This Blu-Ray box set was created to assemble nearly 30 hours of Evil Dead Trilogy video material, personally collected together from around the world over the last 15 years, into one new nicely packaged & easily tradeable set

As my Evil Dead material collection has grown since around 2004, various previous discs & compilations had become outdated & superseded by better sources here and there, so this project aimed to draw all of my incredibly rare, plain rare & just noteworthy material together from a large collection of sources, written as standard DVD definition Blu-Ray discs to both improve the bitrate/quality and drastically cut down on the number of discs in comparison to DVD-R DLs. I can only fit around 120mins of footage on one dual layer DVD at the maximum 9mb bitrate. On a single layer Blu-Ray disc I can fit around three times that (6 hours), and at the same bitrate the quality will be better. Each disc stands on it's own, so individual discs or partial sets can also be traded, and the set can be simply expanded & updated. You can read a write-up and see the contents of each disc below. This 'Standard Definition' Blu-Ray disc contains a number of noteworthy The Evil Dead & Evil Dead II feature releases totalling 7h 22m 21s. Four were transferred from VHS, and the fifth from Laserdisc. They're unedited, with idents, warnings, trailers & adverts. While all the entries are Copyright © 2018 Renaissance Pictures & Rosebud Releasing, this is still an unofficial release. It would be unlikely that any distributor would think it worth releasing these specific transfers in full. You can read more about each entry below.

The Evil Dead - UK Palace Pics Pre-Cert VHS (1982, PVC2018A - 92m 15s)
This is a transfer of the UK Palace Pictures 1982 pre-cert VHS tape. The cuts made to The Evil Dead for an 'X' cinema certificate in 1982, were identical to the 1982 video version, with 49 seconds removed. This trimmed the pencil screwing around in Linda's ankle, Shelley chewing off her hand and subsequent dismemberment, and various other edits here and there. It's the full VHS tape including the copyright screen, the Palace Pictures Ident, Basket Case, Female Trouble & Eraserhead trailers, and the censored film itself.

The Evil Dead - Greek Video Standard VHS (1985, 161 - 85m 48s)
As originally titled , the Book Of The Dead version was never generally released theatrically or on home video, but there were a couple of rare exceptions. This transfer is one of them. The movie itself plays shot for shot identically to the general theatrical version, but with four minor differences; the movie title, an alternate sunrise shot at the end just before Ash walks out of the cabin, Ash's scream resonates for a few seconds with a black screen before the end credits roll, and the text on the last page of the end credits. It plays in the original English, with Greek subtitles.

The Evil Dead - Mexican Videomax VHS (1995, AA2903 - 88m 01s)
This Mexican VHS transfer is identical in content to the above Greek version, playing in the original English, but with Spanish subtitles.

The Evil Dead - Japanese Herald LD (1985, SF078-5044 - 85m 36s)
This laserdisc is arguably the best transfer of Evil Dead ever made available. Two major things separate this version from every other; its colour timing, and its picture framing, although it does suffer from burnt in Japanese subtitles, but they’re fairly unobtrusive. The bluer & colder colour timing for this transfer, while a subtle change, seems to alter the whole ‘feel’ of the movie and seems much scarier because of it. Additionally there is also quite a difference in picture framing. This laserdisc version has around 10% more picture on each side of the frame, more than all the other 80's/90's transfers. It was this transfer which was used on 2008 The Evil Dead - The Treasures Collection DVD .

