This classic low budget horror film combines just the right amount of gore and black humor, giving The Evil Dead an equal amount of thrills and laughs.
This classic low budget horror film combines just the right amount of gore and black humor, giving The Evil Dead an equal amount of thrills and laughs.
This auspicious feature debut from Sam Raimi -- shot on 16mm in the woods of Tennesse for around $350,000 -- secured the young director's cult status as a creative force to be reckoned with. The nominal plot involves five vacationing college kids -- Ash (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), and their classmates Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), Scott (Hal Delrich) and Shelly (Sarah York) -- making an unplanned stopover in an abandoned mountain cabin surrounded by impenetrable woods.
Before settling in for the night, they come across an ancient-looking occult tome filled with dense hieroglyphics and macabre illustrations, a dagger fashioned from human bones, and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. The taped message, dictated by a professor of archaeology, describes the contents of the Sumerian "Book of the Dead," filled with incantations used to bring otherworldly demons to life, giving them license to possess the living. The message goes on to explain that those possessed by these demons can only be stopped by total bodily dismemberment. When played among the group later that evening, the professor's recorded translations of the ritual chants traumatize the strangely prescient Shelly ... and simultaneously release an ominous presence from the depths of the forest. The evil spirits take to their dirty work with gusto, first assuming control of Shelly and transforming her into a cackling, murderous hag with superhuman strength; the others imprison her in the fruit cellar and chain the trapdoor shut. The spirits then begin to possess the other women, including Linda -- who immediately turns on Ash with a barrage of punches and sadistic taunts. Unable to bring himself to chop up his lover's corpse, Ash gives her a more customary burial in the woods -- which proves to be a big mistake. As the others succumb to demonic influence, Ash's horrific predicament becomes increasingly grim until, when all hope seems lost, he stumbles upon a final, desperate solution to the ghoulish onslaught ... well, maybe not. Despite the shoestring production values, Raimi has fashioned a tight, lightning-paced fever dream of a movie, filled with operatic overacting and outrageously gory effects that give the project a comic-book feel. Based on an earlier 8mm short titled Within the Woods, this feature version was fraught with distribution difficulties before finding its first audience overseas. After considerable word of mouth (and a glowing endorsement from horror author Stephen King), the film became a hit on home video, where it achieved further notoriety thanks to its highly-publicized banning in Britain amid the notorious "Video Nasties" censorship campaign. Raimi, along with producer Robert Tapert, writer Scott Spiegel and much of the same crew, cranked up the story's comic aspects several dozen notches for the rollicking semi-remake, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
Sam Raimi directed this 1983 horror feature fresh out of film school, and his anything-for-an-effect enthusiasm pays off in lots of formally inventive bits.
While injecting considerable black humor, neophyte Detroit-based writer-director Sam Raimi maintains suspense and a nightmarish mood in between the showy outbursts of special effects gore and graphic violence which are staples of modern horror pictures.
If you want to savor the gory goodness of "The Evil Dead" on home video, with every burst pustule and glob of blood as clear and sharp as the day it was filmed, then the Blu-ray disc is the way to go.
In the league of "Night of the Living Dead" and "Jaws" where it continues to be immortal and outlive other horror classics in the face of changing movie going sentiment...
... one of the most entertaining American horror films of the 1980s, a stylish roller coaster starring a bloody, battered, lantern-jawed Bruce Campbell.
If you can overlook the mostly lame-o acting, cheeseball effects and fumbling drama, there's enough fledgling genius here to fill another thousand horror movies.
Energetic, original and icky, Raimi's splat-stick debut is a tight little horror classic that deserves its cult reputation, despite the best efforts of the censors.
A very good horror film for its time and easy to see why it became a cult film. It's very creepy and despite the low budget and simple plot is quite entertaining. The horror effects do look very poor and dated now, making it more funny than scary. The camera work is very good and adds a great deal to the atmosphere of
the film. Just would have been a bit better if it had more plot depth to it and the acting is far from great.
Sam Raimi's theatrical debut delivers a wildly original film that gives the right amount of gore, horror, suspense, and comedy. One moment, you'll be laughing and the next moment you'll be screaming in horror. The cinematography is kinetic and wild, giving a sense of craziness, like one is losing their mind. The
music and the home-made look of the cabin setting give a true sense of dread. The movie does use gore, a lot of gore, but it never gets to the point were it feels excessive. The cast serves their purpose although B-movie King Bruce Campbell stands out among the rest. Campbell gives a nice amount of charisma while still coming off as believable. Considering the films low budget, it is hard not to appreciate it. The Evil Dead shows that creativity and inspiration can transcend a low budget.
Person on recorder: I have seen the dark shadows moving in the woods and I have no doubt that whatever I have resurrected through this book is sure to come crawling... for me.
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Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
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