Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell, Worth Yet Another Revisit?

So, I've now covered all three of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films, but I'd sort of feel like I was leaving things incomplete if I didn't follow those up with Drag Me To Hell (what'd you think I was gonna say Diablo Cody's Evil Dead remake?). Especially since there's a compelling reason to post about Drag here anyway. Besides it being almost, if not just, as good as the films in the Evil Dead trilogy but without the reverential status, so I feel like it's a bit neglected and deserving of another look... Did you know there's a UK import blu-ray with more, better extras?

Update 6/2/18: Shout Factory's new Collector's Edition is out, but how much of an upgrade is it?  And is there another replacement disc issue going on with it (spoilers: yes).  Let's dig in and find out!

Update 11/10/24: And now it's back in 4k on UHD, again from Scream Factory.  Drag's a real favorite of mine, so they didn't have any trouble talking me into quintuple-dipping for this one.  Let's see how it looks.

Drag Me To Hell is Sam Raimi's return to horror, as well as a return to smaller films he has more creative control of, after having worked on a bunch of more traditional Hollywood films, particularly the Spider-Man trilogy. Fans had been calling for him to return to his roots for ages, and by all accounts Raimi was having the same feelings. And while he didn't quite come up with the Evil Dead 4 fans kept asking for, he gave us something very much in the same spirit. In fact, some will argue that it could be considered a direct sequel, operating in the same world and mythos (and one demonically possessed character, about midway through the film, is straight-up doing the entire Evil Dead schtick), just not in name and not focusing on Bruce Campbell's character this time around. There's something a little more traditional in Drag's concept though, centering things around a literal old gypsy's curse; but once it gets going it gets as crazy and enthusiastically insane as the ED films, and that's the heart of what we were all asking for anyway, isn't it?

Now, Drag Me To Hell's another one that came out in that period when blu-rays were a thing, but I was still buying DVDs. So I've got the original, wide release Universal DVD, which came in a nice slipcover, and provided both the theatrical PG-13 cut of the film, and the unrated director's cut. Because it was such a major, broadly released title, and then perhaps undervalued by fans afterwards, it's one of those discs that can be picked up very cheap pretty much anyplace. So I figured it was a nice opportunity for an inexpensive upgrade to blu. And when I was looking into it, I discovered that the Lions Gate version released concurrently in the UK back in 2009 had more extras. And the US Drag was a good little release, but it had always been light on special features. And best of all, the UK discs had plummeted in price just like the US ones, so - score!

But then in 2018, a new contender entered the scene, looking to usurp both previous editions.  Scream Factory has put out a 2-disc Collector's Edition, with new HD masters of the theatrical and unrated cuts taken from the 2k digital intermediates, plus all new extras.  Unfortunately, when it first hit streets, there was a little problem with one of the discs.  The "unrated" cut still had shots from the R-rated theatrical cut in them rather than the alternate unrated shots.  Thankfully, though, Shout has implemented a replacement program.  And copies available in stores like Best Buy already include the corrected disc.  So just look for the little "V2" at the end of the code on disc 2, like in the shot above.  If you have that, you're good to go.  And yes, it's only disc 2 that ever had a problem and should have a "V2" on it.

Or you can just forget all that and cop the new 2024 edition, also from Scream Factory!  This one's a 3-discer, with both cuts restored in 4k from the original digital intermediary film negative... which is to say the film was shot, digitized from the original negative and finished (CGI effects, color timing, etc), then transferred back to a new negative for prints and discs to be struck from.  The new scans of both cuts are on UHD and new 1080p BDs.  Oh, and there's a whole new feature length documentary.

1) 2009 Universal DVD; 2) 2009 Universal US BD; 3) 2009 Universal UK BD;
4) 2018 Scream Factory BD; 5) 2024 Scream Factory BD;
6) 2024 Scream Factory UHD.

