The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 23, 2017

The Dead Next Door may not ultimately be much more than one of the most stupendously grandiose home movies of all time, but if you’re like me, you have to love any movie which manages to include scenes of zombies attempting to get through the gates in front of the White House and who shamble spasmodically in front of the reflecting pool which graces the foot of the Washington Monument and which was used so memorably in Forrest Gump. The Dead Next Door doesn’t have any outsized ambitions other than to provide some traditional zombie thrills with some at times unbelievably gruesome practical effects, all rendered in the pristine high tech medium of Super 8 (I’d say my tongue is in my cheek, but I don’t want to attract any zombies looking for a quick snack). If Night of the Living Dead put Pittsburgh (or at least Pittsburgh filmmaking) on the map in a way the city probably expected to be (or maybe even hoped to be), then The Dead Next Door does much the same service (?) to Akron, Ohio. Filmed over the course of several years, and under the pseudonymous imprimatur of Sam Raimi, The Dead Next Door has never quite attained the renown of the George A. Romero film, despite having some its same plot mechanics and certainly some of its same lo-fi ambience, but it’s a unique entry in the zombie canon and will probably be enjoyed by fans of the genre, especially if they’re fond of a certain “not ready for prime time” sensibility.

The Dead Next Door received a fairly recent Blu-ray release from Tempe Digital that was part of an IndieGoGo campaign and which also included a DVD and CD. The company is now re-releasing the same Blu-ray as the first time, but with a somewhat altered DVD version that omits some of the supplements from the first release while also adding new supplements for this release. For a good summary of the film's not exactly mind boggling plot, my colleague Brian Orndorf's The Dead Next Door Blu-ray review of the Tempe Digital version covers the (bloody) ground thoroughly. (Brian's review is also a good resource to see the differences in supplements between the two releases.)

The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dead Next Door is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Tempe Digital with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in both 1.32:1 and 1.78:1. I'm assuming this was struck off the same master that Brian assessed in his The Dead Next Door Blu-ray review, though going solely by screenshots (never a complete picture, no pun intended), it looks like this new version is just very slightly brighter than the first release, something that perhaps makes grain again very slightly less evident. Otherwise I see no substantial differences in detail levels and overall palette reproduction, but again I'm going solely on the basis of screenshots since I personally don't have the original release. (I've tried to come close to recreating a few of the screenshots in Brian's original review, some in both aspect ratios, so that you can do a side by side comparison and see any differences for yourself.) I'm perhaps a bit less pleased than Brian was with the overall look. I personally found the low res inserts (see information in screenshots 21 and 22) to be distracting at times, and clarity even without these moments is at times kind of marginal, not helped by actual occasional problems with focus pulling. My score is 3.25.

The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This Blu-ray reproduces the original release's choice of an original cast mix or a so-called "classic dub mix", both in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. I defer to Brian's comments in his The Dead Next Door Blu-ray review, agreeing (in so many words) that there are pluses and minuses with each of these tracks in terms of general amplitude and clarity as well as performances, and so my advice is to toggle between them and sample each.

The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Restoration of the Dead (1080p; 19:20) gives some generalist background that includes some engaging interviews with J.R. Bookwalter, who also gets into some the technical aspects for upgrading the film to high definition. Some of the most interesting comments are about Bruce Campbell's contributions to the sound design of the film, for those who only think of Campbell as an actor.


• Capitol Theater Screening (1080p; 12:22) is from a Cleveland, Ohio event held in 2015.


• The Nightlight Screening (1080p; 16:29) is from an Akron, Ohio event held in 2015 and consists largely of a Q & A with Bookwalter.


• Behind the Scenes Footage (1080p; 19:13) features (non optional) commentary by Bookwalter.


• Deleted Scenes and Outtakes (1080p; 7:11) features (non optional) commentary by Bookwalter.


• Still Galleries

  Around the World Gallery (1080p; 3:49)

  Storyboard Gallery (1080p; 26:27)

  Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080p; 8:30)

  Production Stills Gallery (1080p; 6:24)

• Trailers

  The Dead Next Door (1080p; 1:47)

  Platoon of the Dead (1080i; 1:15)

  Poison Sweethearts (1080i; 1:31)

• 2015 Producers Commentary features writer/director J.R. Bookwalter, line producer & co-star Jolie Jackunas-Kobrinsky and associate producer Scott P. Plummer.

Kind of interestingly, the DVD version included with this package sports different supplements than the Blu-ray, but not the "same different" supplements as the first Tempe Digital DVD release. I've marked the supplements that are new to this release with an asterisk (*):

• Richards Returns!* (480p; 5:10) is an interview with actor Scott Spiegel, who engagingly reminisces about his relationship with Bookwalter and his work in this film (and, briefly, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn).


• 1999 Location Tour* (480i; 7:30) is conducted by actor James L. Edwards, who refers to "scenic Akron" but quickly follows up with a somewhat less glowing description of some of the places they filmed. Edwards' often hilarious commentary is definitely NSFW.


• 20 Years in 15 Minutes (480i; 15:32) is a retrospective covering the years 1985 to 2005.


• Video Storyboards (480i; 8:15) are VHS "test footage" sequences.


• Music Video (480i; 3:05)


• Video Pre-shoots (480i; 5:32) is more test footage, this culled from 3/4" tape sources.


• Auditions (480i; 14:01)


• 2000 Frightvision Reunion (480i; 6:15)


• Note: The following commentaries can be found under the Play submenu:

  2015 Producers Commentary with J.R. Bookwalter, Jolie Jackunas and Scott P. Plummer*

  
  

  2001 Foreign Commentary with J.R. Bookwalter and FX artist David Lange*

  
  

  2005 Audio Commentary with writer/director J.R. Bookwalter, actor Michael Todd, and cinematographer Michael Tolochko, Jr.*

There are a number of other trailers (including for this film) offered on the DVD as well. Unlike the Blu-ray disc's supplements, which are not authored to allow for chapter skipping, the DVD does offer such a feature. Additionally, the large "Extras" in the lower right corner of the Extras Submenu should have probably been more appropriately titled "Play All" since it cycles through everything listed on that page.

The Dead Next Door Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Crowdfunding has added a really interesting new wrinkle to releases for the home video market (as well of course for all sorts of other varied media productions), but it's also interesting to note that Tempe Digital feels the market can support a "general" release for a niche product like this. I don't think I'm quite ready to grant this the film the 3.5 or this Blu-ray release the same overall 4.5 that Brian did for the IndieGoGo original, but there's no doubt that for genre aficionados The Dead Next Door is a fun and at least occasionally funny trek through well worn zombie territory. Recommended.