Hell of the Living Dead Done Righter Still

Anchor Bay originally released Bruno Mattei's Hell Of the Living Dead and Rats as two separate releases in 2002, and then reissued them as a double feature in 2003. Blue Underground than acquired them and put both titles out individually again, under their own banner, in 2007. Always with the same transfers and extras. But finally in 2014, Blue Underground has released them, again together as a double-bill, on blu-ray with all new transfers and features.

Update 2/21/15 - 3/10/23: 88 Films has reissued Hell Of the Living Dead on BD/ UHD, and it fixed the broken sound in the SWAT sequence!  Let's hope they got everything else right...

Update 10/26/23: They're here! 88 Films have heard customers' complaints and issued replacement discs for their latest release. It was already the best the film had ever looked, but fans thought it could be even better, and I daresay they've been proven right.

So those are the old discs on top and the new discs on the bottom.  Yes, 88 has replaced both the BD and UHD discs, and you can see the differences for telling the versions apart in the photo above.  The old discs are catalog number: 88FU009A and B, and the new ones are 88FU012A and B.  Heck, the BD has entirely different artwork.  But perhaps the simplest way to tell the one pair from the other is that the old discs have blue 88 Films logos, and the new ones have red ones.  88 has also said that the upcoming, non-limited release (sans slipcover) will come with the updated discs, so most of you buying this in future won't wind up with an old version anyway.  But just in case, the replacement program is running 'till March 2024.

I've always been amused by both, but Hell of the Living Dead was the film I'd been a fan of since owning the old VHS release under the title Night Of the Zombies in the 80s. It's an Italian zombie film that fully delivers on everything you wanted from those films, an at the same time is totally bonkers. And unlike most knock-offs and retreads, it's quite ambitious in its scope. This isn't four teenagers in a cabin beset by zombies; our cast travels practically half the globe, having adventures in the jungle, high rises, power plants, suburban homes and abandoned missionaries. It's got a big cast, bolstered out even further by a generous helping of stock footage, which is creatively integrated into the film, even if its effectiveness is uneven. And it was pretty damn impressive to see Dario Argento's infamous scorers Goblin had done the soundtrack to this film... until I grew to realize it was just their previous work carried over from previous films, mainly Dawn Of the Dead.  And that's not all that's been carried over from Dawn; this film replicates so many key scenes that, if it weren't for the cannibal stuff, this could almost be classified as an unofficial remake.  But that's all part of Hell's charm.

I did see Rats back in the day, too; but remembered it mostly as a pretty average horror film that was basically 90 minutes of generic build up for an admittedly pretty great ending. But that was never enough to compel me to pick up any of the DVD releases, especially since Hell and Rats shared the same Bruno Mattei interview on both discs anyway. So I picked up the very first Hell disc and then just sat it all out from the outside, until I found out Blue Underground was creating an all new documentary on the making of Hell Of the Living Dead, compelling me to upgrade to the blu-ray. But I have to say, having gotten it now as part of the package with the Hell upgrade, the film has grown in my estimation, and I've come to appreciate the silly, colorful comic book tone Mattei applied to both films.

1) 2002 US Anchor Bay DVD; 2) 2014 US Blue Underground BD;
3) 2023 UK 88 Films old BD; 4) 2023 UK 88 Films old UHD;
5) 2023 UK 88 Films new BD; 6) 2023 UK 88 Films new UHD.

So let's get into the transfers.  Each disc is matted to roughly 1.85:1...  AB's DVD is more like 1.84:1, and 88's initial BD was 1.83:1, though their UHD was 1.85:1, and the replacement BD is now 1.85:1 as well.  In the first run, 88's UHD revealed slivers more along the edges than the BD.  But now with the replacement discs, all of 88's discs include those slivers.  The shifts in framing across all six editions are very minute anyway, and nothing you'd ever notice outside of a direct screenshot comparison like this.  But still, it's nice to get that fixed.  Anyway, you will notice the boosts in clarity.  BU's blu-ray is distinctly sharper and more detailed than the old DVD, and even 88's blus are another substantial advancement, with grain only softly hinted at on the 2014 disc now clearly and cleanly captured.  And fine detail that looks just a little clunky on the BDs, like the clip in Margit Newton's hair, looks far smoother with natural gradation on the UHDs.  Even more eye-catching than any of that, though, is the color-timing, so let's get into that.

