A shocking masterpiece!

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2000)

This is what Stephen King called the most ferociously horror movie of all time. `The Evil Dead' is a low-budget production shot by independent star-director Sam Raimi starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Barker. The story is a joke: five teenagers in an old cabin accidentally evoke demons and get possessed one by one - that's it. But splatter movies have never been famous for their unconventional and innovative plots, so it really doesn't matter at all. Raimi did a fantastic job with this terrifying mix of merciless gore excesses and shocking horror. The film was very controversial in it's time, and it still is today. It's banned in the UK and Germany - unfortunately, it was released in the early eighties and got caught up by the moral panic of that time. At my opinion, `The Evil Dead' is definitely the best splatter movie. I have to admit that it lacks the stunning effects of actual releases such as `The Frighteners', and it's far not as bloody as Peter Jackson's `Braindead'. Anyway, what makes it a brilliant piece of film is it's dark, desperate atmosphere. It makes the audience watch nervously, timidly awaiting the next shock - it simply scares you to death. I've never seen a film with such shocking effects, it just lets you no time to breathe. Bruce Campbell's acting as the lonely, blood-covered hero Ash surrounded by evil is amazing and got him up to the league of cult horror stars. It might sound strange, but Campbell's believable acting actually makes `The Evil Dead' seem to be a realistic film - despite zombie-like demons. But I wouldn't call this a splatter movie if there wasn't anything else about it. I tell you, don't watch `The Evil Dead' if you can't see blood! For it's time, the film was a scandal, and even if it had been released today, there would again be voices calling it `degrading' and `inhumane'. The nasty and bloody scenes of dismemberment, slashing, impalement and decapitation led to bannings and heavily cut versions of the film in many countries. Fortunately, there have been several uncut re-releases since then, so we can watch this masterpiece as Sam Raimi wanted it to be. `The Evil Dead' set the standard for modern splatter-genre and is one of the greatest classics in horror history. For any horror fan who doesn't feel disturbed by ethically questionable gore scenes, this flick is definitely worth a look. Besides, there are two sequels, again directed by Raimi and starring Campbell: `Evil Dead 2 - Dead by Dawn' (which is more kind of a remake than a sequel, Roger Ebert gave it a 3 out of 5) and `The Army of Darkness - Evil Dead 3'. Both are worth watching, but the original remains a class of it's own.