In the interests of being ultra-thorough, I started out including comparison shots of both cuts, but with more and more editions being added to this page, I've streamlined to one cut each.  Trust me, they really are identical every time.  They're different encodes (as opposed to using branching or something), but they're very close to the same file size, always using the same transfer and practically speaking, there's no visible distinction. Of course, between differing editions, like the DVD and original blu, it's another matter. Sure, it's the same root master, framed at 2.40:1 (the DVD is technically 2.41:1 and slightly pinched, though it reveals slivers more on each side as a consequence), with the same color timing, etc. But standard def compression really didn't do this movie any favors, and the HD version is really beautiful.

UK blu-ray left; US DVD right.

Just look at it up close. What's in the shop window? A bunch of smeary, indiscernible objects? Everything is so much more clear and defined on the blu, you can tell what everything is, even items further in the background. And just looking at the flat side of the truck, grain is very evident, but on the DVD it's soft with smudged edges. It's an impressive difference. And speaking of impressive differences, how awesome are Scream Factory's new 2k scans?  Well actually, I think most viewers would be hard-pressed to spot the difference even in a direct comparison like this.  They are technically different, of course.  The 2018 versions seem to boast some slightly stronger colors and a slightly smoother image.  But it's not a difference you'll ever notice just watching it on your television.  They look the frikken' same.  Yes, zooming in on close-ups, I can tell the new discs differ slightly from the old ones, but it's a very minimal step forward.

And their 2024 4k scans?  Well, they're still precisely 2.40:1 for a start, but ever so slightly more zoomed out, including those extra slivers from the DVD without the pinching.  That alone puts the latest version in the lead as the best available edition.  But look, they had to use the DI as opposed to going back to the original negative, so these new scans were never going to be super revelatory.  Film grain isn't really improved, nor is fine detail.  Comparing the BDs, there's no gains at all, though jumping to the actual UHD disc, it at least gives us smoother, less pixelated images when you zoom way in.  The newer colors are a bit darker (yes, even on the 2024 BD) and less saturated - note the red flowers to the left of Alison Lohman in the first set of shots), but it's tough to declare one better than the other in that regard.  It's just a bit different.

All versions featured 5.1 audio, but you can hear the extra punch in the blu-rays' DTS-HD track. All versions also have optional subtitles in English, but only the US Universal releases include Spanish and French dubs and subs, if those are a concern to you.  Curiously, Scream Factory has also added a DTS-HD Stereo mix into the equation for both their 2018 and 2024 editions.  Bonus?

Now what's the deal with the two cuts, anyway? I mean, why would anyone care to watch the edited PG-13 version when they've got the uncensored director's cut on the same disc? Well, it is a little bit of overkill, but there's a reason they've bothered to preserve the theatrical cut as well. The cut version isn't just missing shots (although there are a few moments that really lose their impact precisely due to removed shots), it's also got some alternative bits that are unique to that version. Some of it's pretty inconsequential, like a demon's CGI blood being colored black instead of red, which I guess bothers the MPAA more. But one scene in particular, where our lead character decides to sacrifice her cat to appease the angry spirits haunting her, are 100% reshot, and not even in a similar way.

Top: a shot only in the theatrical cut; bottom: a shot only in the uncut version.

In the PG-13 cut, we see her looking around for her cat, finding it, and then cutting away to the exterior of the house as we hear sounds letting us know the gruesome deed was done. So, in the unrated version, it's the same but instead of cutting away, we see a shot of her killing it... right? No. Actually, it's totally different, and there is no bit of her looking around for and finding her cat in the laundry basket. Instead, it's a very dramatically shot moment where she comes towards the camera from shadowed silhouette to scream and repeatedly stab it. Two totally different scenes conveying the same plot point.

Still, like I said, it's pretty much overkill. It's definitely better that they include both cuts rather than letting those alternate moments fade away into anecdotal film history. But the cat scene is the only hugely different scene. The rest is all short insert shots or slightly altered CGI. I think fans would have gotten a lot more out of just including the alternate cat scene in a little 5-minute featurette that also went over and showed the extra changes. Because it's really not worth sitting through the entire film a second time just to go, "oh, I see, that close up where the staple actually goes into her forehead has been removed, but everything else is exactly the same." But if it was a quick deleted scene, we could just quickly watch it and have the same take-away. Plus, a little deleted scenes feature would make the special features less barren and make this feel a little more like the special edition we all want.

