The Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror!

Finally, a film that lives up to its tagline!

 

THE EVIL DEAD can be defined as the backyard Horror film, and one that helped to usher in a whole new generation of no-budget filmmaking.

 

It follows the typical formula where five friends head out to a remote cabin for a weekend of fun, but when they jokingly read from a dusty old spellbook, their souls become possessed by the ancient Candarian demons that are lurking in the woods!
 

What makes THE EVIL DEAD so much more effective than the sequels that followed is the cheapness of its production and the resourcefulness that came about as a result.

 

Without the budget to provide state-of-the art costumes and effects, director Sam Raimi was left to rely on the brilliant make-up and design work of a young Tom Sullivan, who is just as responsible for the film's ultimate success.

 

The crude appearance of the possessed characters makes them infinitely more frightening than the obvious latex designs that were brought on by the KNB effects crew in EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS(which are still amazing, I might add).

 

Sullivan's stop-motion work and classic claymation adds another disturbing level to the insanely bloody ending.

 

Together, Sam Raimi and Tom Sullivan have created some of the most explosive gore scenes in the genre, the next step for what John McCarthy would coin the 'Splatter' movie.
 

Outside of launching the career of one of Horror's most recognized directors, THE EVIL DEAD will always be remembered for introducing fans to the one, the only, Bruce Campbell.

 

Campbell is far more reserved in this first entry, playing Ash as the reluctant hero rather than the Ultimate Badass that he would later become.

 

Although the film retains its serious tone for the most part, Raimi sneaks in plenty of shtick, and uses Campbell as his personal punching bag while dousing him in gallons upon gallons of blood and cuts.
 

The "Ladies of Evil Dead," all unknown actresses that were also high school friends of the director, are truly terrifying once transformed into their Candarian counterparts.

 

Betsy Baker's childlike taunts chill to the bone as she sits on the floor licking blood off of a dagger in baby doll make-up.

 

Theresa Tilly is left to gnaw her own hand off at the wrist in one of her many putrid scenes.

 

It is Ellen Sandweiss' character of Cheryl that is likely to be the most remembered by fans. Besides her notorious tree-rape in the woods, her savage banging from beneath the trap-door leading to the cellar has become an iconic image in Horror that has haunted audiences for decades.
 

That, of course, brings us to the visionary direction of Sam Raimi. What would THE EVIL DEAD be without the kinetic filming, odd angles, and energetic editing style that make it such a unique viewing experience?

 

Raimi's exploratory camera work sets up all of the gags, and his trademarked Ram-o-cam assumes the role of the forest spirit as it bursts though windshields and doorways.

 

The sound editing that overplays the film works perfectly to heighten each of the horrifying images on screen as well.
 

By Hollywood standards, THE EVIL DEAD may have been an amateurish attempt to shock and disgust, but that is exactly what makes it the Horror classic that it is today.
 

I remember the first time I saw this film. I rented all three movies for the weekend, and sat back to absorb the world of the evil dead.

 

And alL I can say is that I have been a fan ever since.

 

Every horror collector I know has this movie in their collection, at least once, if not a couple of different copies. It is one that doesn't not disappoint.

 

Till Next Time Kiddies...

 

-RJ