Get Out (Our Very First DVD/ Blu-ray/ UHD Comparison)

Boy, it must look like I'm pretty late to the game reviewing Get Out in summer '18, right?  And hey, one thing I'm trying to do here is cover worthwhile releases from anytime, just so long as it's still compelling now.  If a DVD release from 2002 is still the best release a film's gotten, it's going up on display.  But there's a reason we're looking at Get Out today.  If you'll notice, I'm not just  putting up the DVD and the Blu-ray for comparison (although yes, they're on hand, too); we've got the 4K Ultra HD disc.  I've been tinkering and experimenting, trying to find a tenable workflow for capturing UHD screenshots in full resolution and the complete HDR color palette to make sure they represent exactly how the actual discs are displaying.  Let me tell ya, they sure don't make it easy!  You'll notice a lot of sites are stuck just including publicity stills or 1080p screenshots in their UHD reviews.  But I think we're finally there, and now 4k blus are officially on the table at DVDExotica.

Get out of there, Darius!

So what's this movie Get Out about, anyway?  It's about 3840 pixels wide in beautiful UHD, baby!  Sorry, sorry.  I'll contain myself.  Get Out is a very clever update of/ twist on The Stepford Wives, doing for racism what they did for sexism.  Or, strictly speaking, it's closer to Revenge Of the Stepford Wives or The Stepford Husbands, since those dealt with mind control and the original people still being "in there" as opposed to everyone being replaced by robots, like The Stepford Wives/ The Stepford Children.  But, don't let me saying that imply one invalidates the other.  That would be like saying why make Star Wars when we already had Hidden Fortress?  I think an argument could be made that younger audiences were perhaps a little overly impressed with Get Out's originality in particular, given that most of them were unfamiliar with those films that had tread this ground before.  But Jordan Peele's film maintains a very unique writer's voice which turns out to be one of its strongest selling points.  Plus, there's a key distinction in the antagonists' motivations, which I won't detail since I've already danced pretty close to spoilers already; but anybody reading this who's seen both films is probably already screaming it in their head.

Like a lot of great art, Get Out can be a little too complex to succinctly nail down by genre.  There was a bit of a controversy when the Golden Globes nominated it as a comedy, though with Lil Rel doing his schtick throughout the film, it's hard to deny the comedic elements are solidly in the mix.  And horror fans get touchy when you try to classify it as a thriller like its director prefers.  But it's all just meaningless semantics of classification in the face of a well-rounded work like this one.  It's got a killer cast, including Daniel Kaluuya, who's come a long way since Johnny English 2, and one of my favorites, Catherine Keener.  And it's got consistently beautiful cinematography, especially when viewed in HDR... Okay, okay!  There's no point in keeping up this pretense any longer, I need to get to the discs.

2017 US Universal DVD top; 2017 US Universal blu-ray mid;
2017 US Universal UHD bottom.

l to r: DVD, BD, UHD.

Framed at a full 'scope ratio of 2.39:1, there's a real distinction in clarity between the DVD and the blu.  Flicking between the two, the SD looks downright out of focus.  But in terms of the giant "4X SHARPER THAN HD" claim on the back of these 4k covers?  Well, yeah, the UHD's not just a much larger file, the increased detail is definitely there.  I'd say it's a wider leap from the DVD to the blu than the blu to the UHD, in terms of increased photo realism, but you can definitely see it coming even further to life in the UHD.  Of course the DVD is a mess, but look at the edges of the ketchup bottle, for instance, and see how much more blockily pixelated even the BD is compared to the smooth UHD.  But the conventional wisdom, and what I'd certainly agree with here, is that the bigger advantage to 4k Ultra HD discs is the HDR rather than the actual 4k resolution.  And yeah, you can really see how much bolder the colors are on the UHD.  Now, you might ask, couldn't you just boost the saturation on the blu's colors and have it look similar, and to some degree you could, but it definitely wouldn't be the same (I've actually played around with that haha).  The broader range of color, which you need a 4k screen to even fully see, is more vibrant and distinct.

The audio is a robust 5.1 mix, in DTS-HD on the blu and DTS:X on the UHD.  Each version also includes an English descriptive track for the visually impaired (a narrator describes all the action on-screen), and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.  The UHD also includes French, Portuguese and Spanish dubs, and although the case doesn't list it, the blu-ray also has the French dub.