The Universal DVD only had one extra, but at least it was a good one. It was a roughly 30-minute featurette called Production Diaries, which is a series of short segments looking at different behind-the-scenes moments during the filmmaking. It's all hosted by Justin Long (who played the boyfriend in the film), and because it zeroes in on moments and details, it's a lot more interesting than your standard, promotional featurette where each actor describes their character and says how wonderful everybody else was to work with. It's fun and engaging. The only problem is how lonely it looks sitting all by itself on the special features page of the DVD menu. Great, but that's it? There's not even a trailer, although it autoplays a bunch of unrelated trailers at the start of the disc. Blah.

Universal's blu-ray is a mirror of the DVD, except it has BD-Live... so it loads up "fresh" ads (when I tried it in 2015, it brought up the Seth Rogen feature Neighbors and an ad for Universal's horror classics from the 40s).  That's hardly an advantage. A genuine plus, I suppose, if you're one of the very select few people with a use for it, is that it's enhanced for D-Box. That's that thing where if you own a special chair wired to your entertainment system, it will vibrate at select times during the film. Not even the UK blu has that.

Now, Lions Gate didn't exactly turn this into the fully loaded special edition we'd expect for a big Sam Raimi horror bonanza; but they at least managed to double what Universal had. The UK blu does also have the Production Diaries, so it's 100% profit, no trade-off. But it's also added another 30+ minutes worth of interviews. They talk to Raimi, Long and star Alison Lohman in three separate sit-downs. These are clearly promotional, but the woman doing the interviews is obviously a genuine fan, so she asks questions we really want to hear the answers to, like "where's our Bruce Campbell cameo?" (which gets an honest answer) rather than just prompting them to fawn all over each other. They're also delightfully uncut, showing us moments like when they take a break and Sam Raimi steps out of frame so a crewman can walk by, leaving us with a steady shot of an empty chair. So again, it's still no great collection of feature length documentaries and audio commentaries with the entire cast and crew; but they're good, fun pieces worth watching.  Zavvi also reissued the UK blu as a steelbook, if you're a fan of those.

And then we come to the reason why anybody might've really wanted to double-dip for the 2018 Scream edition: brand new special features.  Well, first of all, I'm happy to report, they've carried over everything from the previous editions, including those extra interviews from the UK disc.  Sweet.  But they've also added three new on-camera interviews, one with Alison Lohman, one with Lorna Raver (she played the gypsy and really enjoyed herself) and one with composer Christopher Young.  Plus they added a new stills gallery.  Honestly, that's a little underwhelming.  Is it worth upgrading for just three 15 minute-ish interviews?  Well, I will say that all three new interviews are really good and fun.  And I'm glad they went back to get the second Lohman interview, because she doesn't just repeat the one we already have. And I should mention that the Scream edition features reversible artwork and a slipcover. But at the end of the day, it's an expensive release for three little interviews.

The 2024 is version is more satisfying in that regard.  First, yes, it has all the previous extras, including the UK and 2018 interviews.  But they've made one new, very significant addition: a full, two hour 'making of' documentary by the fine folks at Ballyhoo.  They interview a bunch more of the cast and crew, and edit together a very professional, fully satisfying experience.  Honestly, while the legacy extra still hold some exclusive value (i.e. this doc didn't go back and re-interview Lohman, so her 2018 talk is still great to have).  My one gripe, and it's a minor one, is that they do a long section on the score, and their interview with Young repeats a bunch of stuff, practically verbatim, from Shout's 2018 one.  It would've been nice if they trimmed that out and just left the new material.  We've already got him explaining the devil fiddling with his tail thing, the early affinity he felt for Raimi, etc; we don't need to hear it all twice in the same sitting.  But otherwise, this doc is terrific and fairly comprehensive and could really stand-alone as the only companion piece the film needs.  I wrapped up my earlier coverage asking for "more interviews with the likes of Dileep Rao, Bob Murowski and a segment with KNB," and guys, we got it.  If all you watched was Drag and this, you'd be a satisfied fan.  Oh, and this latest set also includes a nice slipcover - I'm very pleased to see them return to the original, superior poster art.

