3/5/02
Movie
Evil Dead Limited Edition DVD Packaging
NOTE: This review discusses the packaging of the special Book of the Dead DVD release of Evil Dead that is now available for a limited time. The review for the movie itself is available separately and a link is provided at the bottom of this review. This release and its packaging deserves its own review and will be a much cherished collectible.
Let us begin...
Whew, boy let's start with the stench. While not that of putrefacting flesh or rot it is amazingly odiferous. Maybe it's a formaldehyde smell for your imagination but mostly it's a new plastic object smell like a new car smell gone terribly wrong. Noses beware upon peering too closely into the shipping box. This is before you get to the book itself. It is wrapped in plastic and enclosed in a clear plastic box with a cardboard top section that slides off.
Now for the exterior of the Book of the Dead. After hundreds of years the human flesh that binds the book is still lithe and pliable. Whoever was used had large eyes, what I call cow eyes that stick just a little too far out of the head for a normal human. I've seen a few of these people roaming around in this day and age. The Book has a good heft to it and feels good in the hand.
The pages are stitched for extra safety. The pages are yellow and aged but the illustrations are as fresh as the day they were inked in blood from the great sea. Each page that we have seen open to in the hands of Ashley Williams is present plus a couple of others. Fortunately although some of the text seems comprehensible it is impossible for the non-scholar to read. The words do seem to shift to meaning so perhaps some study by even the lay man may produce one or two incantations.
Here's a nice tidbit for you. I left the Book untouched in the dark and it remained cool to the touch. I turned on a lamp and left the Book untouched and its temperature rose to the same as my own skin.
Inside the Book is a small booklet describing the path that the film has taken from the Cannes Film Festival to the current Special Edition DVD. The movie has been through enough evolutions in just the VHS format alone. Lastly in the book is the DVD that is held in a soft plastic envelope attached to the back cover. It has very nice stylised blood covered Ash on the face. For those paranoids like myself they will want to take the disc from the plastic womb forever and put it in a nice case that holds the disc away from any surface except at the centre hole.
So in conclusion of the packaging alone this is an excellent release and bound to be a cherished item for all of the Evil Dead fans who can afford this $50 CDN approx. DVD. It is nicely creepy, fun, and well worth the smell that seems to be dissipating. Supplies are limited so seek out your local or online vendor if you are a big fan of this film.
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Thank you for reading my review.
Bob Male)
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