Best version of Evil Dead

[Deadme]

Hi, I'd like to watch the '81 film at it's best, I've seen screenshots of the German release with grain removed and I've heard that the mono audio track is superior, what release do I watch to get the best experience?

 

[DeathLivesAgain]

Hi, I'd like to watch the '81 film at it's best, I've seen screenshots of the German release with grain removed and I've heard that the mono audio track is superior, what release do I watch to get the best experience?

The first thing you need to be sure of is that it's the Full Frame version. For DVD and Bluray, sometimes there will be two options: Full Frame (Original) and Widescreen. Avoid the widescreen because it's merely a cropped version (you lose some of the original picture). The Evil Dead was intended to be (and was originally released) in the 1:33.1 aspect ratio.

I believe in one of the U.S. DVD releases, the original Full Frame version was actually labeled Pan & Scan, which is a false label. Pan & Scan label suggests that it's heavily cropped as if it was originally widescreen. But that incorrectly labeled option is actually the correct original version.

Make sure there is grain there. The Bluray version (at least in the United States) is perfect. I don't think the original mono is available on the U.S. Blu release. But if you have that option, I would go with mono. But the surround version is great from what I remember. I saw The Evil Dead over 10 years ago in a THX theater (the surround track is optimized for THX) and I was very impressed with it. The Evil sounded like it was right behind my head about to envelope/catch me.

And this is a unique film where if you have it on VHS, it works just as well, if not better. The cinematography is gorgeous, but it was also made sort of like a snuff-film, so watching it on VHS adds a proper creep factor to it. My first viewing was on a VHS from the library. I had no idea what kind of film it was. I was expecting a quaint little yarn. I was 11 years old and it blew me away.

If you do watch the U.S. Bluray version (there's only one release), try to avoid the menu (if this is your first viewing). The menu shows too much. Pretty sad really.

 

[Deadme]

Thanks, guess the US bluray it is.

 

[DyD]

The first thing you need to be sure of is that it's the Full Frame version. For DVD and Bluray, sometimes there will be two options: Full Frame (Original) and Widescreen. Avoid the widescreen because it's merely a cropped version (you lose some of the original picture). The Evil Dead was intended to be (and was originally released) in the 1:33.1 aspect ratio.

I believe in one of the U.S. DVD releases, the original Full Frame version was actually labeled Pan & Scan, which is a false label. Pan & Scan label suggests that it's heavily cropped as if it was originally widescreen. But that incorrectly labeled option is actually the correct original version.

Yes. I remember how excited I was for the "newly restored and approved by Sam Raimi widescreen transfer" that was announced for the first Book of the Dead edition on DVD and how disappointed I was when I saw how much of a half-assed job they did on it. They literally just cropped the top and the bottom of the image, paying little to no attention to proper framing or to the visual information they were removing. I think the backlash was such that they started including both the widescreen and original 1.33:1 versions in subsequent releases. That's not the only difference, though. Some versions have some post-production visual effects missing. I'm not entirely sure, but I think there's a lightning animation missing from some releases. Also, in some releases the camera zooms in on Cheryl's face when she gets possessed for the first time, but it doesn't in others. I have no idea which version is supposed to be the correct one. Anybody here knows for sure? I always wanted to know. I'm also not sure if there are audio differences between releases (other than the choice of mono, stereo and surround tracks).

And this is a unique film where if you have it on VHS, it works just as well, if not better. The cinematography is gorgeous, but it was also made sort of like a snuff-film, so watching it on VHS adds a proper creep factor to it. My first viewing was on a VHS from the library. I had no idea what kind of film it was. I was expecting a quaint little yarn. I was 11 years old and it blew me away.