Evil Dead II - 'Severely Edited For TV' Mexican VHS (1990s - 90m 38s)
This is an untouched/raw transfer of the Evil Dead II - 'Severely Edited For Television' TV Version as recorded from Mexican TV during the 1990's. The TV version runs at 1h 30m 39s, and the standard Theatrical version runs at 1h 24m 18s. Between various footage removed and alternate footage added in, there is 16m 10s of new material here. Among other footage; there's more of Ash & Linda embracing & dancing, Ash burning the book, Ash driving to the bridge, eating cereal & choking, Ash dreaming, and flipping out in the workshed having killed Linda, possessed Ash in the forest eating a squirrel, more shots of Ash in the cellar, and more images flash as Ash travels back in time. The film plays in dubbed Spanish, without subtitles, and there are periodic 'edited' advert breaks. The quality is fairly good, although it reduces somewhat and the frame becomes a little jumpy towards the end of the film. It was from this transfer, the Evil Dead II theatrical/TV version composite was edited for the 2016 Book Of The Dead II DVD. This 'Standard Definition' Blu-Ray disc contains 3h 25m 32s of The Evil Dead raw film footage, transferred in 2018 from a set of nine NTSC BetaCamSP tapes. This set of source tapes were created at some point in the late 90's. In April 2016, president of Elite Entertainment Vini Bancalari sold a number of Evil Dead items to UK Evil Dead collector Michael Witchy, which included these BetaCam SP tapes. In September 2018, those tapes were captured. This disc was encoded directly from those unedited capture files, and plays here as one long video with chapter points at the start of each tape.

Each raw footage tape ranges from 15-27mins in length, probably containing the contents of one or two 16mm/35mm film reels each; accounting for the short length. While the majority of the footage is simply alternate and longer takes of footage used in the film itself which many will recognize, there are some interesting segments too, including; failed & additional gore effects shots, possessed Linda floating outside the cabin using the 'Ellie-vator' rig, additional meltdown-sequence shots, further cellar 'blood-flood' shots including a bleeding painting, slow motion film tests, and seemingly endless footage of Ellen trapped under that cellar door!

This primarily seems to be a random assembly of alternate and longer shots that specifically aren't in the film. To clarify, there are a number of shots where there is a gap/jump at a certain moment, such as the light bulb exploding in the cellar, the actual explosion is missing in one take, same for one of the takes chopping up Shelly's leg for example, because what was in that gap was cut into the in the film, leaving a blank space in this raw footage.

Six of the nine tapes have no audio. While much of the shooting was indeed done without sound, there are some shots where the clapper board is visible with a sound number, so sound would have been recorded at the time, it's just missing on these tapes. This set was never meant for the public to see in its entirety, so it probably never mattered to anyone involved. It was just created for Elite to assemble their raw footage featurette.

It was from these nine tapes (tapes one, two & three mostly) that the twenty-minute 'Behind The Scenes Footage & Outtakes' featurette on the 1999 US R1 Elite Entertainment Special Edition DVD was edited together. This is entirely different to the The Evil Dead: Treasures From The Cutting Room Floor raw footage featurette on the 2007 US R1 Anchor Bay Entertainment 3-disc Ultimate Edition DVD.

This disc was encoded directly from the unedited capture files. While all this footage is Copyright © 1981 Renaissance Pictures, this is still a bootleg/unofficial release. It would be unlikely that any distributor would release this in full, especially with such a large proportion of it without sound. This 'Standard Definition' Blu-Ray disc contains all 8h 32m 44s of Greg Nicotero's 1986 Evil Dead II effects & behind the scenes VHS camcorder footage. Greg's captured much of the production, but only a small amount of this has ever been publicly released. The footage begins with the prep work in California, moulding the various cast members and prototyping many of the later make-up & effects, then runs through the main shoot & re-shoots, along with skits and hi-jinx shot by the make-up effects and wider crew. Highlights include Henrietta in her rocking chair becoming possessed, Linda's snake tongue, Ash's face reverting from deadite to normal, and Chop-top Ed, along with many unseen behind the scenes moments.

On October 12, 2016, president of Elite Entertainment Vini Bancalari offered a few items for sale on the 'Evil Dead Collector's Initiative' Facebook group, which included six Fuji 90min BetaCamSP tapes, labelled as 'Elite, Evil Dead II, Behind The Scenes Bump UPS, 08/21/97'. On the possibility that these set of six tapes may be unedited transfers of Greg's footage used in the creation of the Behind The Screams featurette on the 1997 Evil Dead II Elite laserdisc (catalogue number: EE3845REG), a French fan bought the set.

