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One must look at the cycle of the horror film to see the significance of The Evil Dead. "70's horror" by my definition started with Night Of the Living Dead in '69, then brought us through the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and The Exorcist, before arguably ending with A Nightmare On Elm Street in '84, the film which paved the way for the rebirth of horror via the postmodernism of Scream. The Evil Dead was a small masterpiece of dementia that capped off this waning horror revival in 1983 by combining kinetic and energetic camerawork by one Mr. Sam Raimi, but tempering it with abrupt shocks, tempo changes, extensive gore and dollops of perverse black comedy.

The influence of The Evil Dead is far reaching and obvious to any horror fan. Though horror arguably lost steam as the 80's progressed, eventually succumbing to the dreaded "horror comedy" disease (see such dismal affairs as CHUD II for proof) the post-Evil Dead magic did influence other 80's horror classics like Dead Alive, the first Return Of The Living Dead, and The Re-Animator films. And certainly, its uneasy (at times) mix of comedy and scares was trendsetting if overlooked as farce. Indeed, the you could say that The Evil Dead was well ahead of its time.

The premise is simple. Five friends retreat for a weekend in the woods, but unfortunately their vacation getaway spot happens to be a haunted, er, possessed cabin. Something to do with the Book Of The Dead, the "Necronomicon," and lots of ghastly ghouls, demons and hair- raising horrors. Some argued that all of this was damn near pointless and plotless, but I'd argue that all horror films essentially reside in that place between dreaming and waking, the "dead zone" or "twilight zone" or whatever you want to call it. They are about the subconscious more than the conscious, and the rules of logic and "meaning" do not apply. The Evil Dead captures the syntax and structure of a nightmare with impeccable skill.

While many wrote off the film as schlock, it is very well directed and edited on a surprisingly low budget, and the performances are appropriate to the material. Lead Bruce Campbell has emerged as quite a cult star since its release, and why he never broke into the mainstream is a mystery. He's a very skilled physical actor and comedian, which becomes more apparent with the subsequent Evil Dead flicks, and it is his energy, along with Sam Raimi's go-for-broke filmmaking style, that pulls off the picture. If there is no big moral or lesson, well, it is a visceral ride, and though admittedly a bit more emotional payoff or engagement may have been nice, it is about being scared and horrified, no more, no less. And on that level, Evil Dead delivers.

By the way, I should mention if you are a horror fan or just curious, this is a pretty gory film and not for the weak of stomach - I wouldn't order a pizza or anything before sitting down with this one! But if you are a horror fan, you definitely have to check this out.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in a brand-new, first-ever THX-certified 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, here's yet another new remastered version of The Evil Dead. Undoubtedly, some fans will cry fowl as the film was shot on 16mm at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, but it has been shown theatrically matted to various widescreen aspect ratios, so there is some historical precedent for the change in dimensions. And since this new transfer was supervised by director Sam Raimi himself, you can't say it wasn't director approved?

That said, I was disappointed that this new remaster actually looks significantly worse than the previous Elite and Anchor Bay releases, both of which utilized the same transfer. I suspect a new print was used, but alas it is not in great condition. Doing direct comparisons between the previous Elite release, this new transfer suffers in almost every way. The print is relatively free of blemishes, but is far more grainy, with colors more washed out and noisy. While blacks are solid, the film looks much darker overall with sharpness less- than-impressive and detail wanting. Contrast is also weaker and shadow delineation quite mediocre. The cropping on the top and bottom is also intrusive at times, with some shots looking a bit whacked. I know this was director-approved, I think a windowboxed 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer might have worked better?

Alas, about the only area where this new transfer excels is in terms of edge enhancement, which is thankfully reduced, and compression artifacts are rarely apparent. But overall, this is a disappointment and noticeably inferior to the previous Elite and Anchor Bay releases. Too bad.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

If someone ever told me that one day The Evil Dead would get new Dolby Digital and DTS remixes, I just wouldn't have believed them. But you gotta hand it to Anchor Bay, who else would think to remix this film in matrixed DTS 6.1 ES!? Admittedly, given the poor source material to work with, this isn't going to rival the likes of an Armageddon as demo material. But despite the deficiencies in the master recording - dialogue is still often muffled, high end shrill, and dynamic range cramped - this is a pretty aggressive and enveloping mix.