The extras package is pretty strong here, too.  Jordan Peele gives a smart and engaging audio commentary, and also provides optional commentary on about a half hour's worth of deleted scenes, including a very different alternate ending (they were probably right to end it the way they did, but I'm glad we got to see this version, too).  There are some scenes very much worth checking out, as well as some runs of alternate takes that tend to go on and start to feel excessive.  You'll probably wind up skipping around rather than playing them all through.  There's a standard promo featurette with some soundbites and B-roll footage, and a brief, five minute Q&A session filmed before a screening.  There are a handful of bonus trailers that play at start-up, but not one for Get Out itself.  All versions feature all the extras except, as the UHD and blu-ray are sold together as a combo-pack, most of the extras are only on the blu and not the actual UHD disc.  Oh, and all versions also come in a slip cover.

Get Out's a great film.  It's easily the best thing Blumhouse has ever done (sorry, Incarnate), and despite being a film that very much had a distinct moment for itself, one that I'm sure will stand the test of time quite nicely.  It's an easy must-have.  And hey, now the gates are open for 4K Ultra HD discs on the site - woohoo!  But look for plenty more old DVDs, MIAs, imports and anything else that's still worth keeping in mind, too.  I've got a real long list of stuff I plan to cover, and I'm adding to it all the time...

Temper Your Enthusiasm for Return Of the Living Dead Part II (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)

1985's Return Of the Living Dead is a master class in effectively blending horror and comedy.  1988's Return Of the Living Dead Part II is not.  If you come into this expecting anything close to Dan O'Bannon's brilliant precursor, encouraged perhaps by the return of the film's two delightful leads, James Karen and Tom Mathews, you're in for a whopping disappointment.  Think of that major step down between Fright Night and Fright Night 2... not quite as bad as An American Werewolf In London and American Werewolf In Paris, but at least as steep as going from Halloween to Halloween 2.  But, hey, that doesn't mean there's absolutely no fun to be had.  Just set your expectations accordingly.

Directed by Ken Wiederhorn (Shock Waves), Return 2 really doesn't even try to thread the same needle between tones that O'Bannon.  It just leans into silly humor and being a little more kid-friendly (no more nudity, a twelve year-old protagonist).  It's still R, but this time we've wandered much further into Bud the Chud territory, where not only does it forgo the darker and more serious side for laughs, but most of said laughs fall flat on their face.  I mean poor, Philip Bruns looks like he was just cast for his resemblance to Don Calfa, am I right?  But he isn't allowed to do anything but clown and ham it up.  It's interesting that for Return 3, Brian Yuzna pulled more in the opposite way, creating a still somewhat light-hearted, but ultimately more earnest affair, which turned out to be a surprising return to form for the series.

But at the same time, this is not the complete messes that Returns 4 and 5 turned out to be.  You can argue against the creative decisions this movie made, and audiences world-wide would be right there with you; but ultimately this film mostly hit the notes it was trying to sound.  And for all the points where it lets you down - corny, unfunny gags that deflate the audience's involvement, attempts to repeat lines and moments from the first film that feel like heresy, and the completely unnatural way that kid was directed to deliver his lines - there's a good run of moments that succeed.  This film is filled with effects, most of which are quite good.  There are original zombie gags, like a woman with worms coming out of her face, where the worms lung forward when she attacks, or a really impressive scene where a zombie is blasted in half with a shotgun, and of course both halves are still in the game.  For all the jokes that don't work, which again is most of them, there are some that genuinely do.  As a kid, my friends and I used to quote "get the damn screwdriver out of my head" to each other all the time.  James Karen is still pretty great, and it is a nostalgic kick if nothing else to see him paired up again with Mathews, we get a fun early appearance by Twin Peaks' Dana Ashbrook, and the kid who played the lead bully is actually quite good and manages to be genuinely creepy when nothing else in this movie does.  The film's got a clean, attractive look with a somewhat rocking soundtrack.  If you can put the original film out of your mind, there's plenty of dumb fun to be had.

Now, Return 2 was originally released on DVD by Warner Bros back in 2004.  It was uncut, anamorphic widescreen and... not quite a special edition, but did have an audio commentary by the director and the kid who played the bully.  It just had one serious drawback, which we'll delve further into later, where the majority of the film's score was replaced with imitation music due to some licensing snafu.  So it was a little hard to get excited about that release, but unfortunately, it was pretty much all we had (foreign copies had the same problem).  Thankfully, Scream Factory has come around to finally do right by this film.  They're debuting the film in HD, with the original score restored (and the "fake" one to boot), and a whole bunch of new extras, turning it into a pretty loaded special edition due out in less than two weeks from now.  Still, remember my warning to not let your expectations run too wild...

