What better way to celebrate the Australian release of the Evil Dead remake this week by revisiting the movie that spawned the franchise. The original Evil Dead was written and directed by Sam Raimi (the Spider-Man movies, Oz: The Great and Powerful) because he thought he could make a drive-in horror movie better than those that had been around in the 70s.
The Evil Dead follows five friends, Ash (Bruce Campbell), Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), Scotty (Hal Delrich), Linda (Betsy Baker) and Shelly (Sarah York), as they go to spend a weekend in a cabin. On the first night, the cellar door blows open and Scotty and Ash go down to investigate. In the cellar, they find a number of occult items, a tape recorder and a copy of the Necronomicon (the book of the dead). The recording is of a man who reads a demonic incantation that unleashes evil demons.
Cheryl, Ash's sister, is disturbed by this and after hearing voices outside her window, she goes out to investigate. Once outside she is held down by the trees and raped by them (heavy stuff). She returns and tries to convince Ash to take her back to town. After they return, because the bridge has been destroyed, Cheryl becomes possessed by demons. They manage to wrestle her into the cellar and chain up the door, but not before she stabs Linda in the ankle with a pencil. Cheryl then tells everyone that the demons will possess them one by one.
Scott's girlfriend, Shelly, is soon possessed by a demon and he cuts her up into little pieces. Ash and Scotty then bury the body and Scott says that he is going to try and find another way out from the woods. Ash is left alone with Linda and Cheryl. Linda soon becomes possessed due to the cut in her leg, but just sits there with a demonic laugh.
Scotty returns, all cut up, and tells Ash that the woods won't let them leave. Scott then seems to die, leaving Ash distraught before Linda attacks him. Ash eventually kills Linda and buries her, only for Linda to claw back out of the grave to be decapitated by Ash.
Ash returns to the cabin to find that Cheryl has escaped. He is then attacked by both Cheryl and a newly resurrected Scotty. Ash finally kills both of them by throwing the Necronomicon into the fire.
This movie is a horror classic. To watch it now, 30 years later, it has aged. The make-up is pretty sloppy and the special effects are quite bad. But to know the background of the film just makes it better. It was shot on a tiny budget and with a crew and actors who had never worked before.
Much like how Rebel Without A Cause started the cult of James Dean, this film spawned the cult of Bruce Campbell. He is such an amazing actor in this film, but his haircut at the beginning is questionable.
But despite all this, it is a super enjoyable film. The horror is amazing and it scares the shit out of me. Because of the low budget, the idea that these people are possessed is genuine. The scenes where where Cheryl is hidden in the cellar and she's calling out made me scared to look under my bed.
Verdict: The Evil Dead is a cornerstone of the horror genre. It may seem like it is filled with cliches, but this film created them. I am looking forward to the remake, especially with the advancements in movie magic and a bigger budget. Just a warning, watch out for rapey trees.
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