The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi, 1981

In and of itself, Evil Dead isn't the best horror film, nor is it that original for the most part. What it does lack in innovation, it makes up for in atmosphere and sets up the legacy of cult status that will soon follow (especially with its subsequent sequels). Filmed on a very small budget, one essentially unthinkable in today's film realm, Evil Dead is purely a straight up, no nonsense horror movie. The premise is simple: a group of young twenty-somethings escape to a remote cabin for a weekend of relaxation and lackadaisical good times, but instead accidentally awaken an ancient evil when they stumble upon a recorded translation of the Book of the Dead in the basement. What follows is a formulaic, yet classic example of each character being killed off and possessed by the spirits unleashed from the Book. Our unlikely hero, Ash (Bruce Campbell), is instantly lovable, and this film begins Campbell's iconic stature in the horror/sci fi canon.

Now, being a veteran of horror film, I am not scared by movies. I saw Aliens, Friday the 13th, Night of the Living Dead, and countless other movies when I was kid, and I'd been immune to scares and cheap thrills that the genre has to offer. That being said, The Evil Dead was the first movie to make me feel uncomfortable. I was 12 or 13 when I saw it, and the lingering imagery of the makeup effects and the ankle stabbing scene stayed with me for days. I wasn't scared exactly, but I was certainly affected. We've all seen the archetypal characters here, but the film executes so much with so little, its lasting effects cannot be denied by fans of horror. Also, even though I laugh my ass off at it now, that tree raping scene made me pretty uneasy when I was a strapping young lad.

My favorite aspect of this film is the how and why it was made. Sam Raimi and company were just young kids in love with horror films, and they wanted to make one on their own. If you watch the features and listen to the commentary on the dvd (which unfortunately, I haven't done in quite some time), along with Bruce Campbell's book, If Chins Could Kill, you learn a lot about the troubles Raimi and his colleagues faced when trying to get the film funded, made and marketed. It's inspiring to me, as someone who hopes to someday get involved with film (or other media), to see young people in love with below the radar cinema making something out of themselves. The Evil Dead is successful in as much as it's a testament of cinephiles making the the kind of film they want to see. This first film in the series holds a special place in my heart, as it starts what leads to one of my favorite films of all time:


Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn by Sam Raimi, 1987

Evil Dead 2 has the double duty of serving as both a remake of the original film, while progressing the storyline to a full on sequel. The premise remains the same: Ash takes his girlfriend to the woods for a romantic getaway, but the two find that goddamn Book of the Dead. Instead of a full on remake, thankfully, the original retelling of the first film is forced out of the way soon enough, and we see Ash's struggle to survive alone in the cabin with the demonic spirits attempting to swallow his soul.

I loved this film to death when I first saw it. I actually saw this one a week or so before I saw the original Evil Dead. What I loved about it so much then (and now still, of course) was how silly it was. It still retains its horror roots with excessive gore and disturbing images, but it's presented in such a light hearted matter, it's impossible not to fall in love with Ash and the film. When his hand gets possessed and he chops it off, only to have it chase him around the house, I got a cinematic boner that has never subsided. The blending of the layers of comedy and horror are so seamless and flawlessly executed, I still get a kick out of the gags. For example, Ash says "Here's your new home" to his hand while trapping it under the bucket and placing a copy of A Farewell to Arms on top. Brilliant. You can tell that Raimi and Campbell had an absolute blast making this film, and it shines through every scene.

If it weren't for Evil Dead 2, we wouldn't have a lot of the great spoof horror flicks we have today. High Fidelity just wouldn't be as good without Jack Black's tirade on this classic horror film. Every single horror fan I've ever met holds this film in the highest regard, and Bruce Campbell is idolized by each and every one of them (myself included). My life is exponentially better just having watched Evil Dead 2. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and buy it immediately. If not, you should probably just not live anymore, because life is not worth living if you have not experienced Evil Dead 2.



Previous Movies of the Week:
#1: Gladiator
#2: The Passion of the Christ
#3: Cool Hand Luke
#4: Fight Club
#5: American Beauty
#6: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
#7: Goodfellas
#8: Boogie Nights
#9: American Psycho
#10: Dr. Strangelove
#11: Dog Day Afternoon
#12: Unforgiven
#13: 2001: A Space Odyssey
#14: Do the Right Thing
#15: Reservoir Dogs
#16: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
#17: L.A. Confidential
#18: Big Trouble in Little China
#19: Out of Sight
#20: The Shawshank Redemption
#21: The Waterboy
#22: Field of Dreams
#23: The Godfather
#24: The Godfather Part II
#25: The Godfather Part III
#26: Network
#27: Die Hard
#28: Sin City
#29: Dawn of the Dead
#30: American History X
#31: Swingers
#32: Thelma & Louise
#33: Casablanca
#34: Independence Day
#35: Jaws
#36: Adaptation
#37: The Life Aquatic
#38: Rushmore
#39: The Royal Tenenbaums
#40: The Insider
#41: In the Line of Fire
#42: An American Werewolf in London
#43: Nightmare on Elm Street

I'll agree, while Evil Dead is great, you just can't top Evil Dead 2. I remember seeing this poster for it at the video store when I was just a youngling getting into horror as well and thinking, "boy, that looks like a pretty bad ass movie right there"



I'm pretty sure I saw 2 before 1 as well, and though it confused the hell out of me at the time because 2 pretty much quickly redid everything from the first one, it was the one I fell in love with. The hand chopping scene, the chainsaw, the great Raimi camerawork..this is definitely one for the ages.

