Todd & the Book of Pure Evil-Season One (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy / Horror	Audio Commentary-x 3 (Cast and Crew) Outtakes-Blooper Reel Deleted Scenes-Outtakes and Deleted Scenes Music Highlights-Extended Musical Scenes Interviews-Cast More…-Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The Original Short Film Teaser Trailer-Todd and the Book of Pure Evil Promos
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	278:15
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	James Genn James Dunnison Craig David Wallace David Winning
Studio Distributor	Entertainment One	Starring	Alex House Maggie Castle Bill Turnbull Melanie Leishman Chris Leavins Jason Mewes
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Shawn Pierce

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes, joints and more joints
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

"We fight evil . . .
With mixed results"

     Somewhere within Crowley High School is “The Book of Pure Evil”, a book that preys on the fears and insecurities of people; and what better place to find fears and insecurities than teenagers in high school! The book is sought by a mysterious Satanic cult, who have received a prophesy that the chosen one, plus the book, will bring about the apocalypse. However, the book falls into the hands of various high school students and when any student uses the book to grant their deepest desires there are always unexpected, and unintended, consequences.

     Jenny’s (Maggie Castle) father was a journalist investigating the cult and the book, but has disappeared. Now Jenny seeks the book as a clue to his disappearance, helped reluctantly by Todd (Alex House), who has a crush on Jenny although she does not return the feelings, Todd’s one armed friend Curtis (Bill Turnbull) and nerdy science wiz Hannah (Melanie Leishman) who has a crush on Todd. Other on-going characters in the series include Atticus Murphy Jr. (Chris Leavins), the school guidance counsellor who is in league with the Satanic cult, and school janitor Jimmy (Jason Mewes). There are also three slacker heavy metal dudes who act as a sort of Greek Chorus: Brody (Daniel Petronijevic), Rob (Steve Arbuckle) and Eddie (Norman Yeung).

     Todd and the Book of Pure Evil was originally a short film made by Craig D. Wallace and Max Bernard Reid (included as an extra on Disc 2 of this set). This incarnation is a Canadian TV series that has run for two series, of which the 13 episodes on these 2 DVDs are the first series that aired between September and December 2010. The show is loud, with a heavy metal soundtrack, gross, is somewhat crude, but is generally inventive with delicious dialogue and situations. It is uneven, but mostly very entertaining and frequently laugh out loud funny. Each episode runs only 21 minutes so the pace is frenetic. Todd and the Book of Pure Evil takes standard teenage situations and anxieties, such as popularity, belonging, sexuality, bullies, gay and lesbian feelings, sporting success and turns the concerns, and the solutions as twisted by the book, into sometime quite bizarre. And of course it should be noted that the school is called Crowley High, which of course would not be a reference to British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875-1947).

     The 13 episodes are:

