Grindhouse's The Beyond Truly Goes Beyond

There have been a few delays and push backs, but Grindhouse's new blu-ray special edition set of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond has finally reached my doorstep. But it's been worth it, because you know what they say about rushing greatness. Grindhouse originally released this on DVD through Anchor Bay in a very cool, special edition collector's tin in 2000. But now, fifteen years later, it's time to see how they've topped themselves.

Update 3/31/15 - 4/30/25: Wow, my first update to span a full decade.  I can't believe I've been at this that long already; it doesn't feel like it.  Anyway, y'all know what this is; we're taking a look at Grindhouse's new 4k restoration 6-disc UHD/ BD/ DVD/ CD mega-set.

The Beyond, of course, is pretty much THE Lucio Fulci film. I mean, hardcore zombie or giallo fans might prefer Zombi or Don't Torture a Duckling. And serious long-term fans who've watched all his classics a dozen or more times might have slowly edged City Of the Living Dead up over this through the years. But by and large, The Beyond is generally considered his masterpiece. Set in New Orleans, the plot is practically indescribable. Hell just literally breaks loose and every horrific supernatural thing that can go wrong does go wrong, from spider attacks to psychics to zombies. It's very gruesome and thankfully takes itself entirely seriously; but it's still got a very colorful, fantastic tone that gives the proceedings a soft, inoffensive edge. It's just great music and great lighting capturing one captivating set-piece after another. And giving this film almost an action here with David Warbeck gives the film a bit of adventure film flavor.  It's pretty much the ultimate.

1) 2000 Grindhouse DVD; 2) 2011 Arrow DVD; 3) 2015 Grindhouse BD;
4) 2025 Grindhouse BD; 5) 2025 Grindhouse UHD; 6) 2025 Grindhouse DVD.

The 2.32:1 anamorphic DVD looked pretty fantastic when it was released in 2000, but as time passed and technology improved, it was starting to look a little stiff. There's no denying us fans were hoping for a new 2k or 4k scan in 2015, since it's pretty much the crown jewel in Grindhouse's catalog. But even using the old HD master, their first blu showed us how much better the film could look. A color re-balance certainly helps a lot here, but it's just a cleaner, more natural and detailed image all around. With a wider, 2.41:1 AR, we also seem to have a little extra picture information on all four sides.  Oh, and Arrow's 2.35:1 DVD (which, for the record, is the corrected version, not the original recalled one with the black & white intro) leans more towards the red, closer to Anchor Bay, but milder, and keeps that extra info around the edges.

On this new 4k version, which you can watch with the intro properly sepia-toned or in full color, Grindhouse has settled on 2.39:1, and it's clearly the most colorful version.  Even if we just compare the 1080p blus, rather than the Dolby Vision/ HDR UHD, The Beyond has a bolder, more saturated look.  Just look how blue that morgue is now.  Grain is much better captured here than on the old blu, which was far ahead of the DVDs, but still somewhat patchy and pixelated.  Also, just for fun, and perhaps to show off how impressive their new restoration is by comparison, Grindhouse has included an SD/ DVD transfer of the 7 Doors of Death cut, too.  It's 1.50:1, with the sides lopped off.  Even for DVD, it's soft, with grain only represented by vague lumpiness, and presumably taken from an old tape master, with color timing closest to the AB disc.  It's a fun curiosity piece.  But the UHD is gorgeous.

A lot of times, Italian horror has been given to us in English dub only, and we had to wait for fancier re-releases to get our choice of the English or  Italian tracks.  But Anchor Bay gave us both right away, including the original English mono, a stereo and a 5.1 mix, plus the Italian mono with optional English subtitles.  What can I say, The Beyond's always been recognized as special.  Interestingly, Arrow kept all three versions of the English audio, and the subs, but ditched the Italian track.

In 2015, Grindhouse brought it back, bumping up the English mono and 5.1 mixes to DTS-HD, but keeping the Italian lossy.  There was also some discussion on the blu-ray.com forums of little pops in the audio of the original English mono track. I've listened for myself and yup, I do hear them. And I can also confirm that they're not there on Anchor Bay's mono track. It's a little disappointing, and I do wish they weren't there; but it feels very minor especially within the context of the audio track generally feeling much fuller and stronger overall.  And anyway, it's been cleaned up on the new 2025 set, so forget about it!  Now we have the original mono, stereo, 5.1 and Italian mono all in DTS-HD, and the English subtitles.  Some online listings mention two sets of English subs - standard and SDH - but the SDH are not actually on here.  It's just the one set of "dubtitles" that match the English audio, plus subtitle tracks for two of the audio commentaries.

...And perhaps most notably (although I don't want to under0state just how excited I am to finally get both mono tracks lossless), Grindhouse has included The Composer's Cut!  Strictly speaking, it's the same cut of the film, but it's been entirely re-scored by original composer Fabio Frizzi with all new music.  It's a little calmer and more noodley - I prefer the original myself - but it's interesting to hear the variations.  Fans should be excited to at least check it out once.  And Grindhouse gives us the best of both worlds, because we get the choice, with the new track also in DTS-HD 5.1.

