Lionsgate is planning a special 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn. Director Sam Raimi's sequel to his 1981 cult horror classic The Evil Dead, the film follows the increasingly surreal adventures of Ash (Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness) as he combats soul-devouring Deadites from an isolated forest cabin.
Lionsgate's Blu-ray of Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn features a roster of newly-produced supplementary materials. Early reports indicate that these materials include the following:
All-new audio commentary with cast/crew
All-new Swallowed Souls: The Making of Evil Dead II documentary
All-new Road to Wadesboro: The Location of Evil Dead II featurette
All-new Cabin Fever: Behind the Scenes of Evil Dead II" featurette
All-new Evil Dead II interactive archive, featuring production stills, marketing
materials, production stills, and early effects tests
Vintage featurettes and behind-the-scenes footage
TV spots and trailers
Update: In a new press release, Lionsgate has confirmed that the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray boasts "a thrilling new High-Definition 1080p transfer." This news validates what Red Shirt Pictures' Michael Felsher told Fangoria Magazine in a recent interview, that "Lionsgate is aware of how dissatisfied people were with the transfer on the previous Evil Dead II Blu-ray, and are taking steps to solve that issue for the new edition."
The 25th Anniversary Edition of Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn is expected to street on November 15th.
Sweet. Glad I never bought the first version of EDII. And I was lucky enough to find the Limited Edition of EDI for $12 sitting at a Movie Trading Company long after those things sold out. Hopefully this new transfer will be approved by Raimi himself and be as high quality as EDI. Now we just have to wait a few years and see if someone will be S-Mart enough to do the same thing for Army of Darkness.
Considering how amazing Evil Dead 1 looks on blu ray (which was essentially the same film as Evil Dead 2 but on a MUCH lower budget) there is no excuse for the way the existing ED 2 blu ray looks. If the new blu ray looks anywhere near as good as ED 1 I will be a happy man! and I think it will...
"Lionsgate is aware of how dissatisfied people were with the transfer on the previous Evil Dead II Blu-ray"
How can this be? It has been repeatedly stated, especially in the forums here, that the studio/distributors do not listen/care what 'picky' critics of DNR, EE and other vidization of films say and that we should just shut up and take whatever slop they dish out
@uther
I think that pertains more so to the discs that look good to casual viewers and are bashed by videophiles for DNR, EE, ect. The Evil Dead II blu ray didn't look good to ANYONE.
Let's hope that this transfer is remastered WITHOUT DNR!!! I'm glad that I held off on EDII. Will wait for the Blu-ray.com review until I buy it!! Is anyone else getting sick of DOUBLE DIPS? They're really annoying already!
Got Army Of Darkness when it first came out and picked this up for 8 bucks along with the first film. Probably won't double dip but it's nice to see people are excited for it.
all the bellyaching over double dips is hilarious... the original blu-ray came out FOUR years ago... it's not like studios are cramming re-release after re-release down your throat. both the technology AND the know-how on proper transfers is way better now, but people love to complain instead of actually be happy that this title is hopefully getting a proper release.
The first BD release was dreadful. There's no way I'd ever pay money for it or even watch it. The initial ED2 anchor bay dvd (the thx one) is quite brilliant. It actually shows more detail than the bluray in a number of scenes.
A "double dip" for this is welcome. Given the perfection that was the Evil Dead 1 blu-ray, ED2 has a bit to live up to. I hope lionsgate can pull it off.
This is the best blu-ray news of the year. Will get this for sure. Now if I could get a Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition then I'd be the happiest person alive.
I'm just waiting for Army of Darkness (my personal favorite of the three). It would be nice if they just released a disc with all versions on it at the same time. I wasn't a big fan of the "dozen" different DVD pressings of AoD.
@retablo
When a studio sells a BD that uses a telecine made 12 or 15 years ago with the DVD standards in mind, knows that is launching a product that born obsolete. And DNR or EE, that are used to hide the telecine deficiencies, only make things worse. Personally, I dislike the enormous bunch of mediocre catalog BD that some editors are putting on the market, especially when we are talking about films with a substantial fandom. Hope that Lionsgate will offer something better with ED2.
@Jerome I saw Evil Dead 2 at the theater in 1986. I know this because I saw it while in college at OSU and I only attended there for 2 semesters in 1986. That makes the 25th anniversary 2011.
Never mind casual viewers, right on this site that are two 'experts' in the user review section that write EDII looks 'fantastic' and 'amazing' and I know of more as well. I think you underestimate just how easily some are pleased.
@Marius Bava
You nailed it there, many problem BDs are the result of DVD 'standards' or trying to cater to them.
For every terrible release, someone will be pleased. For ever top-notch release, someone will get their panties all in a twist over nothing. In the end...you just have to find one reviewer/site that you trust and go by them. That's the only way to go. For me it's this site...especially Kennith Brown. He's the man
I think I have about 4 copies of this already, looks like I'll be adding a fifth. And I am loving the prices of some of the recent older horror films coming out. Makes it easier to add to the collection.
yeah there has been a lot of cheap horror lately. Even blue underground has come down quite a bit. It's hard to believe that just a few years ago we were paying 30 bucks on the regular for catalog titles. It's great to be able to pick up a bunch of new blus for less than 50 bucks.
I do not understand how Anchor Bay screwed it up (after all the mishaps and remasters from the dvd version)
yet here we are looking to another studio (Lionsgate) to show this film a little respect. I am pleased to see that it is clocking in around $10 --which is worth the upgrade to me (I paid less than that for the AB--but I liked the artwork...alot)!