1) 2014 Blue Underground BD; 2) 2023 88 Films old BD; 3) 2023 88 Films old UHD;
4) 2023 UK 88 Films new BD; 5) 2023 UK 88 Films new UHD.

well, what still stands out to me is how different BU's looks from the others.  It has a very cool blueish cast; even 88's initial transfer is back much closer to the old AB timing, albeit a little better separated.  I already prefer 88's colors.  There were scenes where I preferred BU's - occasionally, 88 felt a little over-saturated or unnatural, like in that shot of the captain on his radio.  But for the most part, 88 already won.  It was the best the film has ever looked.  And then they topped it.  The new color grading is more natural, without being duller (or overcast in blue).  The blood is redder, the skin tones are more authentic.  The black levels in that shot of the mass of zombies are more satisfyingly deep.  I stand by my initial praise of 88's first pass, but I can't deny it's even better now, so I'm grateful for these reissued discs.

But the look and replacement program isn't even the biggest controversy around this film on blu. What you don't see in those screenshots is the sound, or the film's running time. Is BU's blu-ray cut? No, not really... but technically yes. No scenes have been removed or graphic imagery censored, but their have been micro trims to a LOT of scenes. Basically frames have been removed regularly, throughout the film (only Hell; it's not on Rats), between shots. Essentially, it's the exact same problem that plagued Shriek Show's infamous Burial Ground blu-ray. And as with Burial Ground, the problem is not on the older DVDs, just the newer blus. To be fair, you don't generally notice it in most cases... In fact, I don't think I could even locate the instances without ripping both discs and syncing them up to find the moments where the they go out of sync. But when the cuts happen during music, you do hear it. You don't hear pops or drop outs, because the shots have been buttressed up against each other, but the score skips notes. And it always happens as the video shot switches, which makes it seem like Mattei was some kind of amateur who couldn't edit the audio and video on separate tracks... it's the kind of error you find in student films. Except in this case, it's not a problem with the original film, only the new blu-ray.

It's most obvious during this scene.

So I contacted BU back when a forum member on blu-ray.com first pointed this out and another member followed up by uploading comparison footage, and here's what they said:

"We became aware of the issue with HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD after the Blu-ray was released. We brought it to the attention of the Italian licensor who supplied the new HD master to us. They informed us that there was damage at several of the cement splices in the original negative, necessitating that they remove one frame on each side of the cut so that there wouldn’t be noticeable frame damage or picture jumps during those cuts. Please keep in mind that this is a 30+ year old, extremely low budget film. We're confident they did the transfer as best they could with what they had to work with. Hopefully this does not impede in your enjoyment of the film. We believe that the positives of this new HD transfer far outweigh any negatives. As there is no way to fix the damage to the negative, we are not able to issue replacement discs."

And yes, unless you're really searching for the problem, you won't notice it when the score isn't playing, which is most of the time. I think BU is right about the positives of the HD outweighing the negatives for sure. I wouldn't go back to the DVD. But happily, this issue can now be put behind us forever. 88 has fixed the problem! They don't appear to have done anything dodgy, like upres SD frames from the DVD to fill the gaps (though, in a pinch, I might've preferred if BU had tried that instead of leaving it like it was).  The running time is back.  Both discs state they're scanned from the original negatives on their back covers, so presumably they're from the same source.  So I don't really know how they did it, but they did it.  It looks great, and the music no longer skips.  Huzzah!

And that's not the only win in 88's audio column.  AB's DVD just gave us the English mono dub with no subtitle options.  BU bumped that track up to lossless DTS-HD and threw in optional English, French and Spanish subs.  88 dumps the foreign subs, keeping the English, but most importantly gives us both the English and Italian audio tracks (to be fair, 88's 2017 BD did this, too) in LPCM, giving us the option to watch the film with either track.  The Italian seems to at least sometimes match the actor's lips, i.e. that's what they're actually speaking; though I will say the music sounds decidedly more robust in the English mix.

