Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Before Sam Raimi made his trillions on the Spider-Man franchise, he made a different trilogy of films, starting with The Evil Dead and ending with this classic here. The story follows Bruce Campbell as Ash, who is sucked through time and space to 13th-century England. In order to get back, he needs to acquire the Necronomicon ex Mortis. He botches the job and unleashes an army of undead. If it sounds ridiculous, it is. It’s also hysterically funny. You don’t need to have seen The Evil Dead or Evil Dead II to get this movie, but it sure doesn’t hurt.

The 1.85:1 image is far better than this movie has ever looked. Colors are excellent, and, for a fairly low-budget movie, it stands up to the high-rez treatment quite well (except for some special-effects shots). Close-ups in particular are extremely clean and detailed. The audio choice is just the required Dolby Digital Plus 5.1. The mix isn’t terribly special, and there isn’t a ton in the surrounds. The dialogue stands out above all, which is fitting, as this movie has some of the best one-liners of any movie since Airplane!.

Extras are…nonexistent. There’s not even a commentary track. This is pretty sad seeing as there are plenty of versions of this movie on DVD that all have various extras. The DVD version is on the opposite side, so I’ll give it one point for that. For fans, though, it’s a must-have.