The Evil Dead (1981) Review

        It only feels natural to talk about a Sam Raimi film. You can practically say that he has influenced my life involving movies. The very first exposure of him is through his 2002 superhero film Spider-Man. It’s such a stark contrast with what he made with this one compared to that. Truth be told, he did read comic books growing up and it only made sense that his own cinematic aesthetics made it possible to bring the wall crawler to life. Anyways, let’s talk about his feature debut, The Evil Dead. 

1. Cabin in The Woods

        This wasn’t the first time that Raimi dealt with something involving a cabin in the middle of nowhere. One of his early movies called “Within the Woods” was mostly shot for 100,000 dollars. The purpose was to find the studio that would take notice and give him the necessary budget to make a cinematic version. It inevitably turned to the charitable donations that Raimi’s closest contacts donated him the money to shoot a more expensive feature. 

        The film has that blue collar look to it. Considering that most of the cast are supposed to be college students just exploring the rural parts of America. Just that grittiness to it and the way of special effects give that film its charm that only Raimi himself can pull off. So, about those students, they decide to stay at a small cabin for cheap. Upon arrival, they come across a recording and inevitably the shizz gets real. 

        Man is it gory. I say that as a compliment with what the movie is going for since everybody gets possessed by the evil force. In the sequels, the demons are called Deadites and it fleshes out the overall threat. As I was saying, it doesn’t hold back with showing the blood and guts of the victims. I think the one where it just felt excruciating is when one of them gets stabbed in the Achilles. Brutal is what the movie has as far as just it doesn’t hold anything back. 

        As far as how it handles the haunted house or cabin trope is interesting. It’s established that one of the friends Scotty explores the cabin’s basement and finds a recorder along with a disgusting piece of literature called the Book of the Dead. Even prior to that, there’s an unseen presence that lingers in the area and I love just how it needed the incantation to be spoken to unleash the full power. This idea of Pandora’s Box adds new synergy to the haunted house trope. 

        It's a recurring theme among Raimi’s films that the innocent is punished. With the films that I’ve talked about here, the main character is punished either being dragged into Hell or have superpowers but at a price. With the characters in The Evil Dead, most of them go through the ringer of being possessed and Ash having to defend himself and stop the demons from wreaking more havoc. 

2. Legacy

        When it debuted as an independent feature, it immediately got glowing praises and made its return financially. No one could’ve thought that this one movie would be a franchise among its dedicated fans. Raimi ultimately continued his trilogy, while each of them has a comedic angle since the idea was it’s to offset the level of horror that’s being shown. Both Raimi and Bruce Campbell continue to work together as the years go on. 

        It was only until recently that The Evil Dead popped up into pop culture again when new films started to come out. I haven’t seen the remake from 2013 or the recent sequel that just came out, but the thing I read is that it mostly stays true to what made the originals a classic among horror fans. The franchise even had its own tv series that continues the adventures of Ash with Ash vs The Evil Dead with Raimi having a hand in it. 

3. Overall

        Among the top tier horror films of the 80s, this one sticks out by being one of the best independent horror films of that time.