Home theater viewers looking for a dose of horror won’t be disappointed with a pair of gruesome movies now available in the 4K and Blu-ray disc format.
Evil Dead Rise (Warner Bros. Entertainment, rated R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 97 minutes, $42.99) — The continuation of filmmaker Sam Raimi’s supernatural horror franchise returned to a rousing audience reception in theaters and now debuts in the 4K disc format.
Instead of following the adventures of hero Ash Williams, the story focused on a pair of sisters attempting to survive an onslaught from the demonic Deadites.
Specifically, when Beth (Lily Sullivan) visits her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three children in Los Angeles, a strong earthquake strikes trapping the apartment residents and exposing an old bank vault chamber in an underground parking lot.
Ellie’s teen son Danny (Morgan Davies) finds old record albums and a volume of the Necronomicon (the book of the dead) in the open chamber.
When he plays a recording, a priest reads an incantation from the book conjuring demons that take possession of Ellie — and let the gruesome killing begin.
Writer Lee Cronin directs his script and traps viewers in a haunted house smothered in an atmosphere of dread. Expect shaky camera, jump-scare-filled, gushy, gory, bloody treats, and all focused on reigniting the Evil Dead canon.
The ultra-high definition presentation helps greatly to allow viewers to discern the horrors in many a dark scene, but also over highlights a few of the more vomit-inducing moments. Watcher beware.
Best extras: Perhaps the most horrifying part of this 4K and Blu-ray combo pack release is that Mr. Raimi and producers Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell offer nothing in the way of bonus features.
That’s a terrible disappointment considering the history of the franchise and the chatty and gregarious humans involved in the project.
Renfield: Dracula Sucks Edition (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, rated R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 94 minutes, $42.99) — Dracula’s favorite familiar finally got his own movie, now in the Blu-ray format, that explored the humor and horror of his perpetual servitude.
Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”) stars as the iconic Robert Montague Renfield in a tale covering his origins, his need for a support group and answering the age-old question as to why he eats bugs.
The story focuses on his life in the big city and the usual routine of taking care of his master, now in pretty bad shape after a tough encounter with vampire hunters.
However, his attentions start to drift away from the count after an attraction to a female police officer (Awkwafina) who he finds kinship with after they battle a drug lord.
Director Chris McKay does a fantastic job of entertaining fans of the mythology through twists on the canon and orchestrating some incredibly violent and gory encounters with victims.
He also gets much help from the casting of the perfect Count Dracula.
Of course, it’s the mighty Nicolas Cage embracing the role and bringing a narcissistic ferocity and explosive anger to the part as he strikes back for his servant abandoning him while enjoying the occasional eyeball martini.
The amusing take on the character takes its cue from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for the dry wit and “Blade II” for the visceral spender.
Best extras: The Dracula Sucks edition does not suck and offers a decent amount of digital goodies led by a team optional commentary track recorded before the release of the movie.
Potty-mouthed producer Samantha Nisenboim leads the group that includes writer Ryan Ridley, post-production editor Noah Cody, sound editors Nancy Nugent Title and John Marquis, digital colorist David Cole, visual effects artist Jamie Price, and makeup effects wizard Christien Tinsley.
They do a great job of exploring all aspects of making the movie with plenty of tech details, but obviously, it would have been greater if the director, Mr. Cage or Mr. Hoult had been available to add their thoughts.
Next, six featurettes (roughly 40 minutes) cover Mr. Cage’s thoughts on the film and his iconic role, an overview of the story and production, the stunt work, fight choreography, visual effects and excessive gore.
Most odd but interesting is a look at Renfield’s fantasy dance number that was unfortunately cut from the film, as discussed by Mr. Hoult and choreographer Kathryn Burns.
