"We're gonna' get you, we're gonna' get you."

Rating: Null/10 (17 November 2011)

You don't have to be some sort of massive horror nerd to know that The Evil Dead is quite an important film (although it probably helps). Originally called Book of the Dead (until that title was deemed 'too boring' by studio bosses) this spooky, shlock-horror shocker was director Sam Raimi's very first full length feature! Not only that, but it was one of the first of the 'splatter' type films of the eighties and gained infamy as one of the, um'infamous' video nasties which burst onto the scene like a squishy wound due to the availability of home video players. It was made with a very low budget for this type of film, with a small spattering (or splattering) of cast and crew members, many of which taking responsibility for multiple jobs during production; star (and king of B-movies) Bruce Campbell was chief contact lens fitter during the shoot, for example.
The film was released in 1981 and tells the story of five college friends spending the weekend in a creepy cabin in the middle of the Tennessee woods. Everything is peaceful and idyllic (for about 10 minutes) until they discover a tape recorder in the creepy cellar and decide to see what's on it! This turns out to be as bad an idea as it sounds, as the tape contains a passage read aloud from the Book of the dead (see, that's why they wanted to call the film that). This passage awakens and seemingly 'pisses off' a malevolent spirit in the woods which wants to come back from the dead by possessing the living.or something, I think that's its plan! The spirit 'force' (as it's often referred to by geeks) is never actually seen and is only present throughout this sticky adventure via 'point of view' camera shots and sound effects – many of which were just director Sam Raimi adding his own vocals to various sounds.
One by one (by one) the five friends are consumed by the evil force and transformed into demons of sorts, they aren't officially zombies as such, as they can fly around and are incredibly agile and strong. Also, they aren't interested in eating brains or any other bits and seem to want to taunt and terrorize the survivors rather than simply kill them off (or un-undead them off, to be more accurate). The 'Deadites' (as they're referred to, also by geeks) tend to have 'fun' with their victims and play psychological games with them before trying to 'off' them spectacularly! The sole survivor Ashley Williams (played by Bruce Campbell) has to fight off his former friends, girlfriend and sister in an attempt to stay alive until morning, when the spirits can be driven away, with each confrontation getting bloodier and more graphically violent (yay).
Some of the film's highlights include Ash's newly 'turned' sister taunting Scott from the cellar ("You're not gonna' leave me here, are ya'are ya' Ash?"), the woods themselves coming to life and attacking anyone attempting to flee the cabin and Linda (Ash's girlfriend) transforming into a giggling, porcelain doll thing, shrieking with laughter as she tries to stab him with a knife that's almost certainly entirely too big! The film really doesn't let up after the awakening of the evil spirit and the constant action, bloody violence and imaginative camera moves and sound effects leave the viewer practically exhausted by the closing credits!
Sam Raimi is well known (by geeks and um, 'norms') for his strategic use of camera angles and clever shot set ups and his films are instantly recognizable as 'his' due to the specific look of his movies (also because they usually either have Bruce Campbell or his 'classic' car in them, or both). This film is no exception, as there are lots of sweeping, frantic camera moves and some disorientating shots which add to the atmosphere and main character Ash's rapidly deteriorating mental state!
The creepy sound effects and music also add to the unsettling atmosphere, with the possessed friend's voices and sound of the main 'force' spirit being particularly effective and chilling.
Overall then, this is a film that's aged well and just won't stay dead (like a lot of Ash's friends) and considering it's over 30 years old it still holds up as a well made and quite creepy horror classic. The effects are still, umeffective, especially the 'deadite' make up (creepy white contact lenses etc) and the spectacularly squelchy end sequence (which is one of the messiest endings to any horror film, possibly trumped only by films like Braindead and Bad taste). Upon release this must have been incredibly scary and effective and it's doubtful we'll see any horror films coming out in the future that will have anywhere near as large an impact or influence as the Evil Dead has had over the years!