Oh, and that's one more fix 88 made with their revised discs: they re-synced the English audio, and it does now match the actor's lips better.  Seriously, if you have the limited edition and weren't going to bother with the replacement program, I advise you to take advantage.

2014 US Blue Underground BD.

Meanwhile, Rats looks pretty good on BU's disc, too. I never got the DVD to compare it to, but the image here looks great. Once again, it's been slightly letterboxed to 1.85, and it's a very attractive watch with bold colors that's probably part of what helped me come appreciate the film more this time around.  It also has the English mono track in DTS-HD with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

But like I said, the biggest selling point for me to upgrade from my old DVD back in the day was actually the special features. First of all, the original Bruno Mattei interview, which has been on every release of both Rats and Hell from Anchor Bay and Blue Underground has been carried over here, too. And that's great, because it was an upbeat yet very forthcoming chat, and the only time we'll hear from Mattei on any of these discs. There's also trailers and galleries for both films, that have been with us since the earliest release. Some of the trailers are worth checking out, though, since you get to see the films marketed with different titles like Virus and Blood Kill. The DVD did have a unique insert, which included an interview between Fangoria's Michael Gingold and filmmaker Scooter McCrae; but I'm really not at all sorry to see their "Shatter Dead is a much better film than Hell of the Living Dead" trash talking fest go.

But then there's a new, 50+ minute documentary film called Bonded By Blood, which really focuses on Claudio Fragasso and his involvement. He's as forthcoming and engaging as Mattei was, but with an extra sense of humor, talking us through Hell Of the Living Dead, his marriage (his wife is also his collaborator who cowrote most of his films) and touching on the rest of his and Mattei's careers. Margot Newton and Franco Garofalo are also interviewed to share their side of things. And at first it seems like it's going to be all about Hell, but then we travel to the studio where they shot Rats and Fragasso talks to us on the old sets, along with stars Ottaviano Dell'Acqua and Massimo Vanni.

Unfortunately, none of that makes it to 88's release, but they've come up with a ton of their own, mostly excellent material.  I say "mostly," because boy is the audio commentary skippable.  It's by the usually reliable Troy Howarth, along with second expert Eugenio Ercolani, and it starts out fine.  But maybe 20 minutes in, they just change the subject and stop talking about Hell Of the Living Dead altogether.  They start drifting into other Fragasso films, but soon they're just free-wheeling into whatever springs to mind.  They go on tangents from other tangents.  Troy goes over the whole spiel of how Romero changed zombie films, which I'm sick to death of hearing repeated on every zombie commentary ever.  At the very end, Howarth admits he's not interested in Hell; it's not a film he likes very much.  Yeah, no shit!  But you should at least talk about the film you're doing the commentary of, no?  A few references to other, related films, sure.  But this was a real piss take, like that AB insert turned into 100 minutes of audio, except at least they were trashing the film instead of ignoring it.  88 should demand their money back.

But all of 88's other extras are quite worth while.  First of all, their exclusive interviews with Fragasso and Newton are back, and they're both top notch.  Then there's all new stuff for this release, starting with another Fragasso interview.  Don't worry, they ask him all different questions, so he doesn't repeat across both interviews.  Then there's an excellent interview with Mrs. Fragasso: Drosella Drudi, which is a real must-watch.  There's also an interesting but less essential interview with two experts on Hell's history on VHS in the UK.  Personally, I'm a little burned out on "Video Nasty" talk, but it's a good piece.  88 also has the trailer, a 12-page booklet with notes by Francesco Massaccesi (so not the same notes or author as 88's 2017 booklet), a fold-out poster, reversible artwork an a slipcover.