But let's talk about extras! If you weren't already bowled over by Grindhouse's updated presentation of the film itself, you certainly will be by the massive amount and quality of features they've delivered. There's so much, in fact, I've decided to itemize everything on the original DVD and each subsequent set:

Anchor Bay DVD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Images From the Beyond: a collection of stills galleries (less interesting) and video (more interesting), including a short interview with Fulci, a short clip of David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl at a convention, Darvid Warbeck speaking at a convention, and Lucio and Warbeck doing a Q&A
• US, International and German trailers
• The opening sequence in color
• Necrophagia music video
• Easter Eggs) 7 Doors of Death trailer and a trailer for Cat In the Brain (there also seems to be another highlight-able link for a third easter egg on the second page of special features that doesn't actually work)

Grindhouse BD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Intro by Catriona MacColl
• 48 minute documentary on the making of The Beyond
• A 2-part phone interview with Fulci
• Interview with Larry Ray
• Interview with Catrina MacColl
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Gianetto De Rossi and Manrizio Trani
• Footage of Catriona MacColl speaking at a convention
• Footage of David Warbeck speaking at a convention
• Interview with Terry Levene
• The opening sequence in color
• US, International and German trailers + US rerelease trailer
• US TV spots
• US re-release radio spot
• An overwhelming number of stills galleries
• 14 bonus trailers for Grindhouse's other titles
  
• Easter Eggs: the full set of Images From the Beyond extras (some of which are duplicated on disc 2 of this blu as well), a series of brief interviews (23 minutes worth) from Paura, the 7 Doors of Death trailer, a 10+ minute audio track of whispering and moaning(?), the Necrophagia music video, and a brief but nice featurette comparing location shots from the films to footage of them as they look now

Grindhouse UHD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• Commentary by Sergio Salvati
• Commentary by Gianetto De Rossi
• Intro by Catriona MacColl
• Intro to the Composer's Cut by Fabio Frizzi
  
• Interview with scholar/ director of Fulci for Fake Simone Scafidi (over an hour long!)
  
• Interview with Fabio Frizzi about the new Composer's Cut
• Footage of Frizzi and his band performing the Composer's Cut live, with an introduction by Bruce Campbell(!)
  
• 48 minute documentary on the making of The Beyond
• A 2-part phone interview with Fulci
• Interview with Larry Ray
• Interview with Al Cliver
  
• Interview with Catrina MacColl
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Newer interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Michele Mirabella 
• Interview with Dardano Sacchetti
• Interview with Giorgo Mariuzzo
• Interview with stuntmen Ottaviano Dell'Acqua & Massimo Vanni
• Interview with Ugo Celani
• Ugo Celani outtake
  
• Interview with Pino Colizzi
• Interview with Michele Romagnoli (Fulci's biographer, who worked on a draft of The Beyond 2 with Fulci)
  
• Interview with poster artist Emanuele Taglietti (though for the record, he just made the new poster on the cover of this box, not the original movie poster)
  
• Interview with Gianetto De Rossi and Manrizio Trani
• Footage of Catriona MacColl speaking at a convention
• Footage of David Warbeck speaking at a convention
• Footage of Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck speaking together at a convention
• Footage of Lucio Fulci and David Warbeck speaking at a convention (a separate, 46 minute video, not the short one from Images From the Beyond)
  
• Brief footage of Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck at yet another a convention
• Interview with Terry Levene
• The Beyond In the Age of Aquarius, a new 40-minute featurette talking to Terry Levene and editor Jim Markovic on the 7 Doors of Death cut
• Terry Levene outtake 
• Jim Markovic outtake
• US, International and German trailers + US rerelease trailer
• US TV spots
• US re-release radio spot
• More 7 Doors of Death spots
  
• An overwhelming number of stills galleries
• The bonus trailers for Grindhouse's other titles
• All the old Easter Eggs: the full set of Images From the Beyond extras, the interviews from Paura, the 7 Doors of Death trailer, that 10+ minute audio track of whispering and moaning (yes, it's back), the Necrophagia music video, and the location featurette

Everything in purple is new to the blu-ray and everything in red is new to the UHD.  That is an increasingly massive and impressive load of features. You might even say overwhelming. Many of the interviews are quite lengthy and they're all substantial. Grindhouse has linked up with Freak-O-Rama, who've done a bunch of excellent features for high profile Italian horror titles from Scorpion and Code Red, among others.  And you might recall that UK's Shameless Screen Entertainment released a blu-ray of The Beyond in 2020 with a bunch of exclusive extras, including a Salvati commentary (actually recorded for a French DVD back in 2004, but Shameless were the first to translate it to English) and an interview with actor Michele Mirabella, who had never been on a Beyond disc before.  Well, Grindhouse licensed those and they're all here on the new 2025 set.  The only extras of note they didn't snag are Arrow's, so let's look at those.

