Evil Dead (1983)

In the fall of 1979, Sam Raimi and his merry band headed into the woods of rural Tennessee to make a movie. They emerged with a roller coaster of a film packed with shocks, gore, and wild humor, a film that remains a benchmark for the genre. Ash (cult favorite Bruce Campbell) and four friends arrive at a backwoods cabin for a vacation, where they find a tape recorder containing incantations from an ancient book of the dead. When they play the tape, evil forces are unleashed, and one by one the friends are possessed. Wouldn't you know it, the only way to kill a "deadite" is by total bodily dismemberment, and soon the blood starts to fly. Raimi injects tremendous energy into this simple plot, using the claustrophobic set, disorienting camera angles, and even the graininess of the film stock itself to create an atmosphere of dread, punctuated by a relentless series of jump-out-of-your-seat shocks. The Evil Dead lacks the more highly developed sense of the absurd that distinguish later entries in the series--Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness--but it is still much more than a gore movie. It marks the appearance of one of the most original and visually exciting directors of his generation, and it stands as a monument to the triumph of imagination over budget. --Simon Leake Amazon.com essential video

This movie hits you in the face and doesn't stop hitting till the end

Anyone who watches horror movies knows how creepy a simple cabin in the woods can be. Throw in some dark scenery, evil trees, buried demons and a book made of human flesh called the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis and you know that something gory is about to happen. The five innocent University students who are planned a relaxing retreat in Tennessee have no idea what they are in for as they are about to uncover the deadly dark secrets that have been haunting the area for ages. Even undisturbed the morbid forces make the cabin feel like an unpleasant and disgusting place but once the door to the cellar blasts open on it's own, the students feel intrigued to explore - big mistake!

The overall feeling of the movie is of pure dread from the very beginning. The woods are not lush and green but brown, savage and eerie, something you would not want to see through a window of any cabin. Once our friends settle in strange noises start, which is the beginning of the end. If you like zombie-like ghoulish creatures that must have been dreamt up while in delirious tempest of a fever then this movie will not disappoint, it has all that and more. This movie is not suave and thrilling; it goes through body part chopping, screaming, running, stabbing, throwing up of blood and other questionable fluids of all colors, demonic possessions and false sense of security. It's a crazy movie and its little old, well not that old, but its more old school while these days CG monsters plague the blue screen, in Evil Dead some serious plastic puppets were taking center stage in this film and that made me like the movie a whole lot more. In parts it reminded me of "The Thing" because these were some really creepy and gross transformations, so fans of that fantastic movie should get a kick out of this.

This is part one of three, and after seeing part two this weekend I bet I know what to expect for the finale, more of the same gooey goodness.

- Kasia S.
August 26, 2008

An incredible ride!!!

Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

(This is a review I originally did for SavageNight Ezine many years ago)
The Evil Dead
Review

B.L.Morgan

Rating 4 Daggers Of Death


First of all, if you really like gory horror and have never seen The Evil Dead, then you should stop reading right now and go out and rent it. Watch it, then read this review. The first time I saw The Evil Dead was at The Midnight Madness Horror Movies in a theatre in Victoria Texas in the mid-80's. I didn't sleep much that night and told people about this movie for about the next 10 years until I found it again on video.

Re-watching The Evil Dead now I do see that the movie has some flaws, but the tagline that advertises it as, "The Ultimate In Grueling Horror," is no lie. This movie is intense.

The Evil Dead was directed by Sam Raimi, who has become known for his strange camera angles and wild action scenes. The cast consists of five people. Bruce Campbell as Ash. Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl. Betsy Baker as Linda. Hal Delrich as Scott. Sarah York as Shelly.

It starts with a pleasant drive in the country. The film was shot in Tennessee and Michigan. Five college kids are going to a cabin for the weekend. A few strange things happen on the way there to set the stage for what's to come. We're shown the car from a view in the woods and hear a growling noise, then the steering wheel jerks out of the drivers hands and almost runs them off the road.

At the cabin they sit around drinking and talking. Cheryl, the only single member of the group, starts sketching and her hand is possessed. She draws a face on a sheet of paper. A trap door down to a cellar blows open. The two guys of course have to go down there to investigate.

In the cellar they find a shotgun, a tape recorder and a weird looking book. Later we find out the book is, "The Book Of The Dead or Necronomicon."

They listen to the tape. Even though it tells them these are phonetic translations of incantations to raise the dead, they do it anyway. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't of done that. I've seen to many horror films to want to bring the dead back to life.

From here on out, all hell breaks loose. This was not the kind of weekend these college kids were planning on.

I don't want to detail all the scenes in the movie in case someone hasn't heeded my warning and hasn't seen this crazy gore-fest by now. After some more weird stuff happens they listen to the tape some more. I guess they just couldn't leave well enough or bad enough alone.

The tape warns them that, "The only way to stop someone possessed by Kandarian demons is the act of bodily dismemberment." That happens, as well as a beheading where the head keeps laughing, and a demon that starts eating it's own hand after it got cut off and my favorite scene a rape by the woods themselves. I've never really figured out how they did that one.

This movie is gruesome and gross and the tension is so thick you can cut it with an ax. Oh yeah, there's a couple axing's too.

The flaws in The Evil Dead are the acting in spots and some of the special effects.

Sometimes the acting is so bad that it looks like you are watching a home movie where your friends are just acting stupid on film. In some ways the bad acting adds to the charm of the movie. Part of the reason you do get attached to the characters is precisely because they look and act like real people. Not the cardboard cut-outs we're used to seeing in Hollywood productions.

