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Anchor Bay / 85 Minutes / 1982 / Unrated / Street Date: August 31, 2010
What can be said about Sam Raimi’s original cult classic that hasn’t already been said? It deserves a place on every film fanatic’s shelf. In the case of some who subscribe to the Raimi/Campbell church it’s had many places on the shelf – myself included. I’ve owned The Evil Dead I don’t know how many times. I believe I’ve owned it twice on VHS, three times on DVD, and now it’s gained a place with the Blu-rays.
It’s one of those films that has many imitators, but few equals. Sam Raimi was a young man with an obvious talent for filmmaking and with his charismatic friend Bruce he had a great leading man (whose acting talent would develop through the film). Along with Rob Tapert some good supporting cast and an enthusiastic crew they came up with a film that is all at once quaint, creative, funny, horrific, disturbing and quite charming.
My big question when seeing that it was going to arrive on blu-ray was about the aspect ratio. While most films have a widescreen and a 1.33:1 pan & scan, The Evil Dead is one of those rarities where it has the original 1.33:1 and a widescreen. In this case the widescreen IS the pan & scan version. I own the Special Collector’s Edition that has the original 1.33 and I also own The Book of the Dead version which is the edited widescreen version. My worry was that the Blu-ray would only have the widescreen version. Well I’m happy to announce that we have our choice of the original 1.33 version or the “enhanced 1.85:1 version.” Personally I prefer to see the film as it was actually shot, but for those who want to watch everything in widescreen these days that’s on here too.
The biggest reason to get this Blu-ray though is the new bonus features. Read about them ahead…
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