A Horror Classic.

Rating: 9/10 (24 June 2014)

I saw this on video tape on first release. At that time in the UK a list of Video Nasties gained notoriety and a "must see" attitude was manufactured as a result. Proudly at the top of this list was The Evil Dead. I hunted down a copy from a local video shop, he kept it under the counter, it cost me £5 just for one evening to rent and me and my group of mates sat in a dark room and watched. We had a ball! Terrified, thrilled, excited, entertained. By todays standards of course the effects are cheesy and cheap, the make up is not very well done, the whole production looks aged and not shiny and polished like the modern horror that we all expect nowadays. But what this movie did have was an eerie sense of "what you are about to see" and it didn't disappoint. Jumps galore, just enough gore to make you wince, great performances from the then unknown cast and rock solid direction from Sam Raimi. Kids nowadays will claim "overrated" or "cheap and nasty" but they are missing the point, and unfortunately for them, missing out. I bet those same modern kids would say Psycho was rubbish "black and white", "corny acting" "slow" or "tame" - but watch these movies at the time of release and see them as the works of genius they are.