Arrow DVD extras:

• Commentary by David Warbeck and Catriona MacColl
• A second commentary by Antonella Fulci (Fulci's daughter) and moderator Callum Waddell, which I'd recommend to hardcore fans only.
• Intro by Cinzea Monreale
• Interview with Cinzea Monreale
• Q&A session with Catriona MacColl
• Interview with Terry Levene (perhaps it's worth noting that Grindhouse trimmed over a minute out of Naomi Holwill's opening animation, so theirs is technically shorter, though the actual interview length is the same)
  
• Interview with Gianetto Di Rossi
• 25 minute featurette where Roberto Forges Davanzati, Daria Nicolodi, Antonella Fulci, Dario Argento, Giannetto De Rossi and Sergio Stivaletti remember Fulci (not the same as the one on GH's disc; this set of different interviews purports to come from a future Paura part 2).
  
• Interview with Catriona MacColl
• The opening sequence in color
• International trailer
• Easter Egg: Darren Ward remembering David Warbeck - a brief (4+ minutes) interview with the director of Warbeck's final film, Sudden Fury

Their collection is pretty impressive in its own right. Some of what's here stems from the old Anchor Bay release, and a little of what originated here got ported to the Grindhouse set. But still everything in blue is exclusive to the Arrow release, which as you can see, is most of it. Admittedly, some of it is pretty redundant. Both discs interview Cinzae Monreale, for example, the actress who played the blind woman. They're different interviews, filmed at different times in different locations; but naturally she winds up saying most of the same stuff in both. You'll hear some of the same anecdotes almost word for word from Catriona MacColl - her stuff was already getting redundant on the Grindhouse disc, now it's more. But other features, like the exclusive interviews with cameraman Roberto Forges Davanzati or the Darren Ward easter egg, are more original and rewarding even if you've already got the Grindhouse set.

Here's how it looks in the dark.

And usually I don't devote too much space to the packaging, but how can I not here? The original DVD release came in a very cool tin case. Inside, it also had six international poster replicas and a chapter insert of cardstock, and a fat, 48-page booklet. And it was a numbered limited edition of 20,000 copies. Holy cow, it's crazy to think 20,000 was a tight limited pressing in the days of Twilight Time making 3000 of even their Oscar-winning titles, and Code Red still shifting units of a blu they only made 1000 editions of two years prior.

Anyway, it might seem hard to top that DVD tin, but I think Grindhouse at least equaled it. Their blu-ray set comes in a very cool, glow in the dark slipcover. You've gotta charge it up under some strong light; but when you do, it looks pretty great. It also comes with a slimmer booklet and a bonus CD of the film's soundtrack, which has also been remastered. That's something a lot of fans would pay the cost of this blu for all on its own.

Meanwhile, the Arrow set comes in their usual (in those days) windowpane slipcover with reversible artwork inside, a substantial, 32-page blu-ray sized booklet and a fold-out poster.

And now Grindhouse's UHD set is a thick, side-loading slipbox housing a fancy book designed to resemble the book of Eibon, which looks really cool, but unfortunately houses all the discs in cardboard sleeve pages.  Pray you don't get any scratched!  Anyway, there's also a 100-page full-color book, which includes multiple essays and gallery pages, but also Sacchetti's complete, original treatment.  And they include another soundtrack CD, this time of the new  Composer's Cut score (hang on to your previous soundtrack CD for the original score, which thankfully came in its own separate sleeve, so you can just slot it into this box).  And if you ordered one of the first 3,500 copies direct from Grindhouse you got a fun bit of swag: the Eye of Eibon(!), a creepy little eyeball that always looks up no matter how you turn it.

The new set's a little pricey ($66.66), but with all its versions (with the intro in color or sepia, the Composer's Cut, your choice of English or Italian, the 7 Doors of Death cut), this massive 6-disc set looks like it'll be the definitive release of this true horror classic for a long time to come.  And you can't say it doesn't include enough content to justify the expense.  Before the update, I used to recommend picking up the Arrow, too, for their exclusive extras; and you still might want to if you're a die-hard collector, or the sort of hardcore fan who has the mark of Eibon tattooed somewhere on your body.  But at this point, Grindhouse's edition is so exhaustive, it would take the dedication of a druidic scholar to come away from it wanting to watch any more special features.

The Latester and Greatester Night Of the Creeps

Night Of the Creeps came out right on the cusp of me getting a blu-ray player. So it's one of those last titles I bought the DVD of instead, and then quietly regretted it for years. I'd keep looking up online blu-ray prices online every so often, hoping it would suddenly go on sale for some bargain basement price... Who wants to double-dip on a DVD they just bought new for a simultaneous release with no new features or anything? But it was also annoying being stuck with the standard def version of a favorite horror film I'd grown up on since I was a kid. Well, finally, Umbrella Entertainment has come along with a brand new blu-ray edition, which isn't all that far beyond the Sony's 2009 blu-ray. But it is an improvement, the best edition yet, and that was enough for me to shake loose the old DVD.