I already told this story before around here, but the first time I watched the film was on a bootleg VHS tape that somehow found its way into the video selection of a Blockbuster. It had some random kid's birthday party taped over the first few minutes of the film, it cut back to a previous scene that had already played halfway through it and the color was so faded that everything looked sepia tone. The first time I watched the film on DVD I was surprised to see that the trees in the woods were actually green. Before that, I just assumed the story took place in the fall, lol. I still loved the film and no DVD or Blu-Ray rewatch has ever matched the feel of that first viewing. To this day, my preferred version to watch is a cheap DVD edition that came free with the purchase of a movie magazine on news stands here in Brazil. It has the correct full frame aspect ratio and also the amount of graininess and washed up colors to remind me of that first viewing. I bought it even before I actually owned a DVD player, so there's a lot of sentimental value to it as well.

But yeah, if you're looking for the best, highest image quality version I'd just go with any of the most recent ones, only making sure that it contains the original full frame version of the film. I don't think there's much of a difference between the transfers on the current american Blu-Ray releases.

 

[Swofty]

Yes. I remember how excited I was for the "newly restored and approved by Sam Raimi widescreen transfer" that was announced for the first Book of the Dead edition on DVD and how disappointed I was when I saw how much of a half-assed job they did on it. They literally just cropped the top and the bottom of the image, paying little to no attention to proper framing or to the visual information they were removing. I think the backlash was such that they started including both the widescreen and original 1.33:1 version in subsequent releases. That's not the only difference, though. Some versions have some post-production visual effects missing. I'm not entirely sure, but I think there's a lightning animation missing from some releases. Also, in some releases the camera zooms in on Cheryl's face when she gets possessed for the first time, but it doesn't in others. I have no idea which version is supposed to be the correct one. Anybody here knows for sure? I always wanted to know. I'm also not sure if there are audio differences between releases (other than the choice of mono, stereo and surround tracks).



I already told this story before around here, but the first time I watched the film was on a bootleg VHS tape that somehow found its way into the video selection of a Blockbuster. It had some random kid's birthday party taped over the first few minutes of the film, it cut back to a previous scene that had already played halfway through it and the color was so faded that everything looked sepia tone. The first time I watched the film on DVD I was surprised to see that the trees in the woods were actually green. Before that, I just assumed the story took place in the fall, lol. I still loved the film and no DVD or Blu-Ray rewatch has ever matched the feel of that first viewing. To this day, my preferred version to watch is a cheap DVD edition that came free with the purchase of a movie magazine on news stands here in Brazil. It has the correct full frame aspect ratio and also the amount of graininess and washed up colors to remind me of that first viewing. I bought it even before I actually owned a DVD player, so there's a lot of sentimental value to it as well.

But yeah, if you're looking for the best, highest image quality version I'd just go with any of the most recent ones, only making sure that it contains the original full frame version of the film. I don't think there's much of a difference between the transfers on the current american Blu-Ray releases.

I know exactly what you mean about your first copy being your favourite .. my first copy was also a VHS bootleg (long gone now sadly), I made it myself after me and a good friend had repeatedly tried but failed to get the owner of Village Videos to sell her copy to us. I've got stories around that video store, her son went off to live in America and was shot in a bank robbery of all things, chasing the American dream but got shot instead.

We used to skip school that Summer ('84), my best friend's Mother had just left his Father, her lover was trying to buy us kids alcohol to win our favour which we mostly refused, we'd play on the arcade machine .. she had a large cardboard box of surplus film posters that were 20p each .. I bought an Evil Dead 2 quad and two alternative ones .. 60 p and I'd probably get over £200 for them now !

We both skipped school to rent The Evil Dead .. we were both having a tough time in life in general as 11 year olds. The owner would rent to us but she made us promise not to tell anyone. My copy did a sound wobble when Scotty is first walking up to the cabin, I still can't watch any version now without my brain telling me that sound wobble is missing .. I remember my hand writing on the cassette tape's label which was tHe eViL DeAd which was also why, when I first joined this board, I registered as 'sWoFTy' ..

The first version I ever saw was also a Palace Pictures cassette earlier in the same year, a different friend's Dad owned a video rental shop back when they were still a new 'thing' .. we used to watch films like Be My Bloody Valentine and The Evil Dead as and when we pleased ... the most fun we had was farting in the old style vacuum sealed clam shell cases so that when one of the customers took the box to his Dad and he had to put the cassette in the box, he'd get a face full of our farts ... hilarious when you're 11 in 1984.

