THE EVIL DEAD
The cover of Bruce Campbell's auto-bio.
THE EVIL DEAD-United States-1981
European Poster for The Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell as Ashley J. Williams aka 'Ash'
Betsy Baker as Linda
Richard DeManincor as Scott (as Hal Delrich)
Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl
Theresa Tilly as Shelly (as Sarah York)
Written and Directed by Sam Raimi
The very first word that comes to my mind regarding Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead is masterpiece. Stephen King described it as ‘the most ferociously original horror film of the year’ at the time of its release and nothing could be closer to the truth about this movie. There is ferocity to this film that a hundred other horror films could only have wet dreams about. It starts off slow and picks up speed like a forest fire. Get in its way and you will be burned to a crisp and trampled underfoot and left in a pool of your own boiling blood and gore.
The Evil Dead possesses one of the most threadbare plots that I have ever seen in a film. Five friends venture to a remote cabin where they find The Book of the Dead and a tape recording of demonic incantations. They read the book and play the tapes and all hell breaks loose. One by one they are all taken over by flesh possessing demons. All but Ash, that is; he’s the final girl of the film. He’s the one who has all the fun chopping off limbs, decapitating, poking his thumbs into eyeballs and listening as his now demonic girlfriend chants ‘We’re gonna get you’ over and over and over again. It seems the only way you can beat these evil dead baddies is through total bodily dismemberment. Oh, what a joy!
I watch The Evil Dead at least twice a year. It helps to remind me just what a horror film should be made up. Three parts fun, three parts fear and three parts blood and gore with a simple uncluttered plot. If you haven’t seen it, what the hell are you waiting for, a written invitation? Geez!
Trivia
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- Drag Me to Hell (jmountswritteninblood.com)
Posted on 10/25/2011, in Demonic Possession Films, Films in the Evil Dead series, Films Released in 1981, Movies and tagged Betsy Baker, Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Evil Dead, Hal Delrich, Sam Raimi, Sarah York, Ted Raimi. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Hmmmm, I guess I have been waiting for that invitation. I will have to rent this….
It’s well worth it, Jan.
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