An Ohio native, I have long been fascinated and inspired by the work independent filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter did in our home state through the '80s and '90s, directing and/or producing such low budget gems as POLYMORPH, ZOMBIE COP, KINGDOM OF THE VAMPIRE, and SKINNED ALIVE. Bookwalter got his start with the Super-8 zombie epic THE DEAD NEXT DOOR, which was financed by a mysterious benefactor who happened to be a certain genre icon with connections to Scott Spiegel (who is in the movie) and Bruce Campbell (who dubbed two of the characters in post).
To mark the 30th anniversary of when he began working on THE DEAD NEXT DOOR and the 25th anniversary of its initial home video release, Bookwalter is now assembling a three disc Ultimate Edition Blu-ray/DVD release of the film that will be shipping out this October.
The specs:
Disc 1 (Blu-ray)
2K Restored Feature Presented in 4:3 Original Aspect Ratio
2K Restored Feature Presented in 1.85:1 Widescreen (first time ever!)
Remastered 5.1 Surround and Stereo 2.0 mixes
Alternate 5.1 Surround Mix with Original Cast (first time ever!)
All-new 2015 commentary (participants TBA)
2005 commentary with writer/director J.R. Bookwalter, actor Michael Todd and cinematographer Michael Tolochko
All-new 2015 look at the 2K restoration
2005 Behind the Scenes footage
2005 Deleted Scenes & Outtakes
3 still galleries (including new foreign artwork gallery!)
All-new 2015 and original 1999 trailer (now in HD!)
Disc 2 (DVD)
2005 Remastered Feature in 4:3 Original Aspect Ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Stereo 2.0 mixes (78 mins.)
1990 Original Release Version with Stereo 2.0 mix (85 mins.)
All-new 2015 Commentary with Doug Tilley and Moe Porne of The No-Budget Nightmares Podcast (1990 version only)
20 Years in 15 Minutes (16 mins.)
Video Storyboards (8 mins.)
Video Pre-Shoots (6 mins.)
Auditions (14 mins.)
Three Miles Out Music Video (3 mins.)
2000 Frightvision Reunion (6 mins.)
1995 Making-of Featurette (first time on DVD!)
Disc 3 (CD)
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with Complete Score by J.R. Bookwalter plus unreleased songs by Argus, Joy Circuit and Three Miles Out
Packaging
Reversible sleeve with your choice of original or all-new artwork
Color booklet with liner notes by FANGORIA Managing Editor Michael Gingold and behind-the-scenes photos
To help accelerate the restoration work and cover costs, Bookwalter is currently running a campaign for the project on Indiegogo. There are various donation reward levels to choose from, but most importantly, as of the $35 tier, the campaign functions as a pre-order for the first 1000 units of the set.
As a longtime fan, this is a really exciting release for me. The "before and after" pictures Bookwalter has shared of the restoration look incredible, and the promise of getting an audio track featuring the voices of the original actors rather than the dubbed performances is very intriguing. I'll be picking this one up for sure.