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The films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy were doubtless the second most eagerly anticipated movie-going experience of my life. They were first, however, in terms of the actual payoff being worth the anticipation. The Phantom Menace, I’m afraid, was a letdown of biblical proportions and made all that excitement and pre-release hype seem like so much foolishness. These three films, however, managed to exceed even my high expectations. As a fan of Tolkien since practically the womb, I had been waiting with bated breath for live action film versions of my beloved stories, and lord almighty I was not disappointed. As good as the movies were in theaters, they managed to be enhanced even further by the DVD release of the “special extended editions.” Unlike the disgusting travesties that were the special editions of Star Wars, these are composed of footage made for the films and trimmed for time from the theatrical release; there’s none of this going back decades after the fact and adding stupid special effects that contribute nothing to the story. And so, for the next twelve hours or so, we will take a look at the saga that is the extended version of The Lord of the Rings.

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Oh ho, here we go. The Evil Dead is the film that launched every moviegoer’s favorite trilogy, except for Star Wars, Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings, the Indiana Jones movies and probably a few other trilogies, too. It’s the film that started Bruce Campbell on his rise to cult superstardom, which means he is slightly less famous than someone who is not a star at all. In short, it’s the film that is awesome. Although I’m a total sell-out and declare the more mass-appealing Army of Darkness to be my favorite movie in the series, I’m still a big fan of this first one and it’s by far the most like a true horror movie. It’s become an underground classic in the years since its release, with a huge and fiercely devoted fanbase, and we basically owe it all to the determination of Bruce Campbell and director Sam Raimi to make a great monster movie and the palpable fun they had doing it.

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Though Night of the Living Dead came first, Dawn of the Dead is the movie that forever established exactly what a zombie movie needed to be. Even now, thirty years later, it is the standard by which all other “the dead have risen and are munching my flesh” movies are judged. From start to finish, Dawn of the Dead is two hours of non-stop decaying society, armed resistance and balls-to-the-wall undead awesome.

In every way, it’s an over the top comic book of a movie, but that helps rather than hinders it.

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