Iconic horror classic!

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2016)

After a somewhat slow beginning. "The Evil Dead" quickly turns into a stream of nightmarish moments, and remains one of the most unique, entertaining, and original horror films of all time.
While it doesn't have nearly as many iconic moments as its brilliant sequel "Evil Dead 2", it's still a superb movie that I urge every horror fan to see immediately if they haven't already. It's the perfect example of an unexpectedly popular cult movie shot on an extremely low budget. It's an independent movie legend, that has spawned tons of fans and imitators, and it still remains an impressive little movie to this day.
Despite a small budget, Sam Raimi and his crew work with a lot of great special effects, especially during the film's gruesome finale, that is packed with gore and stop motion. "The Evil Dead" certainly has technical flaws and some strange editing decisions throughout, but these flaws help add to its charm. It's not a perfect film, and if it was perfect, then it wouldn't be nearly as good or entertaining, believe it or not,
I would also like to mention the film's dark sense of humor. Or, at least I think it has a dark sense of humor. Honestly, I can't tell whether or not the movie is intentionally or unintentionally funny. Some scenes feel so slapsticky and over the top that they must be comedic, and the fact that the film's sequels take these comical scenes to a whole new level feels like proof of this being an intentional horror comedy. The sequels may be funnier, but that doesn't mean that the original doesn't have its laugh out loud moments.
Despite dark humor being sprinkled throughout "The Evil Dead", it remains mostly serious throughout, and at times is genuinely frightening and intense. It is nowhere near as goofy and funny as its sequels, and has the capability to actually shock and scare me at times, unlike "Army of Darkness", a movie that I also love, but still doesn't remotely scare me.