They were transferred in October 2016, and did indeed turn out to be Greg's camcorder footage. Upon viewing, it becomes obvious why it would be impossible for any DVD producer to release anything but a carefully edited 'highlights' package. Over the running time, the amount of people seen on screen (from the cast & crew, to family members, visitors and passers-by) is huge. Identifying, tracking down and obtaining clearance for an offical release from every one of them, would be impossible. Plus you have all the copyrighted workshop radio background music, off-the-cuff remarks, swearing, impressions, in-jokes and other assorted unsavory material which some may not be keen on having out there all these years later.

This disc was encoded directly from the unedited capture files, and plays here as one long video with chapter points at the start of each tape. Tape one runs at 1h 32m 15s, two 1h 24m 05s, three 1h 30m 06s, four 1h 33m 53s, five 1h 31m 33s and Tape six 1h 02m 33s, giving a total of 8h 35m 12s of footage. Tape one is entirely workshop & prep footage in California, as is the first 38m of tape two, and the first 25m of tape three. The remainder of the running time in tapes two, three, four, five & six is footage shot entirely in North Carolina. While on the whole, the majority of the footage seems to play in chronological order, some sections do chop and change, while other short sections are repeated, mainly the California prep footage on tape one. It's entirely possible that Greg shot the footage across a fair few tapes, and swapped between them during the shoot, so some of the footage plays out of sequence when each tape is watched start-to-finish, and while they were being dubbed from the camcorder onto VHS at the time, some little sections were accidentally repeated.

While all this footage is Copyright © 1986 Greg Nicotero, this is still a bootleg/unofficial release. As mentioned above, it would be unlikely that any distributor would ever be able release this in full. This 'Standard Definition' Blu-Ray disc contains many noteworthy Evil Dead Trilogy extras totalling 6h 46m 14s. You can read more about each entry below. While all the entries are all copyrighted, this is still a bootleg release compiled from various unofficial sources.

The Incredibly Strange Film Show, Composite Edit (1988 - 39m 22s)
This was a series profiling offbeat directors hosted by Jonathan Ross, which ran for two series over 1988-89 on UK TV Channel 4. Episode 5 featured Sam, Rob, Bruce, & Scott. It covered their early Super-8 days, to Within The Woods, The Evil Dead, Crimewave and Evil Dead II, and up to Night Crew/Intruder. Anchor Bay included this in their 2003 UK R2 Evil Dead Trilogy Box-set. Likely at Sam's request, all the Crimewave & Super-8 footage was omitted (38m 38s, edited to 34m 09s). This is a composite of the uncut bootleg VHS & retail DVD versions to give the full uncut show, in the highest possible quality.

French Press Interview with Sam, Ted, & Tom (1982 - 4m 07s)
This is an unbroadcast short French TV interview with Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi & Tom Sullivan, recorded on September 2, 1982, during the production team's visit to France to promote The Evil Dead.

Evil Dead II TV & Theatrical Versions Composite Edit (1987 - 97m 20s)
This is a composite edit, of the US theatrical version, and the 'Severely Edited For Television' TV Version of Evil Dead II, as recorded from Mexican TV during the 1990's, with 16m 10s of new footage. Among other material; there's more of Ash & Linda embracing & dancing, Ash burning the book, Ash driving to the bridge, eating cereal & choking, Ash dreaming, and flipping out in the workshed having killed Linda, possessed Ash in the forest eating a squirrel, more shots of Ash in the cellar, and more images flash as Ash travels back in time. Some little new sections do play in Spanish language (where there is no English version available), but the vast majority of the composite version plays in its original English. This is virtually the same composite version used in the Book Of The Dead II DVD, although some restoration work has been done on the version here, to improve the VHS noise and overall picture quality.

Evil Dead II Partial Workprint (1987 - 37m 11s)
Originally transferred from a poor quality VHS, this is an incomplete workprint of Evil Dead II, consisting of the first twenty and last ten minutes of the film. It features temp music, original production audio (pre-ADR) and a small selection of short deleted scenes.