Previous Movies of the Week:
#1: Gladiator
#2: The Passion of the Christ
#3: Cool Hand Luke
#4: Fight Club
#5: American Beauty
#6: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
#7: Goodfellas
#8: Boogie Nights
#9: American Psycho
#10: Dr. Strangelove
#11: Dog Day Afternoon
#12: Unforgiven
#13: 2001: A Space Odyssey
#14: Do the Right Thing
#15: Reservoir Dogs
#16: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
#17: L.A. Confidential
#18: Big Trouble in Little China
#19: Out of Sight
#20: The Shawshank Redemption
#21: The Waterboy
#22: Field of Dreams
#23: The Godfather
#24: The Godfather Part II
#25: The Godfather Part III
#26: Network
#27: Die Hard
#28: Sin City
#29: Dawn of the Dead
#30: American History X
#31: Swingers
#32: Thelma & Louise
#33: Casablanca
#34: Independence Day
#35: Jaws
#36: Adaptation
#37: The Life Aquatic
#38: Rushmore
#39: The Royal Tenenbaums
#40: The Insider
#41: In the Line of Fire
#42: An American Werewolf in London
#43: Nightmare on Elm Street


Thanks to Cono for helping me out with this.

I love these movies (the whole trilogy, really). I'll add more later.

Excellent write-up, Bondage.

hey guys, let's talk about these movies

I think I'm going to watch them tonight, in the spirit of the thread. It's been a while since I did anyway. I've watched a bunch of new movies I had never seen this month, but now I need some classics. If I only have time for 1 of them then part 2 wins.

Has there ever been any explanation from Raimi or anyone else about the retelling in part 2 being somewhat different from how it actually happened in part 1? Like in the Friday the 13th movies they would always just go back and use the actual footage from the previous film. I figure there has to be a reason.

i don't know... have you watched the commentary or the features of the dvd? I did when i first got it and i was pretty wasted at 2 in the morning, so i don't remember anything

My copy of 2 is regretfully bare bones with the cover being the image I linked above. I have the "Book of the Dead" edition of part 1 and an average version of Army of Darkness.

That's another thing about these movies, they've been released on dvd more than probably any other movies. They're an Evil Dead "ultimate edition" coming out that STILL doesn't have "Within the Woods" on it, so you know that's BS.

i know, it's irritating... i have the book of the dead version because of the packaging

have you read the Campbell book(s) merc?

Sadly, I have not. I'm sure they're great, yeah?

Should I read Chins before Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way?

i've actually only read Chins, so yeah, read that one. It's really fast and easy too. You can finish it in a couple of hours.

I just rented Evil Dead 2. I'm gonna watch it tonight and comment about it tomorrow. It's been a while since I've seen it.

Evil Dead 2. Let me tell you the story of Evil Dead 2 & Pearl Jam. I was but a young lad, 14 or 15 and Spin magazine had Pearl Jam on the cover.



December 1993. So I bought the magazine. inside the magaine was a list of the 100 best movies of all time as voted on my the spin readers. This was a wonderful list of obscure, foriegn, older, and indipendents. This list served as my bible for years. I discovered John Woo, spaghetti westers, eraserhead, king of new york, and many many others. I was a video store nomad. I lived in central mass at the time (Worcester) and would travel near and far to find the titles blockbuster would never touch in a million years. for the most part I found at least one of the titles on the list.
At the time i was actually working at a video store, and tried to order some of the ones for the store I couldn't find. What was #1 on the list? Evil Dead II. with a picture of Ash with the chainsaw hand. I was on a mission. I traveled to natick, plymouth, chelmsford, keen, NH, springfield looking for this goddamn movie.

So one weekifn we were goinf to albany to see a concert and I mad the car full of people stop at a video store in Orange MA. There it sat. Evil Dead II on VHS. The tape box was all cut up in a thick plastic case, and the video itself was covered in rental stickers. I opened an account and had the movie.

After the show we all went back to my house and made all my exausted friends watch it. We had a blast and it was forever etched into our little pop culture world.

So I guess in a way Pearl Jam brought me to love EDII, and all things Bruce.

Interesting little side story: working at a video store I knewthe rules. I never returned the video. The video store could only chare me for the video once they found a replacement at the suggested retail price. Seeing the video was out of print and quite rare they could not charge me a dime. Years later when I got the DVD I put the VHS on ebay and got $221.00 for it.

Gimme some sugar baby.

if anyone would like me to scan that list I can (I still have the mag)

LMK

You got $200 for a VHS when it had already been released on dvd? Damn.

Damn is right.

I need to see these movies.

Hail to the King, baby

the vhs was / is ultra rare. the dvd was everywhere.