Update 5/1/16 - 8/19/19: Another new edition??  Yes, Scream Factory has picked up Night Of the Creeps so they could release it this summer with a giant action figure or whatever.  Or you can also just buy their new 2-disc set by itself... but would you want to?  It's Update Week, so there's literally no better time to find out!

Update 4/2/25: Scream Factory circles back around to bring us Creeps in 4k.  It's a proper UHD release, with a couple new extras to boot, but they dropped something significant.

Night Of the Creeps is pure crazy, 80's fun. Slugs from outer space turn a bunch of college students into homicidal zombies. It's full of fun set pieces and shifting tones, but it never loses sight of its characters, or stepping too far into the comedy that it stops being effective as a horror film. Tom Atkins steals the show as a Mike Hammer-esque detective who's finally gone off the deep end, but the three young leads, including European Vacation's Jason Lively, are all charming and well-rounded enough to carry the heart of the picture. Round that off with a great supporting cast, including Dick Miller and David Paymer, a catchy soundtrack, clever script and the special effects work of KNB, and you've got yourself a genuinely great movie.

It's a delicate balancing act that takes some serious talent to pull off, but first time director Fred Dekker rises to the challenge. He went on to create another masterful blend of humor, heart and horror with Monster Squad, but that one's a little too kiddie for me. It's like a well made Disney film; I can appreciate how well made it is on all these different levels, and even laugh at some of the jokes; but give me something a little edgier and more adult. And in fact he already had given it in Night Of the Creeps. Unfortunately his third film, Robocop 3, was a colossal misfire and he hasn't directed since.  It's such a shame, because the world could've used a string of similar, smart and atmospheric cult films over the past two decades.

And he has started making a bit of a comeback working with Shane Black, co-writing a TV movie called Edge and the latest Predator sequel/ reboot, The Predator.  Okay, that one didn't turn out quite as many of us had hoped, but most recently he's done a short film called Dent that's fun and weird in the best way.  Somebody give this man another shot at a feature!

Night Of the Creeps took forever to come out on DVD; especially for such a beloved cult title. This was one of those titles where the laserdisc kept going for good money, because it was still the best release there was, well into the 2000s. I remember being really excited to find a bootleg of a high quality TV rip that also included the original ending, which was different than the one that had played on cable and VHS for all these years. So when the special edition DVD/ blu-ray was finally announced for 2009, with a heap of extras and the original ending restored, I was through the moon. And even more so when it turned out to be the official debut of Dekker's Director's Cut, with the original ending (and that's the only difference, by the way, between it and the regular theatrical cut). So I've got that DVD for us today. Then even better, I've got Umbrella's 2016 region B blu-ray special edition (which is also of the Director's Cut), with a little something extra over the US Sony blu.  Still not enough?  Okay, how about Scream Factory's latest 2019 2-disc BD set?  It's two discs because they include the director's cut and the theatrical cut, which includes the other ending most of us grew up on.  And finally, we've got Scream Factory's (mostly) upgraded 4k restoration on UHD.  One thing, though, Scream's done what they've been making a habit of lately, and dropping the additional cut that they'd originally included on their 4k upgrade.  So now we get the director's cut, but that's it.  No more theatrical.

Well, at least this time they picked the right cut.

1) 2009 Sony DVD; 2) 2009 Sony BD; 3) 2016 Umbrella BD;
4) 2019 Scream Factory theatrical BD; 5) 2019 Scream Factory director's BD;
6) 2025 Scream Factory BD; 7) 2025 Scream Factory UHD.

So we see that these subsequent Umbrella and Scream Factory blu-rays, at least until 2025, are essentially the same as the Sony.  Same framing (slightly matted to 1.85:1), same colors... same original master. And that's alright, because Sony made a pretty high quality release the first go around, so we weren't exactly gasping for an improvement.  Of course, they both trump the DVD, as there's naturally a compression difference. Detail is much clearer and more accurate here, with visible film grain as opposed to the digital mushiness on the DVD.  There's a bit more of a shift on Scream Factory than there was between Sony and Umbrella, but it's hard to declare one objectively better or worse than the others, and it's the kind of distinction you'll only see in zoomed-in screenshots anyway.