Evil Dead II Vern Hyde's BTS Camcorder Footage (1986 - 71m 59s)
Not to be confused with Greg' Nicoteros footage, this seems to be taken from tapes shot by Vern Hyde and his effects crew, which leans towards more general on set footage, rather than special effects.

Evil Dead II Talent Show Camcorder Footage (1986 - 65m 53s)
This is camcorder footage covering the Evil Dead II talent show which took place as shooting wrapped. This also seems to be taken from tapes shot by Vern Hyde and his effects crew.

In Review, Sam Raimi (1986 - 24m 29s)
This interview with Sam by Gregg Goldstein was broadcast on the New York cable television programme In Review in early 1987, during the US promotion of Evil Dead II.

This Is Horror, Sam Raimi Excerpt (1990 - 9m 38s)
This interview with Sam was filmed for the syndicated TV series Stephen King's This Is Horror (aka World Of Horror or Shadow Theatre). It's taken from the only DVD release; the Nordic DVD, and does features Dutch subtitles as a result.

Army Of Darkness Behind The Scenes Footage (1992 - 25m 29s)
This is a re-encode from a YouTube upload by Flash Film Works in March 2018, labeled as 'Footage from the production'. FFW was founded in 1993 by William Mesa; the Visual FX Director for Army Of Darkness in 1991 while at Introvision International. It includes film shot during the introvision process, video shot on location outside the Medieval castle, and crew working on a number of the film's scale models.

Army Of Darkness US 'Full-Length Screening Cassette' (1992 - 14m 25s)
This is a partial transfer of the 1993 Army Of Darkness MCA Universal Home Video US Full Length Screening Cassette, intended for press distribution. It contains the US trailer, excerpts of the film overlaid with press quotes, trailers for other VHS releases, and the first few minutes of the film with 'Property of MCA' across the bottom.

The Evil Dead US Theatrical Open-Matte 1080p Trailer (1983 - 2m 14s)
Scanned at 2k from an original 35mm film trailer in 2015, this is currently the only 1080p presentation of The Evil Dead's open matte trailer available worldwide. Considerably more of the frame is visible in this transfer, than any previous retail release.

The Evil Dead Japanese DVD Trailer (2003 - 1m 18s)
A 1:1 copy from the 2003 R2 Japanese JVD Special Edition DVD. While this is identical to the US theatrical version, it features Japanese titles & overlaid text, and a Japanese voiceover.

The Evil Dead Japanese 20th Anniversary DVD Trailer (2003 - 1m 27s)
A 1:1 copy from the 2003 R2 Japanese JVD Special Edition DVD. This was a trailer made specifically for the films Japanese 20th anniversary re-release, and is entirely different to the US theatrical version.

The Evil Dead Quebec TV Spot (1983 - 0m 29s)
This is a re-encode of a TV spot from a YouTube upload under the French title L'Opéra de la Terreur, showing at the Cine Parc Trois Rivieres cinema in Quebec from August 31, to September 2, 1983.

Evil Dead II US Theatrical Open-Matte 1080p Trailer (1987 - 1m 41s)
Scanned at 2k from an original 35mm film trailer in 2015, this is currently the only 1080p presentation of Evil Dead II's open-matte trailer available worldwide. Considerably more of the frame is visible in this transfer, than any previous retail release.

Evil Dead II UK Censored Open-Matte VHS Trailer (1987 - 1m 13s)
This version was pre-cut by the distributor Palace Pictures to obtain a 'U' (suitable for all) rating. This censored trailer appeared on the 1990 Palace VHS UK re-release of The Evil Dead, among other releases.

Evil Dead II French Trailer (1987 - 1m 45s)
This is a general release French language trailer for Evil Dead II, dubbed but otherwise identical to the US theatrical trailer, taken from the French VHS tape of The Morning After (1986).

Army Of Darkness US Theatrical O/M 1080p Trailer (1992 - 1m 58s)
Scanned at 2k from an original 35mm film trailer in 2015, this is currently the only 1080p presentation of the Army Of Darkness' open-matte trailer available worldwide. Considerably more of the frame is visible in this transfer, than any previous retail release.