So, hey.  The first and easiest conclusion to draw is that, with the fullest collection of extras and all transfers being essentially equal, the latest Scream Factory set is the best release on the market.  Still, if you already own the film on blu, any blu, it's one of the slimmer upgrades, at least in terms of the film itself.  But the film's such a blast, every horror fan should own it in some fashion; and really, the only worthwhile extra I could imagine any future release adding is a commentary track with the Raimis, which I'm sure is a practically impossible dream as long as he's busy playing with Marvel/ Disney.  Oh, and maybe a sit down with Reggie Lee.  But yeah, I'm quite happy to have re-bought this film for a fifth time, which is something you won't hear me say often.  I wouldn't have recommended the previous double-dips, but this one I do.  This 2024 set finally totals up enough special features to give us Drag Me To Hell as the special edition it's always deserved to be.

A Nightmare On Elm Street, Unbound

Happy Halloween, everybody!  ...Okay, I'm a little late.  But I'm here today with the spooky season's ultimate release, quite possibly the best and most exciting release of the whole year: Warner Bros new 4k UHD restoration of Wes Craven's 80's horror classic, A Nightmare On Elm Street.  Not only have we been waiting for an upgrade to Warner Bros' admittedly not so bad blu-ray for a long time, and we're finally getting it restored in 4k on a proper UHD disc, but it turns out Warners has been sitting on the "lost" uncut version all these years, and they're finally giving it to us.

A Nightmare On Elm Street was originally released on DVD back in 1999 as a part of 'The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection' with the first seven films in the series.  It got its first solo DVD in 2001 as both a full and widescreen version.  As a proud laserdisc owner, however, I didn't bother with a DVD until New Line came out with their fancier, 2006 Infinifilm 2-disc special edition.  It's been included in plenty of box sets and collections, but the next important upgrade was in 2010, when Warners upgraded the film to blu.  That blu has also been reissued in plenty of boxed sets and collections, but there hasn't been another upgrade until now, with Warner Bros' new 4k restoration on UHD.

a splash only seen in the uncut version.

Importantly, Warner's new UHD finally gives us the uncut version of the film for nearly the very first time.  One or early foreign releases, like a German VHS tape, apparently had the uncut footage as well.  But for most of us, this will be a new, complete cut with trims the MPAA forced Craven to make in order to receive an R rating restored.  You can hear him talk about it in his commentaries; he wasn't happy to do it.  It's a matter of seconds, though, so don't expect whole new effects sequences or anything.  Basically, Tina's death scene is bloodier, and there's also a tiny bit more of the infamous geyser of blood scene.  But it's still huge, getting one of the decades most important horror films finally in its complete form.

Warner's new release includes the theatrical cut, too; and one thing you might find surprising is that it's actually slightly shorter than the previous editions.  That's not just a studio logo thing or anything; it genuinely is a slightly shorter cut.  That's because previous home video releases, including the DVD and BD we'll be looking at in this comparison, aren't the original theatrical cut but a (very) slightly extended cut, bringing them closer to the original, uncut version.  I remember being amused that my Elite laserdisc had extra frames of the blood geyser.  For me, it's all academic, because I'm never going to watch anything but the uncut version from now on.  But yes, in giving us an accurate theatrical version, that one's actually slightly shorter (it's also got a brief trim in the final shot of the jump rope girls) than previous releases.  It's basically a historical artifact that they've thrown in alongside the uncut version.

1) 2006 New Line DVD; 2) 2010 Warner Bros BD; 3) 2024 Warmer Bros UHD.