But in 2025, Scream Factory went back to the OCN for an all new 4k scan, and... even then it's not hugely different.  While still 1.85:1, you can see that the framing has shifted slightly in some shots.  Above, for instance, you'll notice the tops of the Ts are now visible in that "BETAS ARE BETTER" sign in the second set of shots.  And the colors have been adjusted.  In the first set of shots, you can watch that middle guy's sweatshirt turn more orange, and in general a purplish hue has been pulled to give more natural whites and greys.  That's a subtle improvement.  And the resolution is smarter.  Even just comparing the two BDs, edges are cleaner and grain goes from mushy to sharp.  And on the UHD, every speck of grain is fully accounted for, something you couldn't say for the earlier transfer, as impressive as it was for its time.  The upgrade may not be enough to make casual fans feel the spring for a new edition, but it is unquestionably an upgrade, so purists should be pleased.

There's an important distinction in the audio department, as well.  Sony's DVD, Sony's BD and Umbrellas BD, all feature a remixed 5.1 track, with the latter two in lossless DTS-HD.  Scream Factory (on their 2019 and 2025 editions) has the same track, too, but they're also the first to restore the original stereo track, in DTS-HD as well.  So that's pretty sweet.  All five sets also have optional English subtitles.

And now it's time to talk extras! Sony's release (both their DVD and blu have all the same bonus content) is pretty packed. There are two audio commentaries, one by Fred Dekker and one by the four lead actors, the latter of which is fun but pretty light on content. Every time Steve Marshall starts to an anecdote or bit of information, the rest of the cast interrupts him to keep laughing and kidding around. Then there's a great hour-long documentary, which is broken up into five sections and winds up interviewing pretty much everybody involved including Dekker, producer Charles Gordon, stars Jason Lively, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins & Steve Marshall, editor Michael Knue, effects artists Howard Berger, Robert Kurtzman & David Miller, and composer Barry De Vorzon. Then there's a featurette just dedicated to talking with Tom Atkins about his entire filmography, film by film. Then there are several deleted scenes used in the extended television version, plus the alternate ending most of us were familiar with before the director's cut. Plus there's a subtitle trivia track and the original theatrical trailer.

A shot from Dekker's incomplete film, Baton.

All of that, right down to the trivia track, has been carried over to the Umbrella release. All it's missing are a couple of autoplay bonus trailers and an annoying commercial for blu-rays. But it has one really nice new addition. It's a 32 minute HD featurette called Creator Of the Creeps, and it's primarily a sit-down interview with Dekker. This was made more recently than the other extras, but yes, he does cover a lot of the same ground he does on his commentary and in the documentary. But he has some new stuff, too, including his script for House. And one of the best parts is that, in both his previous commentary and interview on the doc, he talks about how a lot of the ideas and a couple of the lead characters for Night came from an independent science fiction film he started shooting but never finished called Baton. He only shot about five minutes of it, he says, but we get to see some of it for the first time here in this feature. So it's a little redundant, but still a pretty great new feature, and it's exclusive to this release. Umbrella's blu also has reversible cover art, with the original art shown above and this crazy original piece [right] on the reverse. Both of Sony's covers suck, so Umbrella gets an extra point there, too.

Horror's Hallowed Ground rocks!

But then a new contender came to town.  Scream Factory has everything from the Sony release, except technically for bonus trailers and the alternate ending, because of course, they have the entire second disc with that ending attached to their theatrical cut.  Then, they've also come up with a whole bunch of new stuff.  Mostly what they've added is a series of upbeat HD on-camera interviews, with Jason Lively, Alan Kayser who played The Bradster, Ken Heron who played the 50's kid who becomes the first zombie, Vic Polizos who played the coroner, Killer Klowns' star Suzanne Snyder, who played a bit part as a sorority sister, and editor Michael Knue.  They're all tightly edited and include many people left out of the documentary, so these are very rewarding additions.  Then there's a brand new episode of Horror's Hallowed Grounds, where they revisit almost all of the film locations, with Dekker and Lively showing up to add some additional backstory.  This version also includes reversible artwork and a slipcover that finally uses the classic cover art.  Kudos to Scream for not sticking us with more cheap comic book art.  If you look at all the covers up top of this page, you can watch the artwork slowly evolve from terrible to excellent.

Oh, and of course, you could've sprung for the deluxe limited edition version with the 8" action figure, plus a (rolled, not folded) poster and second slip cover.  About the only thing it doesn't have is Umbrella's still-exclusive Creator Of the Creeps.

And in 2025, yes, Scream carries over everything from before and adds even more, though honestly, it feels like they're stretching now.  First up is an audio commentary, which is almost more of a fan commentary than an expert one, by two younger filmmakers.  They engage in a lot of casual small talk and delve into some cliche commentary sand-traps like debating physical special effects versus CGI.  A lot of the info they provide is taken directly from the preexisting special features, and they get some things wrong in the transition.  But on the plus side, they have Suzanne Snyder along with them.  As you can imagine, she can't carry a whole commentary by herself, seeing as how she only has roughly 20 seconds of screentime in this.  But she has some good memories and a good attitude, so the three of them provide an easy listening experience, even if we're not learning anything new at this point.