Army Of Darkness UK VHS Trailer (1993 - 2m 04s)
This is the British trailer transferred from the 1997 UK 4 Front Video / Polygram Army Of Darkness VHS. It's the generic international trailer, only with differing titlecards and credits.

Army Of Darkness French VHS Trailer (1993 - 2m 02s)
This is the general release French language trailer, transferred from a French VHS tape. It's the generic international trailer, only with differing voiceover, titlecards and credits. This 'Standard Definition' Blu-Ray disc contains all the available bootleg shorts, as-yet unreleased though Super8Shorts.com (as of December 2018), along with some additional VHS rarities totalling 3h 48m 28s. Of the fourteen items, twelve were transferred from three rare NTSC VHS Evil Dead compilation tapes. This disc was encoded directly from those uncompressed capture files, making them the highest quality currently available, although the quality is generally fairly poor. The transfer of Within The Woods, is included here in both an untouched transfer and semi-restored version (with some audio, video brightening & noise reduction). The remaining two shorts have been re-encoded from bootleg VCDs. The shorts are presented in chronological order, with the additional items following.

While these shorts are Copyright © 2018 Sam Raimi, Scott Speigel, Bruce Campbell & John Cameron (these specific shorts' respective directors), this is still a bootleg/unofficial release. It would be unlikely that any proper distributor would be able to release these due to the numerous music copyright issues, as well as tracking down and getting clearance from everyone seen on screen.

Six Months To Live (1977 - 13m 51s)
Bruce's doctor tells Sam that he has only six months to live. "I can't die! There's no future in it." "Relax," sneers Bruce, "that's the last thing you're going to do." Sam tries to find a way to have fun in the six months remaining, seeking the help of Scott and others. Its one of the funniest shorts, with Sam's best comedy performance and lots of good sight gags (and Bruce Fake Shemping like mad!) As the only version available, This was transferred from the standard Sam Raimi Super-8 Shorts VHS tape/DVD, and is very poor quality.

Shemp Eats The Moon (1978 - 45m 26s)
Bruce plays a private detective called Shemp Malone who is hired by Violet Lysol to find her uncle's killer and return the 'moon', a valuable pearl stolen during the crime. Violet's chauffeur Lamarr, who is really working for Sashia 'The Snake' Reptilica, tries to frustrate Shemp at every turn, killing each of his potential leads. Due to The Snake's bungling henchmen, Shemp is accidentally given the pearl hidden in a Chinese takeaway which leads The Snake to believe he's eaten it. Running out of leads, Shemp finally finds his way to Potemkin Trucking and to The Snake herself. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation.

It's Murder! (1978 - 67m 17s)
Scott plays a stupid detective, investigating the death of a father, and the whereabouts of his will. Both Jane Bradley played by Cheryl Guttridge, and Uncle Jasper and played by Sam, try to kill the detective at every opportunity to stop the will being found, so they can inherit their father's estate, while Milton, the son and rightful air, assists the detective. A grand car chase ensues, and good finally triumphs. Well, more or less. The version presented here has been re-encoded from an MPEG-1 25P PAL (352 x 288) VCD, its only known source, picked up at a New York comic fair a number of years back.

William Shakespeare - The Movie (1979 - 1m 51s)
This short starts with a narrator telling us about Shakespeare, holding up programmes and the like, then Bruce and a college actress play out a scene ("Some-times Kate the curs'd..." from The Taming of the Shrew) outdoors in a snowy wood, although the short mainly consists of Bruce getting graphically beaten up. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation.

Clockwork (1979 - 6m 57s)
A woman (Cheryl Guttridge) suspects that she's not alone in her home. Outside in the snow, a figure (Scott) watches. As she goes to bed, he enters the house waking her up. After playing for suspense, He attacks her in a bleak ending. The version presented here has been re-encoded from an MPEG-1 25P PAL (352 x 288) VCD, its only known source, picked up at a New York comic fair a number of years back.

