'EVIL DEAD' - The Japanese 1985 'Herald Videogram' laserdisc version

The 1985 Japanese Herald Videogram laserdisc is arguably the best transfer of EVIL DEAD ever made available. Two major things separate this version from every other; its colour timing, and its picture framing, although it does suffer from burnt in Japanese subtitles, but they’re fairly unobtrusive.As far as is known, EVIL DEAD was transferred twice in its early home viewing days. The first transfer was used on the 1985 Japanese HV laserdisc. At some point a second transfer was made and was then used on every subsequent release. The colour timing for this second transfer was much warmer in tone than the bluer & colder HV laserdisc version. This subtle change seemed to alter the whole ‘feel’ of the movie and the HV laserdisc seems much scarier because of it. Additionally there is also quite a difference in picture framing between the two versions. The second transfer seems to have been zoomed in around 10-15%, meaning the HV laserdisc version has more visual information on each side of the frame. The 1982 Palace Pictures VHS, 1995 Japanese Beam laserdisc, 1999 US Elite laserdisc, along with every DVD version all seem to use that second transfer, only differing very slightly on colour timing, brightness levels. EVIL DEAD was originally composed to be shown in a matted 1.66:1 AR, but it was only ever shown in this format once for its premiere, thereafter it was screened in the standard AR of 1.37:1. A number of DVD releases have taken this and matted it to achieve a 1.85:1 AR, then marketed as the ’widescreen’ version. The HV version is shown in that full un-matted ratio, which also contains the original mono audio track, before it was re-mixed to stereo and later 5.1 surround.

What's lesser known is that the theatrical cut has never been seen since the Japanese Herald Videogram Laserdisc

AB has released a version that is very close to its original theatrical exhibition but the colors are way off