And while they still don't have Umbrella's Creator Of the Creeps, they've conducted their own exclusive interview with Dekker called A New Breed of Terror, which runs just about as long.  And while they've ditched the theatrical cut, they did throw in that ending as a deleted scene.  This new release comes in a slipcover, too, which is better than those old ugly covers, but as good as the classic artwork from their last slip.  You could get a second, alternate slipcover (but it's worse) if you ordered it direct from Shout, which also would've netted you two posters and yes, another 8" Detective Cameron action figure, this time decked out in his white formal-wear dance attire from the famous dream sequence.

So yeah, we can no longer complain that Night Of the Creeps isn't well represented on home video.  I didn't recommend replacing your Sony blu for the Umbrella just for their one featurette, but now in 2025, there's no question which is the definitive version, and I think we've progressed enough now that it's worth upgrading to the UHD.  Getting both cuts in 4k would've been ideal, but this is the next best thing, with the preferable cut in 4k, the alternate ending as an extra, the most features and both audio tracks.

What's Going On In the Land Of the Dead?

Land Of the Dead is the fourth film in George Romero's historic Dead films.  It came out in theaters in 2005 and was released on DVD later that year, later hitting blu-ray in 2008.  So Scream Factory's brand new blu-ray edition, due to be released on Halloween, will actually be the film's second blu-ray release in the United States.  In addition to all new special features, they announced that their release will be a new 2k scan of the interpositive.  Great, right?  Well, the scuttlebutt surrounding this release is that despite being shot on film, it was completed digitally... because, after all, it's full of digital special effects.  And the 2008 blu was struck from that digital intermediate.  But to play the film in theaters, the DI was struck back to film, creating an IP that was then used to make prints.  So if Scream made a new scan of the IP, they'd actually be using a generation further removed and therefore of inherently lesser quality than the 2008 blu, presumably just for the sake of being able to announce "new 2k scan!" to fans who don't know any better.

...But is all of that accurate?  The theory sounds right based on what we know, but it still relies on speculation and presumption.  Do we know for a fact, for example, that the Universal blu was taken from the DI and not the IP, or are we just assuming?  And one interesting detail is that while all of Scream's announcements (on Facebook, their store website, etc) have clearly said "interpositive," the case itself repeatedly says "internegative."  But really, the best way to know which blu-ray came out better is to look carefully at both of them and see for ourselves.

Update 10/16/17 - 10/21/24: Scream has given us a fancy, new 3-disc UHD/ BD combo-pack.  This time the packaging says it's a "2024 4K Restoration From The Original Camera Negative."  Really?  So does that mean they scanned the original negatives and then re-finished all the digital effects?  You wouldn't think so.  Do they mean the "internegative" again, if that wasn't a mistake before?  Their listing on their website does correspond with the packaging, unlike last time.  I'd love to hear someone from Shout explain what was done, precisely, each time.  But in lieu of that, we can at least crack this sucker open and see how these discs look for ourselves.

If you've never even seen Land Of the Dead, well, I reckon you should if you're a horror fan.  Yeah, it's got a decidedly lesser reputation compared to the previous films in the series.  But then again, Day of the Dead enjoyed a pretty similar lesser reputation until being reappraised by fans and critics alike in more recent years.  And I think Land is due for a similar reevaluation; and Scream Factory including it in their collection may be the first sign of that happening.  I mean, for all the Walking Deads and Zombie Flesh Eaters we've had over the decades, this is the original, core zombie series that started it all, written and directed by the man himself.  Then, will we see the same thing happen for Romero's final two films, Diary and Survival, a few further years down the road?  Well, let's not go crazy.  But really, I think Land deserves more credit than it gets.

Not that I don't get the criticism.  First of all, some of the digital effects are shaky.  Romero's dead films are famous for having some of the greatest, cutting edge horror effects in the genre.  ...Up until this one.  There is still a ton of fantastic practical effects, but the digital blood and crazier CGI moments don't entirely blend in with the rest of the film.

And even more critical than the effects, the story is, well, awfully ambitious.  I mean, this is the only film set in the series that basically takes place in a sci-fi future.  Okay, technically you could say Day of the Dead has to be set a couple years ahead of the present in order to be able to present half the world as having already been overrun by zombies.  But it's basically contemporary people dealing with the situation the way contemporary people would.  Land, however, imagines a whole new, society that's developed after the world as we know it has crumbled.  And that's taking a big risk with a series that got most of its strength by tackling a supernatural horror in the most credible, authentic way possible.  The original Night Of the Living Dead was the most powerful "what would it be like if this unnatural horror actually happened to us in the real world right now?" that had ever been made up to that point, and arguably since.