So 88's new 4k set is really satisfying.  It was already the definitive presentation before the replacement program, and it's even better now.  Fans may still want to hang onto their BU discs for the exclusive Mattei and Garofolo interviews (plus their Rats coverage, if you're a fan of that movie).  But 88's release finally gets Hell right.  ...Even more right.

Zombie 4, Just Because

There's a whole bunch of exciting new releases coming out this summer, but it's been a little fallow in the meantime.  So how about we take a look at Claudio Fragasso's Zombie 4: After Death?  Just for fun, and also because I recently realized something about it that doesn't seem to get mentioned much in relation to this title.  And hey, it's a wacky and under-appreciated little flick.  Heck, now that I think about it, I'm surprised we haven't done this one before.

VHS cover from
LastRoadReviews

Zombie, or Zombi, is one of those movie franchises that frequently don't connect, like Demons or House, where distributors would just slap the title on unrelated movies as a selling point.  Not that they're all disconnected.  I don't think anyone reading this needs me to explain that Zombie was titled Zombi 2 in Italy because it was Fulci's unofficial sequel to Dawn Of the Dead, which was titled Zombi in Italy.  Then Fulci eventually made a sequel to that, which was called Zombi 3, although they're all very loose sequels with no connecting characters or story lines.  But then again, you could say that about Romero's original trilogy, too.  So okay, they're sequels enough.  At least until you somehow get Jess Franco's Christina, Princess of Eroticism getting sold as Zombie 4, Joe D'Amato's Killing Birds as Zombie 5, Absurd as Zombie 6, and it's like okay, this is just a free-for-all of shameless marketing where any film on the planet can get a Zombie slapped on the box.  Apparently there was a whole other run in Australia, too, where different unrelated horror movies got retitled into the Zombie catalog, like Panic and Dawn Of the Mummy.

But After Death could be said to legitimately bear the Zombie 4 moniker, and is probably the most righteous heir you'd find.  Fragasso (and Bruno Mattei) finished Zombi 3 when Fulci's film, coming aboard as both co-writer and director.  And he made this the year after, filming it during the off hours at night while making Strike Commander 2, even reusing some of the same sets and props of Zombi 3.  The ensemble machine-gun toting collection of mercenaries and civilians getting thrown together as the film's protagonists feel an awful lot like the soldiers and civilians who find themselves hiding out in a similarly abandoned hotel in Zombi 3.  Macho tough guys gunning down zombies in the misty greenery of the Philippines feels very much like the last entry, except it's faster-paced without Fulci's somber atmosphere.  And the voodoo stuff harkens back to Zombi 2.  This movie was originally filmed simply as After Death with the Zombie 4 added later, but unlike Franco's Zombie 4 or any of the later subsequent films dubbed Zombie, this one really belongs.

And it's also just a better film than it gets treated as, even by horror fans.  I mean, sure it's goofy as heck, but that's more than half the fun.  The story's convoluted and the acting's cheesy, but it takes itself just seriously enough, moves at a tight clip, and delivers all the goods with heaps of zombie action, gory kills, and colorful imagery.  It's got a vibrant soundtrack, to say nothing of the rock anthem title song.  Sure, Jeff Stryker may be a porn star in practically his only "mainstream" movie, but he's not a hair out of place in the Fragasso/ Mattei oeuvre.  And honestly, this is one of the most entertaining films from either of them, right up there with their best work.  It's also one of those "fast zombie" flicks people ignore in their rush to credit Danny Boyle with inventing what came decades before him.

Scroll to the bottom of this page for a fun, first-hand account of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans during the shoot by actor Nick Nicholson, who played the meanest mercenary.

There have been plenty of DVDs of After Death around the world, going back to the Laser Paradise and Vipco days.  Shriek Show released what was probably the definitive SD edition back in 2002, which they also included in their 2005 Zombie Pack set.  But it was a whole new ball game in 2018, when Severin (quickly followed by 88 Films) released it on BD.  And this is what I never realized about this film until recently.  Severin's case describes it as "uncut for the first time ever in America."  No comments or write-ups I'd seen made much of it and so I didn't really take notice, but looking at it now, yeah, this is a longer cut.  Every previous version I've ever owned was missing stuff - who knew?  Before Severin released this complete version on blu, it had only been available on a 2009 German DVD from X-Rated.  We'd been missing out, but no longer.  There are three restored scenes.

restored scene #1.

