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Evil Dead 2

Click box art above, to purchase this DVD (Special Edition)

A Techtite Review

The Film : Often chosen as the guilty pleasure of many horror film fans, Evil Dead 2 --not to be confused with Evil Dead 1-- is amusing if only because of its unusual sense of dark humor. With the powerful pratfall talents of its main star, Bruce Campbell (Xena Warrior Princess, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.), the film will inevitably lead to many laughs among the horror film fans, as long as you can overcome a few very graphic scenes.

The story involves the house of the first film, which is finally found by a pair of lovers (one of them Campbell), as they decide to camp in the woods at night. His girlfriend curiously turns on the tape recorder on the desk, with the incantations of the book of the dead that caused so much trouble in all three Evil Dead films. Strange things start to happen, starting with the girl turning into a zombie. Campbell gets bitten by the zombie and his hand gets cursed, and suddenly starts punching him and trying to kill him. This well performed shtick of Campbell fighting with his own cursed hand is one of the most hilarious moments of the picture.

Some may not like all the blood and gore in the film, which is apparently used to parody all the excessive blood in cheap gore flicks of the late 70's and early 80's. At one point, an otherwise cliché blood-stained wall cracks open and Campbell finds himself practically drowning in a waterfall of supposed blood. I say "supposed" because it is so obviously "cool aid" it helps you to realize it's all one big dark humor joke, and allows you to laugh at the film, as it laughs at other films of this type.

 The film is also, quite simply, an underdog classic. Many of the quips in this film you probably heard or will hear in numerous other films. From the final villain's laughably uttered "I'll swalla yer soul!" to Bruce Campbell's getting ready for battle and saying simply, "...groovy!" you'll be quipping a lot of scenes several days after seeing it. If anything, it's a film you'll never forget.

The DVD :  

One thing I didn't like about the DVD is that this is another offering of full screen and widescreen on the same disc. If that sounds to good to be true --no matter how much data a one-sided DVD can hold-- that's because it is. The letterbox version is just for widescreen televisions, and is actually just the exact same full screen image, with the top and bottom areas blanked out, making the picture look "letterbox." However, a quick look at the full screen version and the letterbox version of the same scene, shows that this is a cropped widescreen picture; not authentic. On the other hand, to be honest this film has been on cable TV so long, I don't know if there even was an actual widescreen version.

As always, there are multiple versions released for the film; a "special edition," and a limited edition (be wary, however, of the pre-release, non-special edition DVD, as mentioned above). Both ("special" and "limited") versions include the revamped DVD, with several amusing bonus features. In addition to THX enhanced sound, there is a behind the scenes featurette; "The Gore the Merrier." This is a quite jovial, irrelevant look at the backstage action, and is typical of the comedic horror talents who made this film. In addition, you can see a quickie teaser of the upcoming video game based on the film (though too quick for my tastes), the original theatrical trailer, talent bios and still galleries.

It's the audio commentary where this DVD shines. With the help of Bruce Campbell, writer-director Sam Raimi, co-writer Scott Spiegel, and special make-up artist Greg Nicotero, the atmosphere here is extremely laid back. So much so, you almost feel like you're watching the film right next to four of your best buddies, talking about how cool the film is. Anecdotes are equally amusing, including when Campbell had screamed so much in the picture, he was finally asked to scream like a girl, just to give a different sounding scream. You'll never look at that moment in the film the same way again!

There is also a limited collector's edition, though probably not for long; it's supposedly limited to only 50,000 copies. For that reason, unlike in other reviews, the link is offered at the end of this review, with no guarantees if it's still for sale (though, if you're ordering sometime close to its Fall 2000 release, it probably still is). This edition is in a collector's tin box, and houses the disc, a 5" by 7" theatrical poster replica,  and a cool 48 page booklet, featuring rare photos, film info, and linear notes by Bruce Campbell himself! However, the best additions are on the DVD itself, so anyone can buy them in the unlimited, "Special Edition." Either way, dark humor fans will love the film no matter what.

Groovy!

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Simply put, a classic in the history of dark humor filled horror parodies. Fans of similar parody horror films like Scream should check it out!
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To buy it on VHS, click this link: The Evil Dead 2 (VHS)

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