Meanwhile, Land sets a scene in an underground saloon where Asia Argento is dressed in black leather wrestling two zombies in a cage match scored with Spanish rap music, while our other heroes have a shootout with a midget pimp dressed in purple shouting "they ruined my suit!"  One of the soldiers rides a skateboard in every single scene.  At this stage, the tone of the series has veered dangerously close to Escape From LA; so I can see why fans shunned this entry.  But if you can get past the most egregious moments, this film is actually pretty effective, both as a compelling zombie story with good, if not so subtle, social commentary, and in delivering genuinely atmospheric horror that also never skimps on the goods.  For the most part, it plays far straighter than Escape From NY, let alone LA.

Land's got a pretty great cast, too, including Dennis Hopper, Simon Baker The Mentalist, John Leguizamo who can be quite over the top but here gets it just right, and even Tom Savini, bringing back his character from Dawn Of the Dead for a cool cameo.  The score's effective, the film's shot really well, and George was finally able to bring his Dead Reckoning dream to life.  The story gives us a nice follow-through on the set-up of Bud from Day Of the Dead, and if you just want to see cool zombie kills, Greg Nicotero (who also has a cameo... in fact, this film is laden with cameos) and Howard Berger do their damnedest.  I guess this is one of those films like Halloween 3 or Hellraiser 3, where you have to let go of your expectations from the previous films in their series to appreciate; but if you can just do that, it's hard to imagine anyone not having a good time with this sequel.

A shot only in the theatrical cut.

Now, you may've noticed that Scream's giving us multi-disc sets.  That's not just because they're overflowing with extras (although they are), but because they've included two different cuts of the film: the R-rated theatrical version (92.54 minutes long) and the unrated director's cut (96.48 minutes long).  You might be wondering why anybody would bother with the shorter cut version.  Well, that's because the difference between the two versions amounts to more than just extra CGI blood squirts and extra frames of gut munching.  There are substantial changes made between the two edits, and not only does the unrated version also have extra lines of dialogue and a whole, long dramatic scene where Leguizamo fights a zombie in a high-rise, but the theatrical cut also has some alternative shots and tiny pieces not seen in the unrated version.  It can be rather confusing, and movie-censorship.com has even created two distinctly different comparisons of alternate Land Of the Dead cuts (here and here).  I carefully checked both, and can say that the latter is the one that accurately reflects the two different cuts on the Scream sets, while the other changes seem to be unique to the old, R-rated DVD.  So anyway, certainly the unrated version is the one you want to watch, but there's good reason to preserve both, and credit goes to Scream for doing so.

A scene only in the unrated cut.

And alright, now I'll finally stop beating around the bush and get into comparing the blu-ray releases.  I've also still got the original, widescreen unrated DVD, so I'll throw that one into the mix, too.  So that means we've got Universal's 2005 DVD, their 2008 blu (which also consists of the unrated director's cut) and both versions on Scream Factory's 2017 blu-ray set.  Both of Scream's 2017 transfers are taken from their 2k scan; but their unrated cut required HD inserts, because they weren't part of what played in theaters.  The shot above this paragraph, of Leguizamo and the butler, is one of those inserts, so you can see how it compares to the bulk of the film in the shots below.  Then, of course, we've got the 2024 release, which includes 1080p BD transfers of both cuts and the UHD of the unrated (they didn't put the theatrical cut on UHD), all of which they specify come from the new 4k restoration.

1) 2005 Universal DVD; 2) 2008 Universal BD; 3) 2017 SF theatrical BD;
4) 2017 SF unrated BD; 5) 2024 SF theatrical BD;
6) 2024 SF unrated BD; 7) 2024 SF unrated UHD.

So, the framing (2.35:1), color timing, etc is pretty much identical across the board.  Maybe the newer transfers are a smidgen cooler, and the 2024 scan pulls back to reveal a sliver more image around the edges.  Anyway, except for the inserts, addressed above, the two 2017 Scream Factory transfers are taken from the same source; but I threw them both in to be thorough.  And the same goes for the 2024s.  There are effectively no differences between the uncut and theatrical transfers.  Though interestingly, even though the shot appears in both cuts, they seemed to use different sources for the second set of shots above.  Watching this on a large (65") TV, though, I didn't notice the "seams" between between the newly scanned footage and the inserts at all.  The biggest difference in quality is of course the DVD, which naturally has a blurrier look.  Detail was definitely smudged off by the standard definition compression, which the Universal blu did a fine job of restoring, without any noticeable flaws like DNR or artificial edge enhancement.  But what about detail between that and the Scream blus?  That's what we really care about these days.  And, well, especially looking at the second shot there, I have to say the Scream blu looks sharper, with maybe a little extra detail drawn out of the heavy shadows.  Let's zoom in for a close-up.

Universal blu left; 2017 Scream Factory right.

Scream's transfer is definitely grainier.  But is that because it's a better scan, or just due to the fact that they used a more filmic source?  Or a combination of the two?  It doesn't appear that we're actually getting any new detail, though the added grain makes it look that way, though we haven't lost any either.  So at least it's not the downgrade some of us were fearing.  But now let's take a close look into the 2024 UHD.