22:50 - 24:56: After the boat docks, the Stryker trio stop and talk about the magically altered nature on the island and what happened to the people who'd been there before them. Then they go on hiking, which is where the shorter version syncs back up for a bit.

25:56 - 27:00: But only for a bit, because the longer version cuts back to the rest of the team at the dock, who argue about not wanting to venture off, but they can't fix their boat with what they've got.  Eventually they agree they have no choice and head off, which is where the short version syncs up again.

30:54 - 32:12: After mercenaries' first conflict with the zombies, the short version cuts back to the Stryker trio, but the longer version follows this other group longer through the woods.  They discover their boat has mysteriously vanished and decide they need to find a hospital, and the girl admits she's been on this island before.

So I can see why they were cut.  It's talking, not action.  And if you just have your eye on the pacing, these moments might seem like ballast.  But for all the complaints about how this film is nonsensical, restoring some of this exposition helps, well, at least a little bit.  And it really doesn't slow this film down much; it's already zipping by at rocket speed.  At the end of the day, they're nothing thrilling, but it's definitely better to have them than not.  Although they're not the only reason to upgrade.  Severin also presents us a fresh transfer from a brand new 2k scan, and just have a look.

2002 Shriek Show DVD top; 2018 Severin BD bottom.

What a difference - Severin gives us a new 2k scan, and Shriek Show gave us a washed and dupey SD transfer, so the disparity is remarkable.  Shriek Show's transfer is 1.66:1, while Severin's is 1.85:1.  And okay, you might say, Severin just matted it down to something a little more conventional, but no.  Actually Severin's scan reveals more picture along the sides, instead.  The colors are much stronger and more distinct, especially compared to the DVD - it turns out that guy's shirt was blue this whole time!  Also, like most of Shriek Show's otherwise carefully presented discs, the DVD is interlaced.  Of course the blu whisks that away, and replaces it with strong and natural film grain.  Seeing this movie look like an actual movie might help raise it in the estimation of the naysayers, too.

Both editions only include the English dub (yes, there was an Italian language version... that X-Rated DVD had it) in its original mono mix with removable English subtitles.  Severin's is in DTS-HD.

Shriek Show had some decent extras - more, in fact, than it hinted at on the back of its case.  According to the packaging that only mentioned their interview with Claudio Fragasso, which was actually rather good.  But pop in the disc, and it also had interviews with co-stars Stryker and Candice Daly, which are both must-watches despite the latter being awfully short.  It also had the theatrical trailer and, like most Shriek Show discs, a bunch of bonus trailers.

And Severin has taken the interesting choice of mostly replacing those old extras with new versions.  They dropped the Fragasso and Stryker interviews, but conducted fresh ones with both of them.  Their Fragasso interview is better, and also includes his wife and frequent co-writer screenwriter Rossella Drudi.  As for the Stryker interviews, it's kind of a tie; I kind of miss him posing with his sports car.  The Daly interview is the same one from the DVD except re-edited - tightened up with a lot more film clips mixed in.  And the trailer's still here.  Besides that, they've also uncovered a great little clip of (subtitled) behind-the-scenes footage.  And the first pressing of 3,000 copies also comes with a soundtrack CD, which yes, starts with the great "After Death" rock tune, and then follows with all the incidental score from the film.

So yeah, new 2k scan of the mostly unavailable uncut version with improved extras?  If this one's not in your collection yet, it ought to be.  And as of this writing at least, Severin still seems to have the first run with the soundtrack CDs in stock.  That's crazy to me; this title should have a much broader horror fan-base.  It's such beautiful zombie schlock.

