The Necro Files: Collector's Edition – Visual Vengeance (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 1997
Director: Matt Jaissle
Writers: Todd Tjersland, Sammy Shapiro
Cast: Steve Sheppard, Gary Browning, Christian Curmudgeon, Jason McGee, Isaac Cooper

Release Date: July 19th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 72 Minutes 46 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Stereo English, Dolby Digital Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"A serial killer rises from the grave as a flesh-eating zombie maniac! Two Seattle cops, a satanic cult and a flying demon baby try to stop the lust-crazed ghoul before he can kill again." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 2/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "We have created the following Blu-ray using the best materials available at the time for the movies contained within. Often these movies were originally created and / or edited on tape, sometimes even with consumer grade equipment.

Please be aware and forewarned that any audio or visual quality on display is the result of the original source material - and we are confident you will enjoy the movie regardless."

The Necro Files comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 18.4 GB

Feature: 9.3 GB

Sure, the transfer for this release has many flaws, but when one considers the limitations of the source, this transfer looks as good as it can.

Audio: 2.75/5

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English and a Dolby Digital stereo mix in English. For this review, I only listened to the DTS-HD stereo track. Considering The Necro Files' low-budget video origins, one should not expect much from this audio track. Though the audio sounds flat, the dialog, for the most part, comes through clearly. That said, I recommend watching with the English SDH enabled.

Extras:

Extras for this release include The Necro Files original producer trailer (1 minute 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English,no subtitles), The Necro Files Visual Vengeance trailer (1 minute 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), super 8 short film titled The Corpse (8 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles), a making of documentary titled Dong of the Dead: The Making of The Necro Files (19 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo, no subtitles),a Chilean talk show segment that features The Necro Files (4 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital Chilean Spanish, no subtitles), Matt Jaissle super 8 short films (12 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Matt Jaissle (6 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Matt Jaissle, an audio commentary with Matt Desiderio of Horror Boobs and Billy Burgess of the Druid Underground Film Festival, reversible cover art featuring original VHS art, The Necro Files official condom, retro VHS sticker set, a collectible mini poster, a 2-sided insert, and a limited-edition slipcover (first pressing only).

Other extras include a sequel to The Necro Files titled Necro Files 3000 (62 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Necro Files 3000 trailer (1 minute 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and trailers for Slaughter Day, L.A. Aids Jabber, and Zombie Rampage.

Summary:

The Necro Files is one of countless shot on video horror films that were made in the latter-half of the 1980’s and 1990’s. This subgenre of horror cinema was geared to a specific audience and was never meant to compete with the big-budget horror films that were being made by the major studios. That said, shot on video, horror is the type of cinema you either loathe or love.

Shot on video, horror cinema is known for its broad premises, and The Necro Files has a deliriously outlandish one that features a rapist flesh-eating zombie, a flying demon fetus, and a pair of dimwitted detectives, one of whom has psychopathic tendencies and an addiction problem. Needless to say, what lies within is a crazy film that’s overflowing with WTF moments.

From a production standpoint, The Necro Files actually far exceeds its anemic budget. And though its budget limitations dictated that everything be shot on location, this actually works in The Necro Files' favor. Also, though the special effects look cheap, this does not take away from the impact of the gut-munching kill sequences, which are gory and then some. Another strength of The Necro Files is its profanity-laden dialog. Ultimately, The Necro Files has all the elements that one has come to expect and want from a shot-on-video horror film.

The Necro Files is one of the first releases from Visual Vengeance, a new label dedicated to shooting video horror cinema. These collector's editions present the films in their best possible audio/video presentations and come with a ridiculous amount of extra content. The Necro Files get a first-rate release from Visual Vengeance, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer