Corpse Grinders

This fondly regarded low-budget horror opus gets its fourth DVD release in this 2007 package from Alpha Home Entertainment. The Corpse Grinders curiously gets two transfers to disc on this edition; the standard presentation has been given a widescreen transfer at the aspect ratio of 1.85:1 that's letterboxed on conventional televisions and enhanced for anamorphic playback on widescreen monitors. However, if one opts to view the film with commentary from director Ted V. Mikels, another transfer appears, this time at the wider ratio of 2:35:1 and looking oddly compressed, as if the top and bottom of the frame had been squashed down. Both transfers seem to be taken from the same elements, which are scratchy and decidedly worse for wear. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, retaining the original monophonic sound mix, and the quality is adequate but hardly exceptional. The dialogue is in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options included. The commentary track from Mikels is amusing, though he often opts to simply describe what's happening on screen, and the level of his chat tends to go up and down over the course of the movie, ranging from clearly audible to barely intelligible. Other bonus materials include a trailer for The Corpse Grinders (tacked on after the end of the feature and not separately accessible) and a Mikels-hosted look at the making of the film. (The package states that a "TVM Studio Tour" is included on this disc, but it didn't appear on the version reviewed by this writer.) Overall, this package is sloppy in execution and could look and sound a lot better, but it's still put together with enthusiasm, and exploitation fans without videophile tendencies will enjoy it.