Sunday 3 March 2019

EVIL DEAD 2 - 4K UHD/BD review.

Sam Raimi's cult sequel EVIL DEAD 2 has been newly restored and released, for the first time, in a 4K UHD/Blu-Ray double pack, along with accompanying standalone Blu-Ray and DVD releases from Studiocanal.

Now, I’m sure we’re all familiar with the plot, but just to re-cap. The sole survivor of the original Evil Dead, Ash (Bruce Campbell – TVs Burn Notice) goes back to the cabin in the woods and ends up doing battle with more zombies and evil spirits, after they’re awakened by the incantations from some old book he finds in the cellar.

Exceptionally gory, and hilariously funny, the film boasts plenty of blood and guts, as Ash is forced to fend off the undead with chainsaws and shotguns in a series of slapstick battles.

A hilarious cult classic, that’s even more enjoyable than the first. I had to review the Blu-Ray disc as I am unable to play 4K discs at present. But even so, the quality between this release and the previous Blu-Ray is noticeable. With the scenes being significantly less grainy and much clearer, which was particularly noticable during the darker scenes. So I can only imagine how good the 4K release must be. 


The Blu-Ray and 4K UHD releases come packed with a whole stack of special features. These include…

"Bloody Groovy Baby" a 52 minute tribute to Evil Dead 2, featuring interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman, Edgar Wright, Marus Nispel and many others all expressing their love for the film.

"Swallowed Souls : Making Evil Dead 2", a 7 part 98 minute retrospective documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew, including Bruce Campbel, Scott Spiegel , Robert Kurzman, Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, Ted Raimi, Sarah Berri (Anne), Richard Domeier (Ed) and Danny Hicks (Jake).

"Cabin Fever", half an hour of behind the scenes footage and deleted scenes and there's also 4x "Photo galleries", featuring ads, memoribillia and behind the scenes photos.

"Road to Wadesboro", in which propmaster Tony Elwood takes us round several of the filming locations used in the movie, including the old schoolhouse where they built the interior sets, and the woods where they built the old cabin, showing whats left of the old building today.

“The Gore the Merrier – Making of Evil Dead 2”, 31 minute archival documentary about the making of the film.

"Theatrical Trailer" - the films theatrical trailer is included

"Audio Commentary Track" - Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel, and Greg Nicotero provided a running commentary on the film, which accompanies the main feature.

Please note that these features appear on the 4K UHD and BD releases ONLY, the accompanying DVD release contains only the Audio Commentary.

Collectors may also wish to note that with the exception of "Bloody Groovy Baby", which is new to this release, all the other feaures have appeared on previous releases of the film. Also, the Behind the Scenes stills feature that was on the previous release and the old effects test footage feature that was on the old US laserdisc and some early DVD releases is not included on this release. Though most of these can be seen on other features on the disc. 

Studiocanal's new restoration of EVIL DEAD 2 is released to 4K UHD, BD and DVD Monday 4th March.

Pre-order the UK 4K UHD from Amazon.co.uk 

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk 

Pre-order the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk

 

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