2004 US Warner Bros DVD top; 2018 US Scream Factory blu bottom.

Let's start with the basics.  The DVD is completely full-screen at 1.78:1, while the blu is slightly matted to 1.85:1.  That's preferable, but we seem to have lost picture information around all four sides in the process.  It basically amounts to slivers, though, so no big deal.  You'll also notice a distinct shift in the color timing, with the DVD being cooler and the blu swinging into the reds.  I can't really say which is more accurate, and for the most part both discs play just fine, but there are at least some points, like the first set of comparisons above, where I prefer the DVD's timing, and the blu has a sort of hue washing out all the other colors.  Quibbles, though; and honestly, I prefer the blu's colors in the second set of shots, so the pendulum swings back and forth.  Anyway, I never felt while watching this on my television (as opposed to comparing screenshots on the PC, that is) where I felt the film looked "too red" or anything.

If there's any area to really knock this transfer down a grade point or two, it's the overall silky lack of detail.  Now curiously, the packaging for this film claims the transfer is both a "2K Scan From The Interpositive" and "created in 4K resolution at Warner Bros... from the original camera negative."  Both of these cannot be true at the same time, and looking at what we've got, I'd say the 2k scan of the interpositive is the correct one (plus, the 4k claim is only on the case, not the slipcover, while the 2k claim is on both).  And looking closely, I don't think there's any fault to be found in the 2k scan.  The film grain is very clear and authentic.  I think it's just an issue either of how the film was shot, or more likely just a lack of fine detail on the interpositive itself.  There's just not that much more to be gleaned than what we already see on the DVD.  To boil it down, I don't think there's anything wrong with this disc, and that Scream did their best to make it look as good as they possibly could given what they had to work with.  I'll be very surprised if a subsequent edition ever comes out from another label looking much better (barring a recovery of the OCN).  It's just not going to look all that impressive when excited fans pop it in their player or blow any HD fanatic's socks off.

A much bigger reason to get excited about the upgrade is in the audio department.  I mean, not only are we bumping the stereo mix up to DTS-HD (and both editions offer optional subtitles as well, by the way), but we're getting the original theatrical soundtrack that was on the VHS and laserdisc, but not the DVD edition.  And the difference is throughout.  I've seen references online to the scene where the dead rise out of the cemetery, and the music is absolutely different there, with real rock guitars in addition to the more synthy stuff.  But that's far from the only scene - almost the entire soundtrack has been replaced with another composer's work.  Only moments where a pop song or more of a library sting are used is the same.  Everywhere else it's been replaced.  And to be fair, the replacement soundtrack isn't terrible... nor is the original soundtrack a masterpiece in sonic horror; but the original soundtrack is definitely the better, preferable option.  And a few more dramatic differences in the soundtracks?  The replacement actually adds opening narration over the opening credits (which don't tell us much we don't find out directly in the film anyway), and original version originally ended with a cover of "The Monster Mash" over the closing credits, which the replacement completely discarded.  So yes, it's very nice to finally have the original soundtrack back.  And Scream went the extra mile to throw in the replacement version, too, so we get both.  👍

Another reason to get excited is definitely the special features.  Now, the original DVD had that commentary and the trailer, which have both been ported over.  The commentary is pretty good, clearly a composite edit with each participant recorded separately, but they both have some good stuff to say.  Scream Factory teams up with Red Shirt to add a whole lot more, though, including two more commentaries: one with co-star Suzanne Snyder (also of Killer Klowns From Out Space), where the moderator does most of the heavy lifting, and one with two film experts.  And there's a bunch of on-camera interviews, one with several members of the effects team, another with Wiederhorn, a very brief one with Troy Fromin, the extra who played the stoned soldier, and a fourth with the composer (of the "official" version).  What's great about all of these is that they're very candid and forthcoming, delving into all the fun details and stuff fans enjoy hearing, as well as being pretty open about their dissatisfactions.  This isn't just that typical Hollywood "everyone was brilliant and amazing" promo fluff.

Then there's a whole bunch of vintage stuff, like the original 'making of' featurette, plus additional EPK interview clips and B-roll footage.  Even better, they include the half-hour featurette from the original More Brains DVD (the documentary about the original RotLD) that was all about Part 2.  It's got some interviews that are unique to that feature, including Linnea Quigley and the now notorious Brian Peck.  Plus, they've got an additional teaser trailer, TV spots, two stills galleries.  It comes in a nice slipcover with reversible artwork, and if you pre-ordered it direct from Shout's site, a rolled poster.