So let's look at these.  Warner Bros has always done a good job with this film, so none of these versions look drastically different.  Even the DVD is anamorphic, and the color timing and everything is virtually the same.  The framing and aspect ratio shifts ever so slightly, from 1.83:1 on the DVD to a typically (for Warner Bros) unmatted 1.78:1 BD and a now perfect 1.85:1 UHD.  The colors are strongest, unsurprisingly, on the UHD and there's a distinct boost in resolution with each generation.  The DVD has your typical SD blur, and while grain now appears on the BD, it's a messy.  The UHD finally clears everything up.  Grain appears a bit soft, but the image is so much clearer and refined now.  A great and easy way to confirm this for yourself is to check out the notice board in the second set of shots.  You can always read the headlines, like "MISSING! Kevin Collins," but on the BD, you can just barely make out the "Kevin Collins Hotline," and on the UHD you can finally make out the smallest font, including that he's "10 years old" and "LAST SEEN FEB 10."  Guys, we're finally cracking down on the Elm St Kevin Collins mystery!

Every release here basically gives us the choice of the mono track and a remix.  There's both 5.1 and 6.1 on the DVD, 7.1 on the BD (and now they're lossless DTS-HD) and Atmos on the UHD.  Every release also includes optional English subtitles (some online sources, like DVDCompare, say the DVD doesn't have any, but I'm running them right now.  They play in ALL CAPS, but they're definitely on the disc) and a bunch of foreign language options.

some exciting offers included with the 2006 DVD.

So we've always had a nice package of extras with this film, and the contents don't really change across releases.  We get two audio commentaries: an excellent one from the laserdisc by Craven joined by Heather Langencamp, John Saxon and director of photography Jacques Haitkinand, and another one that's essentially a collection of interview snippets with all the major cast and crew edited into one big audio track.  Both are very worth your time.  Then there's a roughly hour-long documentary, which is also pretty excellent, a featurette on New Line Cinema and a silly one about the nature of dreams,   You can skip that last one, but don't miss the main doc, which is full of outtakes, deleted scenes and great interviews.  You also get the alternate endings, the trailer, and a collection "Focus Points," which are about 20 minutes worth of outtakes and clips, most of which were also in the doc.  Both the DVD and UHD come in natty slipcovers, and there are various alternative packaging options like steelbooks and even swaggier sets.

I suppose it could feel a little disappointing that they didn't cook up any new extras for this latest release, but there's really not much more to ask for from the existing package.  Do we really need another interview asking the same people for the same anecdotes?  And if you do need more, let me remind you, the Never Sleep Again blu-ray is right there.  And the fact that you can get this new, ultimate edition of one of the all time great horror movies on a straight-forward single-disc edition that still has all the trimmings for $23 while the boutiques keep inflating their prices for releases that aren't remotely as worthy (like, sorry, Synapse wants how much for Trick Or Treat?)?  There's no question, this is an absolute must.

What's Going On In the Land Of the Dead?

Land Of the Dead is the fourth film in George Romero's historic Dead films.  It came out in theaters in 2005 and was released on DVD later that year, later hitting blu-ray in 2008.  So Scream Factory's brand new blu-ray edition, due to be released on Halloween, will actually be the film's second blu-ray release in the United States.  In addition to all new special features, they announced that their release will be a new 2k scan of the interpositive.  Great, right?  Well, the scuttlebutt surrounding this release is that despite being shot on film, it was completed digitally... because, after all, it's full of digital special effects.  And the 2008 blu was struck from that digital intermediate.  But to play the film in theaters, the DI was struck back to film, creating an IP that was then used to make prints.  So if Scream made a new scan of the IP, they'd actually be using a generation further removed and therefore of inherently lesser quality than the 2008 blu, presumably just for the sake of being able to announce "new 2k scan!" to fans who don't know any better.

...But is all of that accurate?  The theory sounds right based on what we know, but it still relies on speculation and presumption.  Do we know for a fact, for example, that the Universal blu was taken from the DI and not the IP, or are we just assuming?  And one interesting detail is that while all of Scream's announcements (on Facebook, their store website, etc) have clearly said "interpositive," the case itself repeatedly says "internegative."  But really, the best way to know which blu-ray came out better is to look carefully at both of them and see for ourselves.

