Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 23, 2014

The Zombie Horror Picture Show is Rob Zombie’s first official concert film. It features footage shot during the rocker’s stops on last year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour in Houston on August 3 and Dallas on August 4.

Rob Zombie and his band perform a total sixteen songs. Amongst them are White Zombie’s hits “More Human Than Human”, “Super-Charger Heaven”, and “Thunder Kiss '65”, a great cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s classic song “We’re an American Band”, as well as more recent hits from the Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor album such as "Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga" and "Teenage Nosferatu Pussy".

The pyrotechnics and special effects are outstanding, but this shouldn’t be news to those who have previously seen Rob Zombie and his band perform live. What might surprise some viewers – since the multiple cameras allow one to see the large stage from all sorts of different angles – is that Rob Zombie’s shows are in fact very carefully choreographed. There are screens that show various clips, giant mascots, and even a futuristic tank of some sort that are carefully used to create quite an atmosphere for the crowd. Also, Rob Zombie and his band frequently change costumes (and masks) that have clearly been created for different parts of the show. (The likes of GWAR and more recently Cradle of Filth and Gorgoroth have similar acts, but none of them are as elaborate as Rob Zombie’s).

With a few minor exceptions – most notably towards the end, where Rob Zombie’s voice sounds very tired – the quality of the music is excellent. Balance is great and the music is consistently loud and clear. “Red Angry Planet” (with an excellent live acoustic solo), “Living Dead Girl”, “More Human Than Human”, and “Dead City Radio” sound particularly good live.

The crowd is having a terrific time throughout the entire show. It is also worth mentioning that an unusually large number of women of different ages are frequently seen flashing their breasts.

The Zombie Horror Picture Show was directed by Rob Zombie and produced by Danielle Shilling Lovett (co-producer House of 1000 Corpses). The sound was mixed by Malcolm Harper.

"More Human Than Human"

TRACKLISTING:

01. Teenage Nosferatu Pussy
02. Superbeast
03. Super-Charger Heaven
04. Living Dead Girl
05. We're An American Band
06. More Human Than Human
07. Sick Bubblegum
08. Never Gonna Stop
09. Ging Gang Gong De Do Gong De Laga Raga
10. Meet The Creeper
11. Mars Needs Women
12. House Of 1000 Corpses
13. The Lords Of Salem
14. Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown
15. Thunder Kiss '65
16. Dragula

Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Music.

The release features footage filmed during stops on last year's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour in Houston on August 3 and Dallas on August 4. The overwhelming majority of this footage looks terrific -- clarity and image depth are very good despite the fact that the pyrotechnics and at times awkwardly positioned cameras could have created some issues. (For example, there are a few panoramic shots with very thick smoke). Colors are also rich and vibrant. This being said, there are numerous inserts throughout the concert film with intentionally degraded footage; a few also appear to have been taken from a standard definition source (see screencaptures #6 and 9). It is quite obvious, however, that these are stylistic enhancements, which actually imitate the look of some early Rob Zombie music videos. Lastly, the encoding and compression are very good. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and LPCM 2.0. Optional subtitles have not been included, but they are not needed.

I viewed the entire film/show with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and was very pleased with the quality of the sound. Clarity and depth are very good and despite the crowd noise that occasionally sneaks in balance is terrific from start to finish. Separation between the vocals and the guitars is also very good. Perhaps the best news, however, is that dynamic intensity is handled with great care. (The folks that mixed the show clearly knew what they were doing because there are no serious dynamic fluctuations). As a result, there are no sudden drops or spikes in dynamic activity or sporadic clipped high frequencies. All in all, fans of Rob Zombie should be very pleased with the audio quality of this release. In fact, I suspect that a few might even end up testing the muscles of their audio systems.

Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gallery - a collection of concert and behind the scenes stills. (1080p)

Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Rob Zombie, his music and his shows should be very pleased with Universal Music's Blu-ray release of The Zombie Horror Picture. Indeed, the rocker's first concert film looks and sounds fantastic on Blu-ray. (Def Leppard should probably consider getting in touch with the folks that mixed this release because they definitely knew what they were doing, unlike the folks that mixed Viva! Hysteria). The only thing missing here is a good selection of supplemental features. Regardless, consider adding this release to your collections. RECOMMENDED.