So Return Of the Living Dead Part II isn't great, and it doesn't look amazing, but it's a pretty damned entertaining special edition that goes the extra mile to give the film more than it deserves.  There's a good chance you'll enjoy watching the special features more than the film itself, but hey, there are a lot worse zombie films out there, too.  A wholllllle lot worse.  I'm not holding it to the standards of the original and am having a lot of fun with this release.

How About a Little Summer Interlude? (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)

Let's take a break between all these high-profile new release horror discs (spoiler for our next post!) for a little Bergman film.  I say "little" in that it's one of his lesser known films, which is probably just by virtue of the fact that it's one of his earliest, having been released in 1951.  Still, that makes it like his tenth feature; but the guy has a massive body of work, and 1951 puts it well before Seventh Seal, Persona, and the other really famous ones that always make it onto the important lists.  But this is no roughly hewn "before he figured it all out and became a master" early work.  Like, for me, once you start going into Fellini's pre La Dolce Vita stuff, it starts to feel a little lifeless, more typical of early Hollywood.  But while Bergman's films still do reflect their times, I don't think there's any less interesting period for me.  Revisiting Summer Interlude now, it's as immediate and effective as anything contemporary or from "peak Bergman," whenever that would be said to be.

Update 11/20/18: Criterion has just released a massive 30-disc boxed set of Ingmar Bergman blu-rays simply titled Ingmar Bergman's Cinema.  It includes Summer Interlude, so I'm examining it here.

Summer Interlude goes through a couple of interesting phases.  We start out behind the bustling scenes of a ballet production of Swan Lake, sort of in the style of Topsy Turvy, where we meet the fun colorful characters who work off stage.  A handsome reporter tries and fails to get backstage and meet with one of the young dancers.  She receives a mysterious package which takes her away from the play and the city to a small island, where she flash backs to her youth and first romance.  I'm not going to get into spoilers, but we cut back and forth between the two timelines to slowly uncover the roots of some deep seated tragedy she's now carrying around with her, and she comes back to the city to confront the resulting existential crisis.

There are several times when the film shifts gears, and what at first appears to be a light-hearted, even indulgent flight of nostalgia (yes, the young ingenues do frolic and pick wild strawberries), turns into a serious work of art that confronts some surprisingly weighty issues.  It even tackles some ahead-of-its-time feminist issues, like the misogynistic expectations placed on young working women decades everything from Nine To Five to Dietland got in on the action.  And it's not flippant or preachy; it comes as a bit of a slow moving surprise - thanks in no small part to a versatile performance by Maj-Britt Nilsson, who breathes so much life into the cheery sections, it feels like they might be the entire picture - but ultimately packs a pretty powerful punch to the audience's guts.

One of the reasons I refer to Summer Interlude is the complete indifference it's felt on home video.  For decades, it was only viewable when Tartan released it in their massively inclusive series of DVDs, their Bergman collection, which included many rare titles that had otherwise gone unreleased.  Ultimately, in 2016, Criterion did ultimately bring it to the states with a blu-ray so barebones, it had an MSRP lower than all of their standard discs.  There's not even a trailer on the thing.  But hey, who can argue with a cheap Criterion?

2004 UK Tartan DVD top; 2016 US Criterion blu mid; 2018 US Criterion blu bottom.

They might've cheaped out on the extras (really? they couldn't get Peter Cowie to do a visual essay?), but they didn't cheap out on the new transfer, which looks great and is obviously a whole new master than what Tartan used.  According to the booklet, it's a 2k scan of two 35mm duplicate negative sources edited together, as each were damaged in different places.  It certainly restores the filmic look, replacing a softer more videotape look (detail especially appears washed away in the dark areas) with natural, if feint, film grain and crisper detail.  The aspect ratio shifts from 1.33:1 to 1.37:1, slightly shifting the framing and revealing more information along the sides.

As for the 2018 blu, nothing seems too different.  The book confirms it's still a 2k scan from "35mm duplicate negative."  But they're not 100% identical.  If nothing else, they're necessarily different encodes, not just the same discs with new labels slapped on 'em, because the boxed set puts this and To Joy on the same disc.  More than that, you can see the difference just putting them side by side.  There is a slight vertical shift in the framing, and the 2018 disc is a bit brighter with its grain more distinct.  Information in shadows is definitely easier to make out in the first set of shots, for example.  Or take the light scratch going across Nilsson in the second set of shots.  It kind of disappears when it crosses her dress in the 2016 shot, but is visible all the way across on the 2018.  Not that visible film scratches are a good thing, but it's indicative of how very fine details have become more discernible.  I wouldn't call this updated transfer a dramatic call to double-dip, but I have to admit to a genuine, if subtle, preference for this newer edition.