Within The Woods (1979 - 30m 39s)
In this Evil Dead prototype, Four college students vacationing at a farmhouse, disturb and ancient Indian grave awaking a 'force' deep the forest, resulting in a night of terror. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan DeusExMachina.

Within The Woods, Restored (1979 - 30m 39s)
In addition to the raw transfer above, this is a semi-restored version with some audio 'pop' reduction, video brightening, colour correction & image noise reduction.

Torro, Torro, Torro! (1981 - 6m 46s)
the story of a lawnmower gone mad, With a finale at the Franklin Bake-Off, where the lawnmower precedes to spit out a twenty-five foot long table of pies across the guests. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan DeusExMachina.

The Sappy Sap (1985 - 4m 26s)
The final Super-8 short, made around the same time as Crimewave. Scott plays a guy who wants to cross a busy street to make time with a sexy girl in a polka-dot dress, but is thwarted at every attempt. This short has no sound. According to Scott it was never finished and left incomplete. As the only version available, This was transferred from the standard Sam Raimi Super-8 Shorts VHS tape/DVD, and is fairly poor quality.

Book Of The Dead Trailer (1980 - 3m 36s)
This is a four minute trailer narrated by John Cameron created late in 1980, from the rough cut of the then titled Book Of The Dead. It was produced in order to raise more funding. As it was edited from the 97min rather than the 85 min theatrical version, some shots run longer, and there are snippets of footage you’ll not see in the movie. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan DeusExMachina.

PM Magazine Detroit (1981 - 7m 29s)
This was a 1970s-80s syndicated US news & entertainment TV series carried in Detroit by WJBK. Circa 1982, the production filmed the local up & coming Renaissance pictures team; Sam, Rob & Bruce, shortly after their return from Cannes, while they were still looking for a US distributor for The Evil Dead. This full 7m 28s segment was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation.

The Evil Dead on Siskel and Ebert (1983 - 2m 32s)
At the Movies was a syndicated US movie review show hosted by Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert. This review was shown Circa 1983, and was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation.

Another Evil Dead Review (1983 - 1m 02s)
This is a short unidentified US TV movie review, which was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation.

Tom Sullivan Interview (1983 - 5m 52s)
Creature Features was the generic title for a genre of horror TV format shows broadcast on local U.S. television stations throughout the 1960s - 80s, sandwiched with comment & interviews. In the San Francisco Bay Area, this ran on KTVU Channel 2 from 1971-84, hosted first by Bob Wilkins, and later by John Stanley, who took over in 1979. Around the same time as the US theatrical release of The Evil Dead, Tom Sullivan moved to San Francisco for a time. Circa 1983, he was interviewed by John Stanley, discussing the film and showing a number of his props over two segments totalling six minutes. This was personally transferred to DVD in 2018, from one of a pair of incredibly rare NTSC VHS tapes borrowed from US Evil Dead fan Demonovation. The artwork was adapted from a previous project; my Evil Dead II - Greg Nicotero's BTS Camcorder Footage DVD. It's design centred around an old VHS tape with a tattered VHS sleeve. The cover was assembled from edited high resolution photos of an original VHS tape to give a wraparound VHS-tape cover. The sleeve was created by scanning a flattened original VHS slipcase, tweaking the design & changing the size, printing it using an A3 printer, and cutting, assembling & ageing it into the final sleeve. In a similar style to the The Super-8 Short Films DVD Boxset, a vintage style booklet is also included with notes on each disc, although rather than spine bound, this one is stapled in the corner to allow for easy re-ordering/updating based on the discs in a given set. The set's distribution has been very limited, just to a few other die hard collectors, and never shared online with the wider internet. It may be available for trade if you have something equally special available in return. If you're interested in any of my fanmade projects, you can contact me via email at , or through the Rob's Nostalgia Projects Facebook page. Check out & 'like' that Facebook page to see the latest in-progress updates to any current projects, and check out my Wants List to see if you can assist me with any future projects or upgrades.