Update 10/16/17 - 10/21/24: Scream has given us a fancy, new 3-disc UHD/ BD combo-pack.  This time the packaging says it's a "2024 4K Restoration From The Original Camera Negative."  Really?  So does that mean they scanned the original negatives and then re-finished all the digital effects?  You wouldn't think so.  Do they mean the "internegative" again, if that wasn't a mistake before?  Their listing on their website does correspond with the packaging, unlike last time.  I'd love to hear someone from Shout explain what was done, precisely, each time.  But in lieu of that, we can at least crack this sucker open and see how these discs look for ourselves.

If you've never even seen Land Of the Dead, well, I reckon you should if you're a horror fan.  Yeah, it's got a decidedly lesser reputation compared to the previous films in the series.  But then again, Day of the Dead enjoyed a pretty similar lesser reputation until being reappraised by fans and critics alike in more recent years.  And I think Land is due for a similar reevaluation; and Scream Factory including it in their collection may be the first sign of that happening.  I mean, for all the Walking Deads and Zombie Flesh Eaters we've had over the decades, this is the original, core zombie series that started it all, written and directed by the man himself.  Then, will we see the same thing happen for Romero's final two films, Diary and Survival, a few further years down the road?  Well, let's not go crazy.  But really, I think Land deserves more credit than it gets.

Not that I don't get the criticism.  First of all, some of the digital effects are shaky.  Romero's dead films are famous for having some of the greatest, cutting edge horror effects in the genre.  ...Up until this one.  There is still a ton of fantastic practical effects, but the digital blood and crazier CGI moments don't entirely blend in with the rest of the film.

And even more critical than the effects, the story is, well, awfully ambitious.  I mean, this is the only film set in the series that basically takes place in a sci-fi future.  Okay, technically you could say Day of the Dead has to be set a couple years ahead of the present in order to be able to present half the world as having already been overrun by zombies.  But it's basically contemporary people dealing with the situation the way contemporary people would.  Land, however, imagines a whole new, society that's developed after the world as we know it has crumbled.  And that's taking a big risk with a series that got most of its strength by tackling a supernatural horror in the most credible, authentic way possible.  The original Night Of the Living Dead was the most powerful "what would it be like if this unnatural horror actually happened to us in the real world right now?" that had ever been made up to that point, and arguably since.

Meanwhile, Land sets a scene in an underground saloon where Asia Argento is dressed in black leather wrestling two zombies in a cage match scored with Spanish rap music, while our other heroes have a shootout with a midget pimp dressed in purple shouting "they ruined my suit!"  One of the soldiers rides a skateboard in every single scene.  At this stage, the tone of the series has veered dangerously close to Escape From LA; so I can see why fans shunned this entry.  But if you can get past the most egregious moments, this film is actually pretty effective, both as a compelling zombie story with good, if not so subtle, social commentary, and in delivering genuinely atmospheric horror that also never skimps on the goods.  For the most part, it plays far straighter than Escape From NY, let alone LA.

Land's got a pretty great cast, too, including Dennis Hopper, Simon Baker The Mentalist, John Leguizamo who can be quite over the top but here gets it just right, and even Tom Savini, bringing back his character from Dawn Of the Dead for a cool cameo.  The score's effective, the film's shot really well, and George was finally able to bring his Dead Reckoning dream to life.  The story gives us a nice follow-through on the set-up of Bud from Day Of the Dead, and if you just want to see cool zombie kills, Greg Nicotero (who also has a cameo... in fact, this film is laden with cameos) and Howard Berger do their damnedest.  I guess this is one of those films like Halloween 3 or Hellraiser 3, where you have to let go of your expectations from the previous films in their series to appreciate; but if you can just do that, it's hard to imagine anyone not having a good time with this sequel.

A shot only in the theatrical cut.

