Evil Dead, The (1981) [SF078-5044]

i used to have this film in the book of the dead DVD case but not the limited.
that was one of the first DVDs i bought around 2004 and after reading how films like this
were better on LD i sold that and made my main focus on LDs and getting the random DVDs over the years.

there seems to be a light hiss in the audio, and once in a while there are pops on the right channel, but are not that bad.

film has some scratches and damage in the beginning, there are cue dot reel change markers on this release.

Japanese subtitles are in the picture and are vertical not horizontal like normally on Japanese LDs.

Overall it feels like watching a film print, it’s a little dark at times but this is due to a few things
In my opinion.

1: I believe it’s darker due to the black levels of Japanese releases.

2: this was a low budget film and they didn’t have enough lights to get the correct lighting in all scenes.
And it could be they didn’t have the correct bulbs to light properly.

3: it also gives you a more natural feel, if you are in a bright room and go into your basement then
it will not look the same in the darker areas, and it will be more spot lighting from flashlights etc.

4: again due to the low budget I think the film stock had issues, from what I read it did take them a year and a half to finish.

So onto the film, full frame 1.33 open matte and looks great, you get the full image that was Intended by the director.

Lots of amazing special effects with tons of blood and gore as one would imagine.
This film really made the mark on styles of horror and belongs up there with any of the
60s-80s real horror films made by the likes of: George Romero, Wes Craven and all others that I can’t think of now.

Rein-o, have you updated the que dot marks to this thread as "we" need to make a database log of the "que dot marks".

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2206

I'd like to hear hiss and pops and crackles as that sounds like film to LD to me.

well, the pops and cracks are fine with me, but it seems like audio hiss when you listen to an old audio tape
and have the volume up high to hear that hiss.
not horrible but it's not AC3

Good review. As you know I also picked up this Herald Videogram Laserdisc recently as well. I haven't watched it yet in full but have tested it out, and I also noticed the Japanese subtitles being on the sides rather then on the bottom. I mean I knew there would be Japanese subtitles burnt in, but it surprised me to see them vertical rather than horizontal. I still can't figure out whether its better or worse, but regardless its liveable.

Anyway, a few things that are special about this edition is the fact that its the correct aspect ratio that I believe has the most visible picture information out of any release of The Evil Dead on any format (including the Blu-Ray), it has a special cool blue filter that isn't found anywhere else, and a few shots reveal more details in the frame since they were pretty much zoomed in for whatever reason in other releases.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this film was shot on 16mm...

As for the darkness of the picture, I am guessing that this Laserdisc is the most pure and natural reflecting the low budget and style closest. Future home video versions looked to be contrast boosted with some degree of DNR applied. Sure the later Laserdisc versions as well as other DVD and Blu-Ray releases might have better quality due to the higher resolution and brightness, but they lack the authentic spooky feel of this old Herald Videogram LD which is loved by fans for a reason.

the only other films i've seen with subtitles on the sides were Japanese films with English dialog.
i actually thought they were better on the sides, some would be on the right and some on the left so it would stay out of the majority of the frame.

i don't know about the 16mm, personally i love evil dead 2 better than this, the comedy just addes to it.
but this is a great film if you don't think of the others.

and yes, i agree and do feel that it seems more of a authentic feel, almost like the dawn of the dead films.
O.K. so the zombies in that film are blue, but that's all they had at the time, and i'm sure it looked better
in person then on film.

when you are workign on a lower budget then you have to use what you have around, and don't really have the extra
money to shoot it again, or if you do it will be 13 months later

Even the odd digital soundtrack I've heard hiss.

Just got done watching my Herald Videogram Japanese Laserdisc of The Evil Dead in its entirely and I love the film so much more then I ever have before thanks to the transfer and overall presentation of this amazing LD. I had seen the film previously a few times with different DVD versions that all had different transfers/aspect ratios but I never really liked any of them in terms of how they looked. They were too bright/flat and with the contrast tampering, in turn, made the special effects look a lot faker. Not the case with this awesome Laserdisc though, as the darker picture combined with the cool blue filter and the authentic film print quality with the scratches, smudges, cigarette burns, cue dots and other general damage in tact, made the special effects and the whole atmosphere in general so much creepier and as a result more enjoyable to watch. I even reacted to quite a few jump scares! The audio pops and crackles were a nice authentic touch also.

I have always liked the film, but this Herald Videogram Japanese Laserdisc really enhances the experience and makes it a whole lot better!!

I have not seen the Blu-Ray editions, but to me, this Laserdisc is the complete package, it has everything I want as far as presentation goes..

The Evil Dead was on Movie Mix, last night. This is the new version re-mix as it was in Dolby stereo matrix, so not the original mono mix. Not sure of the framing as I don't have the laserdisc or DVD/bluray.

If this is a open matte transfer does that mean I can effectively zoom in on the picture to make the film fill the screen on my LCD TV? or will doing that crop the picture?