Sweet Jesus, does this world need ANOTHER review for an Evil Dead movie, let alone ANOTHER DVD release for an Evil Dead movie? Well, according to Anchor Bay, the answer would be YES, oh God YES!

So here we are with the upcoming release of Evil Dead 2 Book of the Dead 2 (geez, that's a lot of 2's) - you'll know this is Book of the Dead 2 primarily because it has the screaming eye...but more on that later (review of Book of the Dead 1 here). More of a glossed up blood soaked remake than a direct sequel, Evil Dead 2 if nothing else is an important horror film because it usually evokes a response from people like this - "Gee, they sure don't make 'em like this anymore!" And good gravy is that statement true. When it comes to pure balls to the wall horror/splattery gore/comedy goofy off-the-wall fun, it doesn't get much better than Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2.

Do I need to give you a synopsis or even list out reasons as to why you should own this film on DVD if you don't already?

Shame on you!

Bruce Campbell stars as Ash, and he's stuck in the woods with his once cute (now demonically possessed, but still cute) girlfriend Linda. The Book of the Dead is opened, there's an incantation and all hell breaks loose...literally. Good enough? OK then, moving on.

More of a one man show than anything else, the success of Evil Dead 2 relies heavily on both Campbell's performance and Sam "Spiderman" Raimi's direction. Good thing for us they're both up for the task. I'm constantly amazed that Bruce Campbell has never crossed over to A-list status. But then again, he does seem perfectly content with his B-movie stardom. I'm sure he does OK for himself, but I'd really like to see him on the big screen more often, and in meatier roles to boot.

The real appeal of this (most recent) release of Evil Dead 2 on DVD I suppose would be the rubber replica of The Book of the Dead that your new DVD comes housed in. Sculpted by original designer Tom Sullivan, the book is similar, in many ways to Anchor Bay's original Evil Dead Book of the Dead release. Sturdy pages with designs, a few empty pages for autographs or ::gasp:: scribbling of your own and exclusive to this edition, a screaming eye.

That's right kids, when you press the eye on the front cover, the book screams. Not just any scream though, a very important, familiar scream. Allow me to explain. You know when you walk into a Halloween Adventure and you either walk by a motion sensor skull, step on a doormat or press down on one of those 'screaming' retractible knives. You know that annoying, shrill sound that those crappy overpriced Halloween toys emit? Yup, that's the scream that's used here. Public domain screams? What a world. Oh and there's one more thing worth mentioning about the book. It stinks. I mean, it's kinda cool in appearance, but it smells really, really bad. Even my cat ran away from it and she's usually pretty brave.

Sporting a tag line that reads, 'transfer supervised by Sam Raimi' (and missing the THX Certified logo from the films' previous appearance on DVD) Evil Dead 2 looks great, same as it always did. I'm not going to lie to you, this transfer is a 'slight' step up. A bit brighter, less shimmering - but for the most part, I'd say that each transfer could easily stand on its own. Sounds like the same 5.1 audio mix was used here as well, and it's really effective.

Missing from this disc (yet present on the previous DVD release) is an alternate full frame transfer of the film. That's a shame. Then again, the feature length audio commentary with Campbell, Raimi, co-writer Scott Spiegel, and makeup artist Greg Nicotero is carried over. Also carried over from the previous release is a behind-the-scenes piece entitled "The Gore The Merrier." While new (and so far exclusive) to this release is a segment entitled "Behind The Screams," a piece hosted by the voice of Tom Sullivan - in which he narrates over a plethora of stills from the shoot. It's pretty cool, but still not enough to boost the worth of this release. Then there are the requisite trailers/still galleries, which I'm not camparing between releases. I do have a life you know.

Worth an upgrade simply for the sake of an upgrade? Probably not. Worth picking up if you don't already own it on DVD? Yup, sure thing. Worth picking up just for the new packaging, transfer and extra (that's singular alright)? Probably not, but we'll leave that decsion up to you, the wise consumer. I mean hell, for all I know, you could be a glutton for punishment just like me, and Book of the Dead 2 will be on your shelf next week, as scheduled. Which is fine, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Speaking of which, for a limited time, you can nab this set at Deep Discount DVD for less than 20 bucks, if you're so inclined. That's a great price and only stands to sweeten the deal, which could otherwise be soured.