Now, you may've noticed that Scream's giving us multi-disc sets.  That's not just because they're overflowing with extras (although they are), but because they've included two different cuts of the film: the R-rated theatrical version (92.54 minutes long) and the unrated director's cut (96.48 minutes long).  You might be wondering why anybody would bother with the shorter cut version.  Well, that's because the difference between the two versions amounts to more than just extra CGI blood squirts and extra frames of gut munching.  There are substantial changes made between the two edits, and not only does the unrated version also have extra lines of dialogue and a whole, long dramatic scene where Leguizamo fights a zombie in a high-rise, but the theatrical cut also has some alternative shots and tiny pieces not seen in the unrated version.  It can be rather confusing, and movie-censorship.com has even created two distinctly different comparisons of alternate Land Of the Dead cuts (here and here).  I carefully checked both, and can say that the latter is the one that accurately reflects the two different cuts on the Scream sets, while the other changes seem to be unique to the old, R-rated DVD.  So anyway, certainly the unrated version is the one you want to watch, but there's good reason to preserve both, and credit goes to Scream for doing so.

A scene only in the unrated cut.

And alright, now I'll finally stop beating around the bush and get into comparing the blu-ray releases.  I've also still got the original, widescreen unrated DVD, so I'll throw that one into the mix, too.  So that means we've got Universal's 2005 DVD, their 2008 blu (which also consists of the unrated director's cut) and both versions on Scream Factory's 2017 blu-ray set.  Both of Scream's 2017 transfers are taken from their 2k scan; but their unrated cut required HD inserts, because they weren't part of what played in theaters.  The shot above this paragraph, of Leguizamo and the butler, is one of those inserts, so you can see how it compares to the bulk of the film in the shots below.  Then, of course, we've got the 2024 release, which includes 1080p BD transfers of both cuts and the UHD of the unrated (they didn't put the theatrical cut on UHD), all of which they specify come from the new 4k restoration.

1) 2005 Universal DVD; 2) 2008 Universal BD; 3) 2017 SF theatrical BD;
4) 2017 SF unrated BD; 5) 2024 SF theatrical BD;
6) 2024 SF unrated BD; 7) 2024 SF unrated UHD.

So, the framing (2.35:1), color timing, etc is pretty much identical across the board.  Maybe the newer transfers are a smidgen cooler, and the 2024 scan pulls back to reveal a sliver more image around the edges.  Anyway, except for the inserts, addressed above, the two 2017 Scream Factory transfers are taken from the same source; but I threw them both in to be thorough.  And the same goes for the 2024s.  There are effectively no differences between the uncut and theatrical transfers.  Though interestingly, even though the shot appears in both cuts, they seemed to use different sources for the second set of shots above.  Watching this on a large (65") TV, though, I didn't notice the "seams" between between the newly scanned footage and the inserts at all.  The biggest difference in quality is of course the DVD, which naturally has a blurrier look.  Detail was definitely smudged off by the standard definition compression, which the Universal blu did a fine job of restoring, without any noticeable flaws like DNR or artificial edge enhancement.  But what about detail between that and the Scream blus?  That's what we really care about these days.  And, well, especially looking at the second shot there, I have to say the Scream blu looks sharper, with maybe a little extra detail drawn out of the heavy shadows.  Let's zoom in for a close-up.

Universal blu left; 2017 Scream Factory right.

Scream's transfer is definitely grainier.  But is that because it's a better scan, or just due to the fact that they used a more filmic source?  Or a combination of the two?  It doesn't appear that we're actually getting any new detail, though the added grain makes it look that way, though we haven't lost any either.  So at least it's not the downgrade some of us were fearing.  But now let's take a close look into the 2024 UHD.

2024 Scream Factory UHD.

Well, bye bye grain.  This looks like a return to the 2008 BD.  But that's a good thing if that grain was just the remnants of a later generation source, anyway.  Again, we don't seem to have had much of a gain or loss in detail.  It feels like we've sort of peaked once we jump from SD to HD.  But, with that said, the Dolby Vision HDR does give us some legit benefits on the UHD.  In fact, it's there in the 1080 BDs, too, just harder to see without bumping up the gamma.  There is definitely more detail now in the shadows, like the folds and creases in Baker's coat in that second set of shots, that wasn't there in any of the past releases.  And the contrast levels are a little more naturalistic.  So by clearing away the "fake" grain (in quotes because SF didn't actually add fake grain, which is a thing some labels have been said to do... it's just grain we probably don't want, as it comes from a lesser source and only interferes with the original image) and re-scanning in 4k, Scream really have given us a legit PQ upgrade, which they arguably failed to do in 2017, and delivered the best version yet.  But these are all very slight distinctions casual viewers won't even notice.

