Dead & Buried (Gary A. Sherman, 1981) (Merged)

[AndyBlade]

Bought this in Tesco this morning - looks to be another very well presented 2 disc edition from ABUK.

[drterror666]

I expect the ABUK edition is just a direct port of the BU edition. The bad picture quality is due to the age of the film and nothing to do with 'bad transfers' or anything.

[Paul WJM]

Originally posted by drterror666
The bad picture quality is due to the age of the film and nothing to do with 'bad transfers' or anything.

Could be due to quality of source material maybe but there are films as old as 50 years on disc that look fantastic, so the age of the film itself is not necessarily the cause of a 'bad' picture. I'm sure the best print found was used for the job anyway.

[drterror666]

What I meant was that the film wasn't made to the best standards in the first place.

I've got the BU edition and I've yet to watch it!

[James Lee]

Hey, I was down at the market today and found a second hand book store. I bought The Devil Rides Out (Dennis Wheatley) a Robert Bloach book called Dragons or something like that, The Stand and... Dead and Buried, complete with that wonderful cover of the face in the ground, the same that is on the AB dvd cover.

[Vaughan]

Well, prompted by this thread, I finally dug out my BU copy and gave it a viewing.

The FILM

I think the film is a little marvel, I really do. It's a mysterious tale with plenty of surprises, some gore, and a nice ending. There's nothing to not like here - just don't watch the trailer before viewing the film, it gives a ridiculous amount of the story away.

THE TRANSFER

Sorry the13thman, but the transfer is pretty bad. Yeah, I know all about the quality of the source and whatnot. That doesn't change the fact that this is surely one of the worst DVD's I've seen in a long time. Grain in the least of the problems, it's too dark at times, the contrast is too low, it's soft ALL the time, and the color is washed out (except in two scenes, the opening one with the girl in a RED RED RED blouse, and one later shot outside with a green lawn).

At times it does look like VHS, at others it's better - but the grain/dirt is awful. I thought parts of Hills Have Eyes were bad - this is much worse. BU have done a stellar job on many titles, perhaps they did all the magic possible on this one - but they were not able to hide the fact that the picture is sub-standard.

SUMMARY

It's still worth getting! The story is strong, the performances great, and the effects are neato too. The intrique in this one is strong, if you don't know the story - don't even read the back of the box, go in cold and just watch. Worth the money for sure, but it's not going to push the capabilities of your home theater.

[zanner]

i'm watching 'dead & buried' on ebay now, along with 7 other uncut region 1 films... ...zanner.

[Vaughan]

To clarify and give perspective, last night I began to listen to the Director's commentary. I watched it this time on my widescreen TV. The shrunken image (from my projector) helped the image a bit so it didn't look so bad. It isn't great, but the small screen manages to hide some of the problems. If you have a smallish TV, maybe it's not so much of an issue. For those with large home theaters, you're in trouble!

[zanner]

i'm happy with my 28" widescreen tv at the mo... ...zanner.

[GreeNick]

I know Anchor Bay has the full uncut version of Dead and Buried in DVD, but what about the Pinnacle Vision one? Are there two distributors releasing the same title and whether the latter has the same uncut version?

Just that I discovered somewhere that there are two distributors though I'd still opt for the AB one. Just wanted to find out that's all.

[MarcMorris]

Pinnacle distribute Anchor Bay's titles - it's the same disc.

[GreeNick]

Ah.

[Xipe Totec]

Are you talking about the AB editions picture quality?
I was considering to buy it. Well, maybe buy some day.
Is this the two disc edition?

[Vaughan]

I believe they are the same, yes. If you have a widescreen TV, you probably won't be disapionted, especially since you won't be expecting sterling quality now

It's a good film.

[Pecker]

Watched this last week (on my 32" widescreen).

If I sat the picture quality is 'poor', I mean by usual ABUK standards. It's not that bad, considering the age of the film, and it's low budget, but not as good as some other ABUK releases.

I understand that films like this are going to sell relatively few copies, and subsequently the about of time (and therefore money) that can be spent on tracking down the best quality copy, cleaning it up, mastering it, etc, etc, is necessarilly limited.

I doubt that there'd be any chance of getting a release this comprehensive anywhere else. There are major hollywood blockbusters which don't have anything like as much care taken in putting together a special edition.

Well done, ABUK.

Steve W

[Vaughan]

I am also aware that it looks the way it does because of bad source material. While others go as far as to claim they WANTED it to look this way (which beggars belief). They might have been constrained by budget and film stock, for sure.

As I have written before, once you get beyond that, it's an enjoyable romp.

[Xipe Totec]

By the way, doesn`t it by any chance have a booklet with it? Actually, I wouldn`t mind that booklet information about other AB horror DVDs either. I don`t know why, but I seem to be in a booklet psychosis at the moment.

[Vaughan]

It has a booklet, but it's not significant I'm afraid.

Booklets are a much overlooked component of DVD releases. Too few of worth are done (kudos to those that do bother, Criterion, DD Video). There seems to be an idea that putting it on the disc is just as good. I have heard the same thing about reading books on computers for the last twenty years. A screen is no substitute for the printed word.

[Xipe Totec]

Yeah, just recived DD`s The Creeping Flesh and it has a really nice booklet with it.

[Mr Blue Sky]

Hiya,

first time caller, long time listener.

Quick question,

My dead and buried(r2) dvd the sound goes out of sink in the scene with the family in the old house??

Is anyone else having these problem??

let me know...

cheers