A first-rate shocker.

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2001)

I'm not a huge fan of messy horror flicks, but when I watched Sam Raimi's bloody thriller, "The Evil Dead". I wondered if I was being too harsh on the film although I did like the sequel to "Urban Legend", Wes Craven's "Scream", and David Cronenberg's "Videodrome". The three films had one thing in common - they were very graphic. The film takes place in the backwoods of Tennessee where a few Michigan State students drive up to a wooden cabin to spend a few days there. Soon the students discover that they aren't alone when some demons called "Shemps" come after them. The Shemps don't go down without a fight and take a severe beating (more severe than Stallone took in the "Rocky" films and Walken took in "The Dogs of War"). Although the violence is very graphic, I wasn't bothered by it and part of that comes from the excellent camera work. The film made stars of director Raimi and Bruce Campbell, who plays the heroic Ash. "The Evil Dead" is a first-rate shocker.