THE EVIL DEAD: ULTIMATE EDITION.

Damn you, Anchor Bay! I’m sure at least several of you devoted readers out there can relate to me for owning multiple editions of all 3 EVIL DEAD films. (Come on! How could any self-respecting EVIL DEAD fan not add the “Book Of The Dead” edition to their collections!) Well, I was ready to draw the line with this new “ULTIMATE” edition release…

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Then I saw it on the shelves at the store in this bitchin’ package and it was on sale. So naturally, I couldn’t resist!

So, why should you quadruple dip THE EVIL DEAD DVD?

Well, the “ULTIMATE” tag on the front of the box isn’t just a clever ploy. This really is the most extensive and comprehensive edition of Sam Raimi’s debut film ever put out on DVD. I’m sure by now, all of you are well aware of the plot of the EVIL DEAD films, and probably own plenty of merchandise, weather it be posters or T-Shirts sporting Bruce Campbell’s visage as the lead bumbling Deadite-slayer Ash Williams. So, let’s cut right to the features –

The packaging – Oddly enough, my buddy Steve was complaining a few weeks ago how he’s never picked up any of the EVIL DEAD DVD’s because they never feature the original poster image that he remembers from early video releases as the front cover. Sure enough, the image he speaks of IS the cover to this new 3 disc set. Once you unfold the package, you’re treated to multiple covers from various incarnations of the EVIL DEAD releases through out the years, as well as a fold out double-sided poster. So far, so good!



Disc One features the Widescreen edition of the film and the commentary track by Writer/Director Sam Raimi and Producer Rob Tapert exported over from all other previous editions of THE EVIL DEAD. New to the box is the 54 minute featurette “One By One We Will Take You: The Untold Sage Of THE EVIL DEAD”. This is the first featurette to feature all 3 lovely ladies of the EVIL DEAD, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly talking candidly about their experiences on THE EVIL DEAD in retrospect, as well as their recent adventures on the convention circuit. FX artist Tom Sullivan, and producer Rob Tapert make for wonderful additions to the featurette as well. (Sadly, Bruce isn’t here, but is featured prominently on the DVD’s 3rd disc of bonus features. And no Raimi at all, which is always a bummer.) There’s plenty of vintage bits of footage and photographs from the original EVIL DEAD, and everyone from Joe Bob Briggs to Edgar Wright to Eli Roth pop up to offer their 2 cents. (Must Eli Roth appear in EVERY new featurette about a horror classic?! Well, I never did realize how big an influence THE EVIL DEAD was on CABIN FEVER, so I guess it’s OK in this case.) Raimi and Tapert’s friend David Goodman and Josh Becker (Second Unit director and lighting) offer plenty of insight into Raimi’s humble beginnings, and overall, this featurette already pushes this edition above the quality of previous editions.



Disc Two is the only disc in the set that features nothing new from previous editions. Instead, it’s the Full Frame version of the film (which is apparently the way the movie was original filmed!) along with the Bruce Campbell commentary from previous releases. Also on this disc is “THE EVIL DEAD: Treasures From The Cutting Room Floor” which is a series of deleted scenes and unused raw footage. This isn’t your average deleted scenes feature though. While it’s neat to see some long lost footage in this way, without commentary or a neat polish, it’s a tad… boring? Good for one view though and glad it’s included.



Disc Three however is where all the gold is. Finally, we’re treated to the documentary that the Ladies Of THE EVIL DEAD have been working on for the last couple of years titled “Life After Death: The Ladies Of THE EVIL DEAD”. In the first of multiple featurettes that make up the doc, the ladies talk about how they reunited, and discovered the huge fanbase of the film that they never knew existed. From there, they went on to attend a reunion screening and eventually form a little partnership to hit the convention circuit together under the banner of “The Ladies of The Evil Dead”.



Highlights include the ladies meeting rocker Alice Cooper, a big EVIL DEAD fan! As well as a bit with Ted Raimi at the end of this featurette, (always hilarious and playful) which had me laughing out loud. Also great to see here is snippets from THE EVIL DEAD reading on stage at Chicago’s first annual Flashback Weekend, where the original cast members acted out portions of THE EVIL DEAD script live! I was there for this! So it was a treat to re-experience it, even if it is in snippets and edited as part of the featurette.



The Ladies Of THE EVIL DEAD Meet Bruce Campbell is a candid conversation with the ladies and Bruce sitting together and talking about the beginnings of THE EVIL DEAD, dating back to the WITHIN THE WOODS shorts that Ellen and Bruce were both in from their high school days. As always, Bruce is engaging, funny, yet always offering honest insight into how they accomplished everything they had to to get the film done!



Unconventional is a 20 minute featurette specifically about the convention experience with the Ladies, Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi and Scotty (Hal Delrich) sitting in a round table discussion. As always, everyone offers unique stories, but Campbell and Ted Raimi steal the show with their usual tomfoolery.



At The Drive-In is a short featurette with the whole crew on stage prior to a screening of EVIL DEAD. While it’s fun, a chunk of it is them giving free DVD’s to audience members. More entertaining is the half hour Reunion Panel featurette from the Flashback Weekend Convention.



Rounding off the final disc’s features are Trailers, make-up test footage, TV spots, still galleries and posters/memorabilia galleries. These galleries are great and offer some never before seen photographs submitted by both Ellen Sandweiss and Tom Sullivan from their personal collections.



Only thing missing from here is Bruce Campbell’s short film FANALYSIS, which was a bonus feature on the previous “Book Of The Dead” edition, but quite frankly, that didn’t deal specifically with THE EVIL DEAD, so it’s absence here isn’t really that big a deal. Quite frankly, I was sick of re-buying multiple editions of THE EVIL DEAD and HALLOWEEN and HELLRAISER. But this package really does deliver and if you can find it on sale somewhere, then it’s a no-brainer. You really must own it. –Robg.