Serious Upgrades for Silly Movies: Troll and Troll 2

Boy, I can't believe I double-dipped on Troll and Troll 2. You know what? It was the new documentary on Troll 1 that got me. I just had to see it; I couldn't live with my barebones DVD. But actually, now that I've done it, I'm glad I did. I was expecting essentially the old MGM DVD transfers just with better compression because they were being placed on an HD disc, but I was wrong. This is a big improvement.

Troll 2 is downright infamous as one of the better known, "worst movie ever made"s. It's earned a reputation for itself right alongside Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Room and Manos: The Hands of Fate. And it's funny how it's eclipsed the first one, because that was the much bigger film in its day. Troll is a fun Empire Pictures film, with actually some of their biggest production value outside of Re-Animator movies. It's got some top, high end special effects that still hold up to this day (and some cheap ones, too), a great cast including Michael Moriarity, Julia Louise Dreyfus, June Lockhart and even Sonny Bono, and a whimsical story with some genuine laughs.

It's a first time direction by John Carl Buechler, who'd made his rise as a special effects artist (hence the amazing looking troll in this picture), and has gone on to a lengthy career directing low budget films (most famously, probably, would be Friday the 13th part 7, the one with the psychic girl). And I get a big kick out of it. This is really the film I bought the Troll/ Troll 2 combo for, both when I got the original DVD, and now the blu. Sure, it's silly and some of the characters are playing cartoons more than actual humans, but it all somehow works. Or mostly works. Enough works to keep up the whole movie afloat, anyway. Buechler went on to make Ghoulies 3, which has very similar looking creatures, but none of the charm. Troll is actually a good little movie.

Troll 2, on the other hand, is a film you laugh at rather than with. It's an Italian, well, I was going to say Italian knock-off, but to it's credit, it's story is actually fairly original. It's written and directed by Claudio Fragasso and his wife, who gave us Zombie 4 and Monster Dog. But as cheesy as those films were, Troll 2 takes it too unparalleled ridiculous heights. And it has no connection to Troll; it was originally filmed under a different title, and only given the Troll 2 moniker by its US distributor that had the rights to the Troll name. There are no trolls in Troll 2.

I first saw Troll 2 on VHS when it was a brand new release, and too be honest, I got what was funny about it. It largely boils down to the fact that Fragasso was shooting in American with English speaking actors, so their dialogue actually wasn't replaced in post like every other Italian film of its type. And Fragasso didn't speak English, so everyone sounds completely ridiculous. That, plus it's a ridiculous script. But I was pretty much over it after my first viewing. However, it's ever-increasing reputation has lead it to cross my paths multiple times, from double feature DVDs to Rifftrax. It's high camp, it's a goof. But I'd be fine if I never saw it again.

So yeah. Troll's one of those movie I was always asking about on forums, "when's Troll going to come out on DVD?" It seemed like kind of a big movie (by indie horror standards) not to have a release, but it sure took its time coming out. Eventually, MGM released it as a barebones DVD in 2003 as a double-feature with Troll 2, so I snatched it up. Thanks to its rising cult status, Troll 2 got an upgrade to blu-ray in 2010, but I wasn't enough of a fan to bother with it. But when Scream Factory got the pair of them as a blu-ray double feature, and this time with some solid special features, I had to double-dip. And I think I mentioned at the top that this was an impressive upgrade, right? Well, let me show you what I meant.

2003 MGM DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory blu-ray underneath.

Whoa boy, what a difference! Even after watching the blu-ray, I wasn't expecting that broad a distinction until I went back and looked at my old DVD. It looks like they've laid a thin layer of wax paper over the film or something, it's so soft, dull and smoothed out. It's almost like video tape. Meanwhile the blu is so much bolder, sharper and detailed, with a solid grain pattern. Both versions are slightly matted to 1.85:1, but the one thing you can say for the DVD is that it has a little more picture on all sides. But if that transfer is the price I have to say for those four slivers, no thanks!

2003 MGM DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory blu-ray underneath.

The difference isn't quite as dynamic on Troll 2, but it's still pretty much the same thing. The DVD looks substantially softer and duller than the blu; it's definitely a lot more than the same master slapped onto a blu. You'll also notice in the second set of shots that someone's clearly adjusted the framing, and for the better, and they've got a little more image on the sides.