• Todd the Metal God: Todd uses the book to increase his guitar skills in order to impress and win Jenny. Unfortunately, it turns him evil and he almost destroys the school and the students in the Battle of the Bands.
• How to Make a Homunculus: Nerdy Hannah, ignored by Todd, finds the book and uses it to create a homunculus for a science project. The creature looks like mini-Todd and goes on a rampage, killing the science teacher. Todd, Jenny, Curtis and Hannah form a gang to stop the creature and retrieve the book.
• Rock N’ Roll Zombies Know Best: Goth girl Marcy (Suzanne Pringle), nagged by her parents, uses the book to summon two of her heavy metal heroes. Unfortunately, they are dead and come back as zombies, eat her parents and demand more flesh. So Marcy lures male students to her house with the promise of making out, only to lock them in her basement where they are eaten. When Todd and Curtis narrowly escape that fate, the gang set out to destroy the zombies and retrieve the book at a parent / teacher night, with mixed results.
• Gay Day: Bullied gay student Simon (Ben Watson) finds the book and uses it to turn every boy in the school gay so they would know how he feels. But whereas everyone, including Todd and Curtis, become gay, Simon himself is turned straight, so he is still the outsider; and now Simon as well has the female students thirsting for his blood because they want their boyfriends back. Todd, Curtis, Jenny and Hannah need to come up with a solution, and fast.
• Monster Fat: Emily (Ali Tataryn) is the fattest girl in school and is teased by the skinny cheerleaders. Finding the book she becomes slim and attractive; however her discarded fat becomes a massive fat monster that runs amuck in the canteen and turns the girls, including Jenny, obese. Hannah searches for a chemical solution while Todd, who has a phobia of fat people, tries to convince Jenny that in his eyes she is still beautiful.
• Invasion of the Stupid Snatchers: Todd and Curtis have a big problem; there is no weed left anywhere in town and they are desperate for a joint. Meanwhile, Clarence (Brandon Lau), the stupidest boy at Crowley High, uses the book to become the smartest person in school; the book does not make him smarter however, it creates a smoke that makes everyone who inhales it stupid and stoned, not that Todd and Curtis act much different. It is up to Hannah to invent a solution and save the school – again.
• Terrible Twin Turf Tussle: It is one year since her father disappeared and Jenny is having a crisis. She is comforted by Delilah (Katie Strain) and commences a lesbian relationship. With Jenny out of the picture Hannah vamps up her image and throws herself at Todd, with limited success. What’s more Delilah’s lesbian twin sister Britney (Karissa Strain) becomes jealous of Jenny and uses the book to create clones that battle to the death in the corridors of Crowley High. True love does not run smooth!
• Cockfight: Todd takes a picture of school bully Bailey’s (Kyle Nobess) tiny p**** and sends it around the school to much ridicule. Bailey uses the book to create for himself a giant, talking p**** which turns everyone who looks at it into stone, including Curtis. Hannah constructs some infra-red goggles for Todd who goes into combat with the giant p****, while Atticus tries to steal the stone Curtis and the book of pure evil during the mayhem.
• Big Bad Baby: Sharon (Kathleen Gallagher) wants a baby but gets kicked out of the school “mother’s club” when she is unable to get pregnant: “what’s the point of being the school slut if you cannot get knocked up”, she laments! The book intervenes, and Sharon gets pregnant and has a baby in a couple of days. The baby grows quickly to become a giant, running amok in the high school; only Todd seems to be able to calm it down which is a surprise to Jenny, and to Todd as well.
• The Ghost of Chet Sukowski: The Crowley High basketball team is a disaster. Team captain Daryl (Vas Saranga) uses the book and becomes possessed by the spirit of Chet Sukowski, a school basketball ace from 1957 who died, along with his pregnant girlfriend, when his car crashed off a cliff during a race. And now Daryl / Chet mesmerises Jenny, and to get her back Todd accepts a challenge to race, even though he cannot drive. Atticus, meanwhile, is having doubts about his membership of the Satanic cult, while Curtis sees something he finds hard to believe.
• The Phantom of Crowley High: The Crowley High school board have requested a musical for the school’s annual production, much to the distress of Charlotte (Angela Jill Guingcango) who is queen of the drama society but cannot sing a note. Using the book, however, gives her a wonderful singing voice but she loses her tongue an accident. The main roles in Atticus’ heavy metal musical “The Bowels of Hell” go to Todd and Jenny, Charlotte becomes the deranged Phantom of Crowley High, killing off cast members and Curtis falls deeply in love with her. On the night of the performance, all hell breaks loose.
• Checkmate: Chess club champion Len (Max Topplin) uses the book to make himself the leader of a cult dedicated to destroying the Pure Evil One, who he believes is Todd. Curtis and Hannah are brainwashed into luring Todd into a trap, the day being saved by Atticus, who continues to question his allegiance to the satanic cult. But Todd is disturbed: what is he is the Pure Evil One, slated to bring on the apocalypse as his on-going connection to the book suggests? A fabulous episode!
• A Farewell to Curtis’ Arm: Curtis finds the book and gives himself a monster arm and Hannah declares her love. Todd has to come to terms with his destiny, while Jenny investigates the Crowley Heights Retirement Home and finds the Satanic Cult and her father. Atticus gains possession of the book and confronts his hostility towards his father.