I do want to say that Bruce Campbell as Ash is perfect. He is so jittery and jumpy that he makes you feel the same way.

All of the action scenes are choreographed and acted great. The bottom line is that when the surviving humans and demons are slugging it out it looks real. Even watching this movie for maybe the 6th time I was flinching away and yelling, "Ow! That just had to hurt. I know it had to!"

It was during the slow moments of The Evil Dead that the actor's inexperience showed. But the truth is, if you like horror films you don't watch them to study acting technique. You watch horror for the scenes that make you jump or squirm. The Evil Dead will make you jump and squirm.

The special effects are for the most part very effective. Blood and gore and strange liquids of all types are thrown on the actors and at the audience. A few times though the effects just looked real cheap. The Evil Dead was released in 1983, pre-computer graphic days on a tight budget. In a few spots the tight budget shows.

The Evil Dead has been called one of the greatest horror films of all time and despite it's flaws I agree. It is one of the greatest horror films ever. If you want a movie that's great for making the woman or man in your life want to hide his or her head in your chest for protection this is it. If you want to be able to say you've seen the best horror that there is, then you've got to see The Evil Dead.



Directors Biography

Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi is one of those guys who seemingly knew what he wanted to do the day he was born. Raimi started shooting his own short films at the age of 13. He did several of these short movies then attended Michigan State College.

Fresh out of college Raimi joined with his friends, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert to form Renaissance Pictures. They shot, "Within The Woods," a short super 8 horror film. That film got Renaissance Pictures the backing to make The Evil Dead, one of the most successful cult horror films in history. In England "The Evil Dead," was the top selling video for 1983.

Other films Sam Raimi has directed include The Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, The Army Of Darkness, and A Simple Plan.

As a producer Sam Raimi has done among others Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hard Target and what I consider to be Jean-Claude Van Damme's best picture, Time Cop.

Sam Raimi has too many credits to list them here. See ( Another Sam Raimi Site) for more info. The next big movie scheduled to hit the screen he directed will be "Spiderman." Due out in May 2002.

Sam Raimi is known for his wildly imaginative filmmaking style and dark humor.

This is a young multi-talented man whose impact on cinema is just starting to be felt. We're certain to have many more years and many more cinematic thrills to look forward to from Sam Raimi.


Actors Biography
Super "B"
Bruce Campbell

The Star of the three movies in The Evil Dead series got started in acting at the early age of 14 when an actor playing the prince in The King And I became ill.

In 1975 in a high school drama class Bruce met Sam Raimi. They shot roughly 52 short super 8 movies together.

In 1979 with an associate, Robert Tapert, they created the short super 8 horror film, "Within The Woods." That film lead to The Evil Dead and the rest is history.

Bruce Campbell is a "B" movie actor who seems to enjoy his fans and status in the movie industry. In a quote from Preview Magazine he says, "You have to work much harder on low budget movies which is why I have a kind of reverse arrogance about them. You have to do a lot more with a lot less."

Bruce's credits include, Mindwarp, Maniac Cop, Moontrap and Sundown. He has had his own television series, The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr., and had the recurring role of Autolycus on both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.

Expect to see Bruce Campbell soon in a movie by the name, Bubba Ho-Tep, where he plays a 65 year old ex-Elvis impersonator. It's an extremely strange tale based on a short story by Mojo Master story teller Joe R. Lansdale. (Lansdale's considered the Stephen King of Texas.)

Recently Bruce Campbell released an autobiography, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A "B" Movie Actor. If the book is anything like the roles Bruce Campbell plays it will be strange and entertaining.


Special Thanks go to Holly Beth and her website (Another Sam Raimi Site). Without the info I found there I couldn't have written any of this.

July 27, 2008

Ultimate? Nope. Not yet.

For it to be TRULY ultimate, it needs to include the short WITHIN THE WOODS. It doesn't. So I guess we'll be seeing more of the same in the future. June 26, 2008

Yes, it's a classic!

Just a quick note on THE EVIL DEAD: since the film was shot in 16mm, any edition on DVD which is matted may be incorrect. The aspect ratio in 16mm is 1:33 to 1, which looks great on a regular TV screen. True, the film was shot to be released theatrically in 1:85 to 1, which would include matting. The 2002 Anchor Bay standard edition is Fullscreen, using what appears to be the entire 16mm frame. Since George Lucas' THX mastered the print, I would assume that everything is as it should be (and they did do a great job on the picture and the sound!)

As to the film? There are so many great reviews that I can't add a thing. See it! Enjoy it! June 5, 2008

One Of The Best B-Movies Ever!

A group of teens are going to the woods to spend some time in the wilderness. They arrive to their cabin and begin to settle. While snooping around in the basement, they disover a strange bood. They examine the book. After they discover what the book is, they find out that they have let loose a group of demons.

The Evil Dead has to be one of the top 3 scariest movies ever made. This movie scared me a bunch, but not because of the gore. The scenes that scared me the most were the point of view shots. These shots scared me becuase you simply didn't know whose point of veiw you were looking through!

The gore is pretty decent. Even though it looks synthetic in a few scenes, it still looks gruesome. The other special effects flat out suck, but you would expect that from a B-Movie. All of the B-Movie aspects are in the Evil Dead, but you never really notice them.

The acting is pretty good, and I like the way Bruce Campbell handled his role. He did a great job with playing the weak, yet powerful character of Ash.

The Evil Dead is a must see for all horror fans. It is highly recomended. April 24, 2008

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