MGM's DVD was also a 2-sided disc, so it's nice not to have to live with that hassle any longer. Scream Factory has also boosted the old 2.0 tracks to DTS-HD Master audio tracks, and kept the optional English subtitles for both films, though it dropped the Spanish and French ones.

For extras, the DVD just had trailers (one for each film), but Scream Factory has added a few really nice pieces. They've got the trailers, too; and they added a photo gallery for the first film. But they've also given the film one big new thing apiece. On Troll one, is a substantial, almost hour-long documentary on the making of the film, including interviews with Buechler, producer Charles Band, Richard Band (who made one of his best scores here), the writer Ed Naha (I wish more DVDs would bring the writer into the supplements), and visual effects artists John Vulich, Kevin Kutchaver, Linda Drake, Jim Aupperle, James Belohovek, and Gino Crognale. It's a really great telling of the making of this film; the only thing they could've added is cast interviews, but I imagine this particular cast would be pretty tough to wrangle up.

Then Troll 2 has an all new commentary by stars George Hardy and Deborah Reed. Hardy played the father and the commentary is 90% his; he even calls it "my audio commentary." But they've added it comments from Deborah Reed, who played the goblin queen, during her scenes or when Hardy runs low on steam. It's a little awkwardly edited, you can sometimes hear someone whispering to Hardy during Reed's portions, which I think they just forgot to cut out, and they try to make it sound like the two actors are in the room together, but they're clearly not. That said, however, what they did succeed in doing is making a very affable, entertaining commentary track that stays upbeat and engaging the entire time. And even hardcore fans who've seen the documentary will learn a thing or two.

Did I mention a documentary? Yeah, there was a great one released by Docurama in 2009 called Best Worst Movie. And, if you got one of the first 5000 copies (5000 is a lot for a film like this; I'm sure they're still available as of this writing), you got it as a bonus disc. It's directed by the guy who played the main kid in the movie, and centers primarily on George Hardy, but really talks to just everybody, from the rest of the cast to Fragasso and his wife. Much more than just a DVD feature with talking head interviews, it follows them around the world as they tour with the film and visit the original locations and find the cast in their homes. It's a pretty great little film, even if you have no interest in Troll 2; it's just a really well-made documentary.

Now one real concern I had was whether Scream Factory's DVD of Best Worst Movie was going to include all the extras on the original Docurama DVD, because it had a lot. Some of it went a little overboard (like a music video or a 90 minute audio-only Q&A with the documentary filmmakers). But a lot of the deleted scenes and extra interviews were as entertaining as what was in the film itself. Heck, in the film they never got to talk to Deborah Reed, but she's in the extras and gives a great interview. Well anyway, I'm happy to report, yes it's all here, too.

2010 Docurama DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory DVD below.

And it's the same transfer on both discs, too. It's literally the exact same disc, with the original label on it and everything. If you put the Docurama disc into your player, watch half the movie, then take it out and put in the one that came with the Scream Factory blu, it will ask if you want to continue where you left off. It's the exact same disc.

By the way, I've read a few grumblings of disappointment that this is just a DVD and not a blu-ray. But this looks to be shot on standard definition digital video, with unfortunate interlacing baked right into the footage and all. So I don't think there'd be much use in putting this on an HD disc. So just enjoy the film; it looks as good as it can.

So, if you're a fan of either of these films (though I'd understand if you weren't), I highly recommend this release. Scream Factory has a done a stellar job, with great new extras and transfers that blow the old DVD out of the water (I understand that barebones Troll 2 blu-ray from MGM uses the same master, though, and looks virtually identical). And definitely try to get one with Best Worst Movie included (the back cover says explicitly that the doc is included, and there's a sticker on the front, so it's easy to tell), because it's probably actually the best of the three films. But if you can't, you can always get this blu-ray and the Docurama DVD separately. As of this writing, it's selling super cheap on Amazon. This is a double-dip I'm really pleased with.