     Awesome. Bring on Series 2.

     Episodes 1-8 of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil are on disc 1 of this set; episodes 9-13, plus all the extras except for one audio commentary, are on disc 2.

Video

     Todd and the Book of Pure Evil is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, and is16x9 enhanced.

     The print is very good and is consistent over the 13 episodes. The print is sharp with nice detail. Colours and skin tones are natural, blacks solid and shadow detail good. There are no marks or scratches and other than the occasional motion blur no artefacts are evident.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded track at 192 Kbps. Despite the low bitrate, there are no problems with the audio. Dialogue is mostly clear and easy to understand. The effects and music have a pleasing depth for a TV presentation, and the surrounds are used for music and some effects. There is no hiss or crackle, and my sub-woofer was not used.

     The mainly heavy metal score by Shawn Pierce is not overused. It fits the tone of the series perfectly and is augmented in each episode by tracks from various heavy metal bands.

     I did not notice any lip synchronization problems.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The DVDs come with a good range of extras. Other than the audio commentary on episode 5, all the extras are on the second DVD.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 5

     Cast Alex House, Bill Turnbull, Maggie Castle and Melanie Leishman, plus Charles Picco (episode writer), Andrew Rossen (executive producer) and Craig D. Wallace (writer/director of the original Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and executive producer of the series) spend lots of times laughing with memories of the shoot. They point out that this was the original pilot episode of the series and point out the reshoots. They have a lot of fun.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 11

     Cast Chris Leavins and Bill Turnbull plus Charles Picco (episode writer), Shawn Pierce (composer) and Craig D. Wallace share a relaxed commentary with lots of laughs, talking about their intentions, changes to the script and the score.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 13

     Alex House and Craig D. Wallace talk about their intensions and filming the episode. Lots of how fantastic everything was, and the least interesting commentary of the three.

Pure Evil is all S***s and Giggles: Blooper Reel (5:33)

     Goofs, some quite amusing.

Outtakes and Deleted Scenes (7:49)

     Eight outtakes, alternative takes or deleted scenes from four different episodes running at almost 8 minutes. Some are interesting, some are goofs. Can be selected individually or there is a handy “play all” option.

The Bowels of Hell: Extended Musical Scenes (7:42)

     Five extended auditions and musical numbers from the heavy metal musical staged in Episode 11, plus some outtakes, unrelated to the musical, of Curtis having fun with a tongue. Can be selected individually or there is a handy “play all” option.

Q&A with the Quixotic and Awesome Cast (14:30)

     Questions posed in text on the screen such as “what were you like in high school?”, “what do you like about playing your character?”, “what do you have in common with your character?” and similar trivial questions are answered by Alex House, Maggie Castle, Melanie Leishman, Chris Leavins, Bill Turnbull and Jason Mewes.

Short Promotional Clips (5:09)

     Twenty short teasers for the show – with a play all option. A bit of a glitch however – the “play all” only works for the first 10, after which the rest must be selected one by one, which is annoying as most of the teasers are around 10 seconds each, although a couple are longer.

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil: The Original Short Film (17:47)

     Written by Max Bernard Reid and written / directed by Craig D. Wallace, this 2003 short film is similar in concept to what became the TV series, but rather different in tone and execution. And, in this film, the girl called Jenny is the Hannah character in the TV series. Good fun.

Next Time on Todd and the Book of Pure Evil Promos (5:12)

     Just as it says – the promos for the next show. Good fun, and the “play all” option works fine.

     The Region 1 US version looks to be the same as ours, except for being in NTSC. Buy local.

     Think of a book of awesome power that will grant your deepest, darkest desires . . . sort of. Think insecurities, black humour; better still, just watch the astonishing Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. This 2 disc DVD contains the 13 episodes of the first season. Bring on Season 2!

     The video and audio are good. There are a range of extras, some good, some filler.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall