The Evil Dead (1982)

Back in 1982, long before he became a big shot fancy pants Hollywood blockbuster director, Sam Raimi released a little monster movie he and his friends made and enjoyed moderate success. Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, rumours of this film that eluded my town began to circulate around high school. A movie so brutal, so gory, Stephen King proclaimed it "the most ferociously original horror film of the year." It wasn't until a year later through the new miracle of Betamax that I finally got to see if it could live up to these accolades.

Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his friends head out for the weekend to an old, remote cabin in the mountains. Exploring the cabin, they find a tape recorder and a few other interesting items in the cellar. The previous occupant was an archaeologist whose excavations in the Candarian ruins unearthed a bizarre dagger as well as an ancient book referred to as the Noturan Demanto or "Book of the Dead." The book, bound in human flesh and inked in human blood, deals with demons, demon resurrection and "those forces that roam the forest and dark bowers of Man's domain." Lying dormant, these demonic entities are never truly dead and through recitation of the book's passages are granted access to possess the living. Not knowing any better, Ash briefly plays the tape which includes incantations from the book and unwittingly awakens the Evil Dead. Later that night, his sister Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) hears an ominous "Join Us" chant outside her window and, in a classic horror movie cliche, decides to go out to investigate. Drawn deep into the woods, the demonic force reveals itself as the forest trees and vines come alive and proceed to rape her. Managing to escape, Cheryl returns to the cabin pleading to be taken into town but only gets as far as the bridge, which has been torn apart. "It's not going to let us go..." Back at the cabin, the demons further their domination in their possession of Cheryl. Channeling through her, they warn: "Why have you disturbed our sleep? Awakened us from our ancient slumber? You will die like the others before you. One by one we will take you." With that, their threat is fulfilled as the cabin guests fall to the hellish presence within the forest, one by one...

Sam Raimi's first full-length movie, an expansion of his short film WITHIN THE WOODS shot a few years earlier, is universally considered a modern horror classic. A low budget independent production, it is expertly framed with impressive camera angles and striking special effects, from the cleverly shot "Deadite" point-of-view scenes that shred through the forest and smash down doors, to the exorbitant blood-drenched gore that soak both the cabin and its hapless guests. Despite the occasional moment of wooden dialogue, the acting is quite good and showcases the unequalled talent of Bruce Campbell in particular. Amidst the carnage his character endures, Campbell parodies the courageous strength of a square-jawed hero through black humour upon which the film's foundation lies, a concept further built upon in the sequel, EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN, with more humour and more gore. Like the Deadites, the audience witnessing the spectacle thrives on this excessive violence until nothing remains but a scattered mess of quivering, dismembered limbs. Our bloodlust is quenched with this overkill and by film's end, we too become the Evil Dead.

Chances are, I'm preaching to the choir here because you've already seen this movie about a bazillion times. If you haven't, DO SO! Horror films don't get much better than this. THE EVIL DEAD delivers its promise to be "the ultimate experience in grueling terror" but not without leaving you smiling and having some fun along the way. Just be careful with those Candarian incantations.

The Evil Dead (1982)
Written and Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York
USA, 85 minutes