Perhaps the most pronounced improvement in the soundtrack is the sense of separation among all the channels. While the music still sounds a bit flat (not that there is much "score" anyway) the sound effects really stand out. Though harsh, the "shock" stingers and droning industrial sounds get a nice little workout in the rears, with some noticeable discrete effects and fairly good panning. Low end is strong but sometimes feels artificially pumped up.

Comparing the DTS to the Dolby Digital tracks, to be honest there wasn't too much of a difference. The DTS track felt a bit more pronounced in the rears, but both still suffer from the limited recording of the source material and some harsh high end. But given that this is a nearly 20-year-old film that probably had a budget of $12 bucks, the fact that his sounds as good as it does is rather amazing!

A matrixed 2.0 Dolby Surround track is also included, along with French 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, and English Closed Captions. Unfortunately, the film's original mono mix is not included, nor are there any subtitle options.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Since this is the umpteenth release of The Evil Dead on DVD, I've pretty much given up trying to keep track of them all... has any other horror save perhaps Halloween been released and re-released this many times!? Both Anchor Bay and Elite released their own versions of The Evil Dead on disc a few years back, the Anchor Bay edition being movie-only and the Elite special edition including some great goodies like two commentaries, outtakes, stills, and the trailer.

Now Anchor Bay is re-releasing the film in two new DVD editions (the previous versions have been discontinued), the "standard" special edition for $19.95, and the limited "Book Of The Dead" for a cool $49.95 list price. Both editions include the same transfer and some, but not all, of the same supplements, as well as a nice 24-page booklet with production notes by Anchor Bay's Michael Felsher. The Book Of The Dead version, however, includes nifty latex "book" packaging custom designed by artist Tom Sullivan, as well as another 26 pages of conceptual art and text, and more...

Let's start with the two screen-specific audio commentaries ported over from the previous Elite DVD and laserdisc releases, the first with director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert, and the second with star Bruce Campbell. These guys are quite the characters, and thankfully anything but dull. Campbell especially is full of passion and energy for the film that made him perhaps the biggest B- movie star in the world, and I can honestly say these are two of the better commentary tracks I've heard (and baby, I've heard some bad ones!) Since the commentaries are separate, it is kinda fun to here about the film from two perspectives, behind the camera and in front of it. It's clear they are two very different jobs, and oh-so- refreshing to find filmmakers and actors who celebrate their past, not denigrate it now that they've moved on to bigger things.

Up next is an 18-minute collection of behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes that is often hysterical. I must admit to feeling really sorry for the actors here...how do you cackle, wail and moan for take after take and not feel like an idiot? For once, these outtakes don't make the process of filmmaking seem like oh-so-much fun, but real hard work. Owners of the previous Elite DVD will probably already be familiar with these, and they are presented in full frame and mono.

New to this DVD release, and only available on the Book Of The Dead edition, are two new featurettes. Bruce Campbell's FanAnalysis is a highly entertaining and surprisingly well-shot 26 minutes, and just might be worth the price of admission alone for you Campbell cultists. Reminding me a bit of that Star Trek documentary Trekkies, Campbell is an engaging host as he takes us on a tour of life as a B-movie legend, complete with rabid fans, weird convention shenanigans, and the quiet life at home away from the spotlight. While some of these folks are, well, pretty freaky, like most fan documentaries this one takes great pains to remind us that however loopy it all may appear, the fans are ultimately just good- natured and harmless in the end. A must see.

Also new is Discovering Evil Dead, a 13-minute piece on the beginnings of the Evil Dead phenomenon. Acquired by Palace Pictures back in 1983, founders Stephen Woolley and Nik Powell reminisce about the opposition they initially received to the film, its eventual cult status, and the attempts by the British government to censor the film. Also adding some insight is Bill Warren, author of The Evil Dead Companion, and though short, this is a fun look back and adds some much-needed perspective along with the commentaries.

Rounding out the extras are some promotional bits, including the film's theatrical trailer in full frame and mono, four TV spots, Talent Files, and a still gallery with 200 behind-the-scenes, publicity, make-up, and ad materials, some complete with funny captions. (Also watch out for two easter eggs only on the Book Of The Dead edition...they're worth finding!) And last but not least, no, the famed Within The Woods short film has not been included on either version due to various legalities to complicated to explain. Yes, this is a loss, but don't let this otherwise fine new version of The Evil Dead pass you by...

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included, though the included booklet does list some Evil Dead- related fan sites to check out...

Parting Thoughts