The Laughing Dead

Disclaimer: The 'OOP' edition of this release is still in stock since there were leftovers following our 2025 Labor Day sale. Available for a limited time only.

This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray. The limited edition slipcover (designed by Robert Sammelin) was limited to 5,000 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.

A busload of travelers and their guide, on the hunt for Aztec ruins, decide to stop in an all but forgotten-to-time Mexican village, on the eve of the Day of the Dead. The tour leader, a disgraced priest, is enlisted by a local doctor to perform what he believes to be an exorcism, but in actuality, the doctor is using him to begin a diabolical ritual intended to bring about Hell on Earth!

Among the weirder and more original indie horror films to pop up at the tail end of the 80s, Thai born filmmaker Somtow Sucharitkul's THE LAUGHING DEAD, which he directed, wrote, produced, scored, and acts in, plays heavily into the colorful, gory, and effortlessly surreal tropes of Asian horror films of the 70s and early 80s, but relocates the setting to rural Mexico. Reveling in plentiful and creative death scenes (including a human 'basketball'), all gorgeously photographed by David Boyd (The Walking Dead), Vinegar Syndrome is delighted to present the world Blu-ray debut of THE LAUGHING DEAD, newly restored in 4K from its original negative.

directed by: Somtow Sucharitkul
starring: Tim Sullivan, Wendy Webb, Premika Eaton, Patrick Roskowick, Larry Kagen, Krista Keim
1989 / 91 min / 1.85:1 / English Stereo

Additional info:

• Region Free Blu-ray
• Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original negative
• Commentary track with writer/director/producer Somtow Sucharitkul
• “Unholy Assembly: Crafting The Laughing Dead” - an extended making-of documentary with: director Somtow Sucharitkul, producer Lex Nakashima, actress Premika Eaton, actor Tim Sullivan, cinematographer David Boyd, associate producer/second unit director Michael Deak, costume designer Shellagh Hannigan and transportation/pa Ron Ford
• Reversible cover artwork
• English SDH subtitles