Both discs feature the original Swedish mono audio (bumped up to lossless LPCM on the blu) with optional English subtitles.  The Tartan DVD is about as barebones as the Criterions, with only two trailers for other Bergman pictures (Persona and Autumn Sonata) as extras, though it does have a stylish four-page insert with notes by Philip Strick.  That's about all Tartan was doing for most of the Bergman Collection, particularly the lesser known titles which I suppose we were just lucky to get at all.  Criterion's 2016 disc is quite barren too, but does at least come with a substantial, 20-page booklet with notes by the aforementioned Cowie.  And their 2018 remains feature-less, except of course for the fact that it comes packaged with all the other Bergman films, and the extras associated with those.  The set includes a bonus disc with several docs and features about Bergman in general, after all, but there's still nothing Summer Interlude-specific.  The same Cowie essay from the 2016 booklet is included in the box's massive 248 page book.

I wasn't in any hurry to upgrade my Tartan DVD, because going from barebones to barebones is pretty joyless.  But I eventually bit the bullet during last year's Criterion sale, and now, seeing the new transfer, I have to say it was worth it.  You're not paying for anything but the upgrade in PQ, so thankfully it's a very distinct upgrade.  And since they did make it cheaper than usual, that took some of the sting out as well.  Of course, if you haven't already got this disc by now, you might want to consider springing for Criterion's massive Ingmar Bergman's Cinema box.  The slight alteration in picture quality is nothing to get excited for in this case (though other films in the box have had bigger transformations), and the price is going to put off all but the very serious Bergman lover; but if you're even thinking of getting that set, there's no point in getting any of their individual titles now.

Controversial Blus: Dagon But Not Daforgotten by Vestron (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)

Wow, I google'd my title and I can't believe nobody used that terrible pun before me - woohoo!  Unfortunately, that's the end of the good news for today.  Well, maybe not entirely.  But yesterday's post was "Controversial Blus" with a question mark, but today's is with an exclamation point.  Vestron Video's long-awaited release of Stuart Gordon's passion project, Dagon, hits stores tomorrow, and it's not looking as good as we'd hoped.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

Old school Fangoria will remember Gordon was meant to be releasing his third HP Lovecraft adaptation, then titled Shadow Over Innsmouth, for years and years.  Originally written in 1985, it floated from Empire Pictures to Full Moon, great effects artists like David Allen and Dick Smith were attached to it at different times.  They released ads and concept art, first as it was coming, and then in articles about how it never came to be.  Click this link for a taste; I think you'll appreciate it.  But it all fell apart.  But when Brian Yuzna went to Spain and started to find success with his Fantastic Factory, he told Gordon he thought he could finally get it made.  So together, in 2001, they did.  And apart from some unfortunate early generation CGI, it's everything fans always hoped it would be - another thrilling, zealous Lovecraft excursion reuniting the gang: Gordon, Yuzna, Dennis Paoli and, well, some guy who at least resembled Jeffrey Combs enough that fans could pretend.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

Of their three adaptations together, Dagon feels the most Lovecraftian.  It's the story of a young couple who find themselves in an old Spanish fishing village that secretly worships an ancient undersea god.  And it's changed them.  There's a little less humor, especially compared to Re-Animator, which might largely be down to the fact where they're working with a Spanish cast for whom English is a second language at best.  The horror and atmosphere are here in spades, the concept is really cool, and again, apart from some early CGI, the effects are really good, with cool monsters and gruesome gore.  But the basic human scenes, the humor and the drama between the characters, is just not on the same level.  The lead is fine, but you don't really care if he truly loves his girlfriend or this woman he meets, or what any of them feel about anything really.  You just want to watch the plot unfold, which it does, in a pretty satisfactory and entertaining way.  But whatever themes they're trying to set up when they have this big argument early in the film where Ezra Godden can't stop worrying about his company's stocks, and Raquel Meroño is screaming at him... is that all supposed to relate to where the characters wind up at the end somehow, is Godden meant to be learning a lesson, facing a truth or growing somehow?  Do their personalities even matter at all?  Herbert West's personality was the crown jewel of Re-Animator.  Here, it just feels like we're watching a procession of "stuff that happens."  Awesome stuff, but just stuff.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

