Todd & the Book of Pure Evil-Season Two (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 Numbers Interviews-Cast-Cast Q&A Featurette-Making Of-Script to Screen Featurette-In Memoriam: A Tribute to the Fallen Students of Crowley HS
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	277:59
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, much weed
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Todd (Alex House), Jenny (Maggie Castle), Curtis (Bill Turnbull) and Hannah (Melanie Leishman), students at Crowley High, return for a second season of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. Also returning are Atticus Murphy Jr. (Chris Leavins), the school guidance counsellor who is now the leader of the Satanic cult based in the Crowley Heights Retirement Home, school janitor Jimmy (Jason Mewes) and the three slacker heavy metal dudes, Brody (Daniel Petronijevic), Rob (Steve Arbuckle) and Eddie (Norman Yeung), who have a far greater impact in this season.

     Todd and the Book of Pure Evil was originally a short film made by Craig D. Wallace and Max Bernard Reid (this was included as an extra on the first season’s DVD release). This incarnation is a Canadian TV series that has run for two series, of which the 13 episodes on these 2 DVDs are the second series that aired between October 2011 and January 2012. The events in season 2 start at the point where season 1 ended. Each episode runs only 21 minutes so the pace is frenetic.

     As in season 1 Todd and the Book of Pure Evil takes teenage angst and anxieties, such as popularity, belonging, the ecology and sex, and turns the solutions as twisted by the book into things quite bizarre and certainly not as intended by those who use the book. The show is loud, gross, somewhat crude with a heavy metal soundtrack and it is generally inventive with delicious dialogue and situations. Season 2 is generally more serious, and has a stronger story arc especially involving Atticus, whose assumption of leadership of the Satanic Cult, his on-going issues with his father and his problems with his minions is almost a separate story to Todd and the gang. The standard of episodes is also, to my mind, more varied with some episodes, such as 2 and 6 quite weak. However, the series can still come up with some wonderfully inventive situations, of which episodes 4 and 10 are examples. But each to their own I guess.

     The 13 episodes in season 2 are:

Disc 1

• 1: Redierment Home: Atticus has killed his father and taken over leadership the Satanic cult in the Crowley Heights Retirement Home, but his possession of the book of pure evil is short-lived. Todd, Curtis and Hannah hurry to the retirement home to rescue Jenny and run into flesh craving seniors on the rampage. Meanwhile, the three slacker dudes have a special message for Atticus.
• 2: The Student Body: Todd is convinced that, as the pure evil one, he will destroy his friends so he disbands the gang. In contrast, friendless Leslie (Hilary Carroll) uses the book to create a gaggle of friends with anyone she touches, including Curtis and Hannah. Jenny’s father, rescued from the retirement home, may have a clue to unlocking the book’s secrets but remains in a coma. Can his friends save Todd from the book and what he believes is his destiny?
• 3: Daddy Tissues: Jenny’s father has recovered and seeks to join the gang, but as he does not want to destroy the book the others reject him. He finds the book and is able to put himself into the skin of students, including popular student president Devon (Jamie Johnson), in order to get close to Jenny and Hannah. The consequences, for Jenny at least, are not good.
• 4: Simply the Beast: When Ariel (Brooke Palsson) gets thrown off the Crowley Cheerleading Team by tyrannical leader Wanda (Courtney-Jane White), other cheerleaders start disappearing leaving only their shredded uniforms behind. Jenny infiltrates the cheerleaders while Todd, Curtis and Hannah work on some moves of their own. But the book of pure evil has converted Ariel and two friends into the cheerleaders from hell on steroids and an unequal match occurs in the school gym. Meanwhile Atticus continues to have problems with his underlings at the Satanic Cult and calls upon the severed head of his father for advice.
• 5: Jungle Fever: Eco-friendly Gyna (Amy Couldwell) is aghast by the amount of rubbish and litter around Crowley High. She uses the book: all technology including mobile phones and Atticus’ CTV system breaks down, the school is turned into a jungle with killer plants and reptiles and all the students, except Hannah, become pre-historic humans, although in Jimmy’s case there’s not much change! Hannah saves the day and it appears that there is far more to her than we knew.
• 6: Fisting Fantasy: Playing the Fisting Fantasy game on-line, Todd and Curtis humiliate another player, a boy in their school. He uses the book to create a real life fantasy game; the gang have to quest within the walls of Crowley High and defeat the Red Knight before being killed three times. Todd casts himself as the hero, but much to his surprise Jenny and Hannah prove very adept at playing the game.
• 7: See You Later, Masturbator: There is a peeper at work at Crowley High and Atticus fires Jimmy. Todd and the gang vow to find the real peeper and get Jimmy his job back and they believe, rightly, that Tyler is the perpetrator. But Tyler has found the book and becomes invisible so that he can peep with impunity; the result, however, are not quite as he imagined.
• 8: Loser Generated Content: In the course of fighting pure evil Todd accidentally destroys all the equipment of the A/V club. The two nerdy members of the club, Reggie (Benjamin Beauchemin) and Dennis (Robal Zere) vow vengeance, and the book obliges, allowing them to manipulate Todd’s life as if they were editing a movie. They cut Todd into positions stalking Jenny, fast forward or kill any male in whom Jenny shows an interest. Not surprisingly, Jenny blames Todd and their friendship takes a dive.