By the way, the audio options keep shifting with this flick.  The DVD gave us the choice subtle choice between DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks, with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.  Then the 2008 blu-ray dropped the Dolby, just giving us the DTS 5.1 in HD, along with the same subtitles and a Spanish dub.  In 2017, Scream Factory gave us the DTS-HD 5.1 track plus a new DTS-HD 2.0 stereo mix, as well as English subs.  And in 2024, they've carried all of that over, and also thrown in a new Dolby Atmos track.  So that's a net positive.

Universal's releases were already pretty swagged out with goodies, including probably the most important extra, a George Romero audio commentary (also with producer Peter Grunwald and editor Michael Doherty).  There are a few momentary lapses of dead air, but for the most part, it's everything you want it to be.  There are also a whole bunch of featurettes (Undead Again: The Making Of Land Of the Dead, A Day With the Living Dead, Bringing the Dead To Life, When Shaun Met George - a fun behind-the-scenes look at a cameo by the stars of Shaun Of the Dead, which was still pretty new at the time - Scenes Of Carnage, which is just a skippable montage of gory scenes from the film, Zombie Effects: From Green Screen To Finished Scene, Bringing the Storyboards To Life and Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call), that range from fifteen to as short as one minute.  There's also a few brief deleted scenes and bonus trailers, including one for a Land Of the Dead video game.  The blu-ray converted a couple of those features into picture-in-picture commentary with their funky U-Control gimmick, which is slightly annoying, but it's all the same stuff on either release.  The DVD also came in a nice slip cover.

Road To Fiddler's Green, the Land Of the Dead video game trailer.

Scream Factory has carried over all of that, even the stupid Scenes of Carnage montage (though not the video game trailer).  And they've also added plenty more.  There's now an additional audio commentary by four zombie extras (Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, plus Matt Blazi, Gleena Chao and Rob Mayr... I haven't listened to this one yet; I'll get back to you guys.  It's okay.  Very self-indulgent.  It would've made a great featurette, but they don't have enough to say to fill 97 minutes) and the additional television documentary, Dream of the Dead, which Roy Frumkes, director of the original Document Of the Dead, shot for the Independent Film Channel to promote the film.  This is apparently a slightly altered "director's cut" of the doc as opposed to what originally aired on television, that runs about twenty-five minutes and also includes its own collection of deleted scenes and audio commentary by Frumkes.  It's a great addition that nicely ties Land to the previous Dead films.

Then you've got new on-camera interviews with actors John Leguizamo, Robert Joy who played Charlie, Pedro Miguel Arce and a featurette that edits together interviews additional cast members Eugene Clarke, Jennifer Baxter, Boyd Banks and Jasmin Geljo.  Disappointingly, Baker and Argento gave Scream a miss; but Leguizamo was a good get.  Anyway, there's also a new photo gallery, the original theatrical trailer (surprisingly absent from the Universal discs), and a cool slip cover.  It also came in reversible artwork and included a poster if you ordered it directly from their site (and it's rolled; they stopped folding them!).

Scream's 2024 release doesn't have any new extras, but it's hard to complain given how packed their set already was; and they've hung onto all of it.  They've also got a better cover and slipcover, returning to the original poster art, which I appreciate.  Plus, if you order direct from their site, you can get two exclusive 18"x24" posters (yes, rolled) and a second, exclusive slipcover.

So at the end of the day, yes, Scream Factory's latest Land Of the Dead is an upgrade and the definitive edition going.  If you're going to pick this movie up, and you should, their new 2024 Collector's Edition is the one to get.  That said, if you've already got the 2017 edition... yes, this is still better.  Not so much in the resolution, but in the dynamic range.  Still, I'd prioritize upgrading other BDs in my collection to UHD before this one, especially since that one already netted you all the latest and legacy extras.  I was worried when this I saw this title get announced, but no, they didn't muck it up.  And, if anything, maybe they've corrected a slight misstep from their previous version.