The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead (1981)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York

From: Renaissance Pictures

Before I get to talking about this classic movie, I do have to mention the unfortunate thing that Hatchet II first got pulled from theatres in Canada and then the United States. No one really knows for certain why it got pulled. I find that to be a little odd. I don’t know if the MPAA got mad, or if AMC got scared, or they weren’t happy with how lackluster it performed in the few days it was out, or what the deal is. No matter what the movie can later brag about it being “too intense for theatres!” or whatever. I don’t think it’s worth all that hype, but that is just me.

Now, here’s another horror movie famed for how intense it is and all the gross-out stuff it has; this time, though, the film deserves the hype. This real low-budget horror movie filmed in Tennessee for only a few hundred thousand dollars back in ’79 more than holds up today and that’s why it has a big cult of fans and that’s why Campbell is a cult icon and that’s why Raimi managed to go from this to directing huge movies like the Spiderman series. Believe it or not, last night was only the second time I’ve seen this. The first time was back in my college days in Illinois. I enjoyed it then as much as I do now. As for the other two movies in the series, I got pissed off with the sequel right away when for no reason they decided to briefly retell the first movie in the span of a few minutes AND totally change it around. Then, there was way too much comedy for me and I think the first one is much better. I never bothered with Army of Darkness as it just doesn’t look interesting to me. I’ll prefer this, thank you very much.

The story is simple; 5 Michigan State students spend some time in a remote cabin in Tennessee; things are spooky right away but things go to hell in a handbasket when they find an audiotape of a professor who used to live there. They play back part of the tape and it’s of chanting from an ancient book, the Necronomicon, i.e. The Book of the Dead. One by one the poor students start to get possessed and that’s when things get insane… and rather messy and filled with goo also. I won’t say much more than that as I don’t want to give any spoilers here. It’s that the movie is very well done and is intense and filled with dread throughout, not to mention the fancy camerawork that helps make the movie so good. There is also some very dark humor, but it’s funny and not a detriment or ruins the mood. Sure, this motion picture is so graphic that some parts would have to be cut out to get an R rating, but if you can tolerate that sort of thing, this is a must if you haven’t checked it out yet. It deserves the cult status it has.

I’ll be back Monday night with a new horror review.