 

[DeathLivesAgain]

in some releases the camera zooms in on Cheryl's face when she gets possessed for the first time, but it doesn't in others. I have no idea which version is supposed to be the correct one. Anybody here knows for sure? I always wanted to know.

The correct version is no zoom in, just a still shot of Cheryl turning suddenly. If it zooms in, it's not the correct version. And I'm not sure if there may be versions that are pre-zoomed in on her face, but you can see the zoom in here: (DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET AS THIS IS THE BIG TURNING POINT, THE MOST SHOCKING MOMENT):

If you have seen the film before though, definitely watch this particular clip because it's worth watching. This version is quite different from the original and I don't know where it's from. It's actually quite scary, darker, with added sound effects and more inserted footage. I'm very intrigued by this.

 

[DyD]

My copy did a sound wobble when Scotty is first walking up to the cabin, I still can't watch any version now without my brain telling me that sound wobble is missing

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I miss that cutting back to a previous scene moment from that bootleg VHS. I keep waiting for it when I watch the film on DVD. I don't miss the footage from that kid's birthday party though, although in some ways it made the film even creepier.

That's a great story you got there. I almost feel sorry for the new fans who discovered these films after they were restored and made readily available on high definition. That first viewing experience made Evil Dead seem even more special. Still, it's a good thing that more people can watch the films now with the image and audio quality they always deserved and that the franchise has grown in popularity.

If you have seen the film before though, definitely watch this particular clip because it's worth watching. This version is quite different from the original and I don't know where it's from. It's actually quite scary, darker, with added sound effects and more inserted footage. I'm very intrigued by this.

Wow! The alternate take with the zoom is the same I'm already familiar with, but I had never seen that extra shot of Cheryl contorting her face before. So it isn't just a case of a version that uses a single quick alternate take, but a version that actually contains a completely different cut of the scene! The color grading in that clip is very similar to that cheap brazilian DVD edition that I own, so I got curious and popped the disc in to check it out. Turns out that it has that very same zooming in shot, but not the following shot of Cheryl contorting her face. So there are actually THREE different cuts of that scene available out there. One with the zoom and that following shot, one with the zoom but without the following shot, and yet another one with neither the zoom or the following shot. What the hell?

 

[DeathLivesAgain]

Wow! The alternate take with the zoom is the same I'm already familiar with, but I had never seen that extra shot of Cheryl contorting her face before. So it isn't just a case of a version that uses a single quick alternate take, but a version that actually contains a completely different cut of the scene! The color grading in that clip is very similar to that cheap brazilian DVD edition version that I own, so I got curious and popped the disc in to check it out. Turns out that it has that very same zooming in shot, but not the following shot of Cheryl contorting her face. So there are actually THREE different cuts of that scene available out there. One with the zoom and that following shot, one with the zoom but without the following shot, and yet another one with neither the zoom or the following shot. What the hell?

I'm guessing this is a fan-cut as you can see the new footage is clearly reinserted deleted footage as the quality has lines and other dirty stuff indicating it's not cleaned up like the final film. Don't know if this is just two specialty scenes (as shown in the Youtube user's page) done up by that user or if it's from a full-on fan-edit. The other scene is the group listening to the tape.

 

[Deadme]

Has anyoneseen the GRB version and can comment anything about it for viewing in comparison to the standard blu-ray release?
I know it's been cleaned up to look like a digitally shot film. Think I'll stick with the grainy US version, GRB version does have the mono audio though.. someone should combine the grainy video with the mono track.

 

[mhb2862]

Has anyoneseen the GRB version and can comment anything about it for viewing in comparison to the standard blu-ray release?
I know it's been cleaned up to look like a digitally shot film. Think I'll stick with the grainy US version, GRB version does have the mono audio though.. someone should combine the grainy video with the mono track.

Some versions of that release include a non DNR scrubbed version. So you get full grain + mono. I'm still not sure if it's the original mono or a fold-down of the remixed stereo/5.1. I'll have to give it a good listen.