So, Dagon first came out on DVD from Lions Gate in 2003 with two commentaries, but not much else.  It was released in other regions with other extras, like interviews and EPK stuff; but they lacked the commentaries.  Plus, some weren't entirely English friendly, so the US DVD was the way to go; but it left you hungry for more.  So we waited for a blu-ray... and waited and waited.  There was a German blu, but it's cut, so that rules that out.  Finally, Umbrella announced a blu in Australia and Vestron announced their new special edition, which would hopefully be the ultimate edition.  But if it is, it's only be default.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

So let's talk about this.  You'll notice I've been including extra comparisons throughout this review because there's a lot to digest.  Let's start with the easy part.  Both the DVD and blu are framed at 1.78:1, but what's actually in those frames has shifted a bunch.  For the most part, the blu reveals a bit more on the sides, and more on the bottom, but shifts shot to shot.  Just taking the two comparisons directly above, the the blu has more on the bottom in the first set, and more on the top in the second top.  Almost all of this movie seems to have been shot with a handheld steadycam, so it's always moving and bobbing, so it's hard to really settle on a preferred framing... they're just different.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

also, see what I mean about the cool practical but terrible CGI effects?

Anyway, who cares when the real issues are staring us in the face.  Vestron seems to have an attitude of "why make a new HD master when we've got this old one just waiting for someone to blow the dust off of it?"  Now, this clearly isn't the same old master the used for the DVD; but it's also clearly not up the latest standards.  This is no impressive 4k scan that isolates every single little dot of grain.  In fact, the blu has less grain than the DVD did?  They've clearly used DNR or some similar process to scrub it.  In some scenes it's passable, in others it's really not.  Again, that's why I'm including more comparisons for you guys to judge.  But look at that last comparison - yee gods, that's awful.  And the colors!  You can see in every set of shots they've made big changes... Who's to say which disc's colors are more accurate, though, right?  In the first comparison, of the characters in the church, the blu actually looks better.  But now look at Ezra's bizarrely neon lips in that of him in the stairwell.  That just has to be wrong.  And in that last shot of the mouth tentacles, the entire left half of the picture has been lost to black crush (though maybe that's a deliberate choice to mask the pasted on look of the CGI?  In that sense, it is a bit of an improvement, actually).  And from what people are saying, all this DNR and stuff is on the Umbrella disc, too; which tells me the awful tinkering is inherent to the old master they're using.  This film really needed a new scan.

Audio-wise, it's a simpler situation.  Both discs only have the 5.1 mix, with the blu now in lossless DTS-HD.  And both have English and Spanish subtitles.

And in the special features department, it's an even happier story.  First, all the old stuff is here.  Both the DVD commentaries, one with Gordon and Godden and one with Gordon and Paoli, the latter of which is particularly good.  And the trailer and both stills galleries from the old DVD are here, too.  And those additional interviews and stuff from the foreign DVDs?  We get those, too!  There's a twenty minute collection of on-set interviews (some in Spanish, with subtitles), including Gordon, Godden, Meroño and producer Julio Fernandez, followed by some B-roll footage.  And there's the "vintage EPK featurette," but it isn't your standard five-minute thing filled with mostly film clips.  It's just under half an hour long and talks to just about everybody.  And then there's three new on-camera interviews by Red Shirt.  One with Brian Yuzna, one which is really a conversation between Gordon and Mick Garris, and a really cool one with a Lovecraft expert, who delves into the differences between the film and the original story, etc.  And, as always, Vestron's blu comes in their signature style slip cover.  I really kinda hate their artwork for this picture, though.  Oh well.

2002 US Lions Gate DVD top; 2018 US Vestron blu bottom.

So, what's the bottom line?  Well, the controversy's authentic, all the criticisms are legit.  But there really aren't any better alternatives, and it's definitely a cool ass movie horror fans will want to have in their collections.  I mean, I can see people cancelling their preorders on this one, but what're you gonna do?  No Dagon in your life?  I guess the question, then, has to be: which is better, the DVD or the blu?  And I have to say the blu.  Not in every single shot.  At its worst moments, like Ezra going up the stairs, the DVD actually really does look better than the blu-ray.  But overall, in 2018 on your big screen TV, you're probably going to enjoy watching the blu a smidgen bit more.  And the extras package is awesome - for that reason alone, I'd double-dip.  It's just, ugh, so disappointing, especially given how long we have to wait between Vestron releases.  They obviously weren't spending all that time making this edition look as good as they possibly could.  Like Code Red's The Carrier, it's a deeply flawed release that I'd still buy if I had it all to do over again, but it's a poor show from the label.