considerable time after that.
Released in 1982, under the the new title of The Evil Dead, it promised to be "The Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror", and for the most part lived up to it's tagline!
SYNOPSIS
Five college friends, Scotty (Delrich), his girlfriend Shelly (York), Ash (Campbell), his girlfriend Linda (Baker) and Ash's sister, Cheryl (Sandweiss), are going on a camping trip in the Tennessee woods. Scotty has lined up a cabin for them to use.
That night, in the basement of the cabin, Scotty and Ash discover a strange book and a tape recorder. The book is quite odd. It has what appears to be a face on the front cover, with strange markings and pictures on its pages.
They bring the items up with them and decide to play the tape recording. The voice on the tape is that of a Professor and is a record of the examination of the book. It informs the five friends that the book is the Necronomicon aka The Book of the Dead. Bound in skin and etched in human blood, the Necronomicon was used for ancient burial practices and demon resurrection rites. The tape then goes on with a recitation of sample passages.
Unwittingly, Scotty, Ash and the girls, have unleashed the "Evil Dead", who will not rest until they have feasted on their very souls!
VIDEO
The tranfer is in 1.85:1 Matted Widescreen, enhanced for 16:9 TVs. This is stupid for a couple of reasons.
The Evil Dead was origianlly shot on 16mm and was framed in 1.33:1. It was in Fullscreen and was filmed for that aspect. What Anchor Bay have done with this transfer, is that they have slapped on black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. They have given the film a "false" Widescreen aspect, just so they could make it an anamorphic transfer. This is patently stupid and has absolutely no justification, whatsoever.
This means that you miss out on things that happen on screen. I will now give examples comparing scenes from the 1.33:1 Elite DVD to the 1.85:1 Anchor Bay DVD (these may contain SPOILERS, you have been warned):
- At time-code 52:14 after Scotty has been mauled by the Evil Dead and Ash sits him on the couch, you can see his broken Radius (or it could be his Ulna) poking out of the flesh of his forearm. This is as plain as day on the Elite disk, but is completely obscured on the Anchor Bay DVD.
- At time-code 71:42 as Ash steps in the pool of blood, you see a Box of Band-Aids floating in it as a joke. You cannot see this at all in the Anchor Bay DVD, even though Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell all point it out on their Commentaries (which are the same commentaries as are on the Elite DVD).
The transfer itself is clean and has minimal artefacts, but Sam Raimi uses the camera and the screen completely in this film. Obscuring his vision with useless black bars is tantamount to vandalism.
AUDIO
There are 7 Audio tracks available. The first is in Dolby Digital 5.1, the second is in DTS, the third is in Dolby Surround 2.0, the next two are French Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Surround 2.0, the last two are the Audio Commentaries.
The music and dialogue are clear and the sound effects give your surround sound a bit to play with.
EXTRAS
Audio Commentary - Sam Raimi (Director) & Rob Tapert (Producer)
This very amusing and enlightening Commentary is the same one that is on the Elite DVD. Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert make fun of themselves and Bruce Campbell, but are still serious enough to provide a lot of insight into the making of The Evil Dead. The only way to improve this commentary would be to have Bruce Cambell in the same recording booth.
Audio Commentary - Bruce Campbell (Actor)
The same Commentary as on the Elite DVD, this is quite frankly, one of the funniest and most entertaining Commentaries, ever. Full of information and self-depracating humour, Bruce Campbell can do no wrong as he not only makes fun of himself (especially his hair and shoes), but he makes fun of Sam and Rob in return. The only way to improve this commentary would be to have Sam & Rob in the same recording booth.
Oh, by the way, the commentary for Evil Dead II has Sam, Rob & Bruce in the same recording booth...
Theatrical Trailer
This 01:52 trailer is of excellent audio and video quality. It is also in the Matted Widescreen 1.85:1 ratio.
TV Spots
These 4 TV Spots are of varying audio and video quality, are Fullscreen and last for about 30 seconds each.
Poster and Still Gallery
I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Still Galleries. There great to have, but I don't like to spend my time hitting the "Next" button on my remote just to see photos.
I do like, however, alternate Poster and Cover art...
Talent Bios
Brief Biographies and Filmographies for Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. These are always pretty good to have on a DVD.
Documentary - Fanalysis
A Documentary written and featuring Bruce Campbell, about Sci Fi/Horror fans and Fandom, with a running time of 26:02. Basically Trekkies that isn't nasty. It is a very good Documentary in which every fan can relate. It also features the "Web Guru" Harry Knowles giving shit to "geeks" - take a look in the mirror, asshole!
Documentary - Discovering Evil Dead
A very good Documentary with a running time of 13:03. It is about the origins of The Evil Dead - the filming, the theatrical and video distribution, the censorship, the "Video Nasty" contoversy in Britain, and the subsequent re-releases.
Behind the Scenes Footage & Outtakes
An assorted collection of raw footage selected by Sam Raimi for the DVD. With a running time of 18:06, it isn't the most entertaining of features, but it is of interest. It is the same footage that is entitled "Bits & Pieces" on the Elite Edition DVD.
Easter Eggs - SPOILERS
Go to the "Extras" menu and highlight "Trailer". Press Left and the "Evil Fish" will highlight. This will show you a Special Make-Up Effects Test that lasts for 01:06. When they made the fake blood, it was often tested for consistency and colour by running it down a white sheet.
Click on the "More" menu in the "Extras" menu, have "Fanalysis" highlighted and then press Left. The Skull will highlight. This will take you to a small (07:16) featurette about Anchor Bay's 2001 screening of The Evil Dead. It has a panel Q&A with Rob Tapert, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly (Sarah York).
OVERALL
The Evil Dead is one of my favourite Horror films of all time. It is one of the icons of the modern Horror genre. It is a scary, gory, funny and an ultimately satisfying film.
Sam Raimi's dierection is nothing short of astounding. His use of the camera and his innovation of camera techniques, while not revolutionary, are part and parcel to the film's atmosphere and success.
Bruce Cambell hams it up big time in this film. It's not a bad thing, it's the perfect tone for the film. Ash is a bit of a coward and Campbell really cranks up the "pathetic-ness" of the character by general ineptness and blood-curdling screams of fear. Perfect!
This DVD is fantastic in terms of Extras, but the Matted Widescreen transfer is nigh unforgivable. I only give "The Disk" a 3/5 for this very problem. Making a Fullscreen movie matted Widescreen is the same butchery in making a Widescreen movie Pan & Scan, which is why I give the Elite Disk a bigger score. Even though the Anchor Bay edition has great extras and packaging is too damn cool. This edition comes in a Latex reproduction of the Necronomicon. The DVD can also be purchased seperately at a lower price.
If you haven't seen The Evil Dead, then what are you doing sitting at the computer, when you should be watching "The Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror"!
The Film: 
The Disk:
"Dark Lord" Paul Lenkic
"Accept the Lord of Darkness as your saviour!" - The Undertaker
© 2002