2024 Scream Factory UHD.

Well, bye bye grain.  This looks like a return to the 2008 BD.  But that's a good thing if that grain was just the remnants of a later generation source, anyway.  Again, we don't seem to have had much of a gain or loss in detail.  It feels like we've sort of peaked once we jump from SD to HD.  But, with that said, the Dolby Vision HDR does give us some legit benefits on the UHD.  In fact, it's there in the 1080 BDs, too, just harder to see without bumping up the gamma.  There is definitely more detail now in the shadows, like the folds and creases in Baker's coat in that second set of shots, that wasn't there in any of the past releases.  And the contrast levels are a little more naturalistic.  So by clearing away the "fake" grain (in quotes because SF didn't actually add fake grain, which is a thing some labels have been said to do... it's just grain we probably don't want, as it comes from a lesser source and only interferes with the original image) and re-scanning in 4k, Scream really have given us a legit PQ upgrade, which they arguably failed to do in 2017, and delivered the best version yet.  But these are all very slight distinctions casual viewers won't even notice.

By the way, the audio options keep shifting with this flick.  The DVD gave us the choice subtle choice between DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks, with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.  Then the 2008 blu-ray dropped the Dolby, just giving us the DTS 5.1 in HD, along with the same subtitles and a Spanish dub.  In 2017, Scream Factory gave us the DTS-HD 5.1 track plus a new DTS-HD 2.0 stereo mix, as well as English subs.  And in 2024, they've carried all of that over, and also thrown in a new Dolby Atmos track.  So that's a net positive.

Universal's releases were already pretty swagged out with goodies, including probably the most important extra, a George Romero audio commentary (also with producer Peter Grunwald and editor Michael Doherty).  There are a few momentary lapses of dead air, but for the most part, it's everything you want it to be.  There are also a whole bunch of featurettes (Undead Again: The Making Of Land Of the Dead, A Day With the Living Dead, Bringing the Dead To Life, When Shaun Met George - a fun behind-the-scenes look at a cameo by the stars of Shaun Of the Dead, which was still pretty new at the time - Scenes Of Carnage, which is just a skippable montage of gory scenes from the film, Zombie Effects: From Green Screen To Finished Scene, Bringing the Storyboards To Life and Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call), that range from fifteen to as short as one minute.  There's also a few brief deleted scenes and bonus trailers, including one for a Land Of the Dead video game.  The blu-ray converted a couple of those features into picture-in-picture commentary with their funky U-Control gimmick, which is slightly annoying, but it's all the same stuff on either release.  The DVD also came in a nice slip cover.

Road To Fiddler's Green, the Land Of the Dead video game trailer.

Scream Factory has carried over all of that, even the stupid Scenes of Carnage montage (though not the video game trailer).  And they've also added plenty more.  There's now an additional audio commentary by four zombie extras (Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, plus Matt Blazi, Gleena Chao and Rob Mayr... I haven't listened to this one yet; I'll get back to you guys.  It's okay.  Very self-indulgent.  It would've made a great featurette, but they don't have enough to say to fill 97 minutes) and the additional television documentary, Dream of the Dead, which Roy Frumkes, director of the original Document Of the Dead, shot for the Independent Film Channel to promote the film.  This is apparently a slightly altered "director's cut" of the doc as opposed to what originally aired on television, that runs about twenty-five minutes and also includes its own collection of deleted scenes and audio commentary by Frumkes.  It's a great addition that nicely ties Land to the previous Dead films.

Then you've got new on-camera interviews with actors John Leguizamo, Robert Joy who played Charlie, Pedro Miguel Arce and a featurette that edits together interviews additional cast members Eugene Clarke, Jennifer Baxter, Boyd Banks and Jasmin Geljo.  Disappointingly, Baker and Argento gave Scream a miss; but Leguizamo was a good get.  Anyway, there's also a new photo gallery, the original theatrical trailer (surprisingly absent from the Universal discs), and a cool slip cover.  It also came in reversible artwork and included a poster if you ordered it directly from their site (and it's rolled; they stopped folding them!).

Scream's 2024 release doesn't have any new extras, but it's hard to complain given how packed their set already was; and they've hung onto all of it.  They've also got a better cover and slipcover, returning to the original poster art, which I appreciate.  Plus, if you order direct from their site, you can get two exclusive 18"x24" posters (yes, rolled) and a second, exclusive slipcover.

So at the end of the day, yes, Scream Factory's latest Land Of the Dead is an upgrade and the definitive edition going.  If you're going to pick this movie up, and you should, their new 2024 Collector's Edition is the one to get.  That said, if you've already got the 2017 edition... yes, this is still better.  Not so much in the resolution, but in the dynamic range.  Still, I'd prioritize upgrading other BDs in my collection to UHD before this one, especially since that one already netted you all the latest and legacy extras.  I was worried when this I saw this title get announced, but no, they didn't muck it up.  And, if anything, maybe they've corrected a slight misstep from their previous version.