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The Evil Dead (1981) Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss Director: Sam Raimi Rating: NC-17 Category: Horror

The making of a cult horror film doesn’t exactly happen overnight. It takes years of midnight showings, armies of loyal fans, and even a little backing from industry gurus. In the case of “The Evil Dead,” a low-budget, 16mm debut by aspiring director Sam Raimi, it didn’t take very long for the film to reach cult status after its theatrical premiere in 1981. Of course, it helps when Stephen King gives you the thumbs up, and Wes Craven features your movie poster in one of the biggest horror films of the decade (“Nightmare on Elm Street”). But it’s not like these guys just picked a random horror flick and slapped their seals of approval on the front cover of the VHS box; “The Evil Dead” is the perfect example of how to make a good film on pure talent alone.

Costing only $85,000 to make, but taking nearly two years to complete, “The Evil Dead” starts out just like any other horror movie of the '80s; with a group of young adults (including Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss) on their way to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of sex, drugs and alcohol. After arriving at the cabin, they manage to stumble upon an old tape recorder, and, being the nosy youngsters that they are, they listen to the recording of an old man reciting some sort of ancient language. What they don’t know, of course, is that the voice has actually summoned a vicious force of evil. Those who are attacked become demons themselves, with the lone survivor (Campbell) forced to kill his best friends and find a way out of the woods.

There isn’t much to expect from the narrative, but the filmmaker’s creativity alone makes up for the weak plot points and horrible B-movie acting. However, despite the influence of the Three Stooges on the later projects of this director/producer/actor dream team (Raimi, Rob Tapert and Campbell), Raimi allows almost no humor in the first installment of the "Dead" Trilogy. Instead, a strict supply of gore, and nothing but gratuitous gore, fills the screen for the last half of the film. The onscreen blood volume is so high, in fact, that Raimi originally didn’t even bother getting the film rated. Later on, when the film had reached video rental success, the movie was finally presented to the ratings board and slapped with an NC-17 rating, a fair grade considering both the amount of gore and a particular rape scene involving one of the female victims and a cluster of tree roots.

Still, despite low production values, bad writing, and an exceptionally cheesy performance by B-movie god Bruce Campbell, “The Evil Dead” soars at the level of Cult Horror Movie Greatness. To this day the film remains a must-watch for any fan of either Raimi or Campbell’s work, especially the former, who has matured to the ranks of A-list director stardom, but is still allowed to utilize the same guerilla filmmaking tactics he fashioned as a kid. You’ll probably still laugh in places you really shouldn’t, but it’s all in good, bloody fun.

DVD Review:
As a fan of the Anchor Bay DVD “Evil Dead” releases, I was at first hesitant to purchase a disc that was produced by a completely different company, but the Elite Entertainment DVD release is slightly better, if only because it has reserved the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio in a digitally remastered video transfer and a remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The extras on the disc are few, including a still gallery and about 20 minutes of alternate takes and behind-the-scenes mayhem, but the two feature audio commentaries are more than enough to make this well worth the price paid. The first track features director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert striking up a good discussion on the making of the movie, but track two’s in-depth commentary by Bruce Campbell is so much better. Not only is Campbell more charismatic, but his behind-the-scenes documentation is much more fleshed out. The theatrical trailer is also included, as well as linear notes by Campbell himself.