Disc 2

• 9: Deathday Cake: Curtis has a birthday in a few days and Todd, as usual, plans a surprise but gets into a contest with Hannah. Meanwhile Martha-Ruth (Amber Cull / Barbara Gordon) would like a birthday but is a member of an extreme religious sect that disproves of fun, especially birthdays, as sin. Martha-Ruth finds the book and creates a monster birthday cake which eats people on their birthday. Hannah and Todd need to put their contest aside long enough to save Curtis. In the Satanic Society, Atticus decides to introduce new, younger, members.
• 10: 2 Girls, 1 Tongue: In an all-singing, all-dancing episode, Charlotte (Angela Jill Guingcango), the Phantom of Crowley High (from series 1, episode 11) finds the book. She converts Hannah into the phantom while Charlotte joins the gang and cuddles up to Curtis. Jenny, sick of Todd’s attentions, tells him to get lost, so Todd finds Nikki (Carmen Lavigne), a girl more than ready to fuel his fantasies. Meanwhile, Atticus takes action to rid the Satanic Society of the senior members.
• 11: B.Y.O.B.O.P.E.: The book of pure evil gate crashes a house party, giving people their wishes, such as to be a good dancer, to drink excessively and stay standing, or to steal someone’s heart, with unpredictable consequences. Todd arrives with Nikki, and Todd and Curtis make a pact to get laid that night. Nikki is more than willing but Jenny discovers an album at the party made by the metal dudes many years before which includes a song, Prophesy, that says the pure evil one cannot be a virgin. To stop Todd becoming the pure evil one, Jenny tries to stop Nikki and Todd having sex, but fails.
• 12: The Toddyssey: Zack (Daniel Skene) is crippled from the waist down. He uses the book to repair his legs but finds that he cannot stop running. Todd leaps onto his back and is transported 16 years into the future, a future in which Atticus and the Satanic Cult rule Crowley; Jenny leads the underground resistance with Curtis, but Hannah has joined Atticus. Todd has to find Zack in this future so that he can return to the past and stop it all happening.
• 13: Black Tie Showdown: Atticus now has the book and a new group of Crowley High minions and intends to reveal himself as the pure evil one at the Crowley High semi-formal. Curtis and Hannah make some interesting discoveries at the Crowley Retirement Home. Todd has a heart to heart with Jimmy and discovers a lot about Jimmy, Nikki, the three metal dudes and the book that he didn’t know. At the semi-formal it all comes to a showdown: who is The Pure Evil One?

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

     Todd and the Book of Pure Evil returns for a second season of heavy metal, mayhem and laugh out loud black humour. It is unlike any other show you are likely to see any time soon and if you enjoyed season 1 you will be hooked. Awesome.

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 sharp with nice detail. Colours are deep and skin tones 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.

     The print is very good and is consistent over the 13 episodes.

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 clear and easy to understand most of the time although there are exceptions. The effects and music have a pleasing depth for a TV presentation, and the surrounds are used for music and some effects such as the book flapping away. 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 notice a few minor lip synchronization problems, but nothing distracting.

     There was an issue on disc 2 in episodes 10 – 13 that I did test on a couple of systems. At the end of each episode before the credits the episode stops and reverts to the disc menu. The end titles are there and you can find them by using the remote to select the episode and go through to chapter 5.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     The DVDs come with a range of good extras. Other than the audio commentaries on episodes 4 and 7, all the extras are on the second DVD.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 4

     Cast Alex House and Bill Turnbull, plus crew Ian Malone (episode writer), Andrew Rossen (executive producer), Craig D. Wallace (writer/director of the original Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and executive producer of the series) and David Scott (creature effects designer) chat about the scripting, the cheerleaders and the effects. Lots of talking over each other and laughs but reasonably entertaining.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 7

     Cast Bill Turnbull, Alex House and Jason Mewes plus Max & Adam Reid (episode co-writers) spend time commenting on what is on screen and laughing a lot, and only provide minor information about the shoot. They talk over each other a lot too.

Commentary Cast and Crew Episode 13

     Alex House, Craig D. Wallace (who wrote and directed this episode as well as being writer/director of the original short film) and Gillian Truster (editor) do talk about the music, the editing and deleted scenes. However, they also chat inanely and laugh a lot, as well as saying how great everything was. Given this was the final of the series, and ties together a lot of strands, I was hoping for more.

Deleted and Extended Scenes (11:23)

     Seventeen deleted and extended scenes from season 2. Most are short, and there is a play all option. Some are good, and were cut to get the episode into the required short running time.

Extended Musical Numbers (5:31)

     Full or extended versions of the four songs in episode 10. Fun.

Special FX Bonus Material (2:54)

     Behind the scenes showing how they ripped the student apart in episode 2 and the arm ripping and hole in the head effects from episode 4. Includes tests that didn’t quite work! Interesting and worthwhile.

Blooper Reel (5:26)

     Five minutes of mistakes and laughs, some amusing.

”In Memoriam”: A Tribute to the Fallen Students of Crowley High (1:16)

     A montage of all those who have been killed in both seasons of the show. Pointless.

Script to Screen Featurette (16:16)

     A terrific extra looking at the production of one episode of the show, the B.Y.O.B.O.P.E. home party episode from this season. This is hosted by the director of that episode Warren Sonada. It includes footage of the scripting process including script conferences, casting the extras, the production meeting with the heads of departments, the cast read through, shooting one sequence, post production colour correction and editing. A fascinating insight into how a show like this is constructed.

Cast Q & A (15:05)

     More a making of EPK with Alex House, Maggie Castle, Melanie Leishman, Chris Leavins, Bill Turnbull and Jason Mewes talking about the development of the characters and relationships in season 2, and how much fun everything was. Not the worst example of its type, and worth one watch.

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

     Todd and the Book of Pure Evil from Canadian TV returns for a second season of heavy metal, mayhem and laugh out loud black humour. It is unlike any other show you are likely to see any time soon.

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

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall