Fabulous, visually impressive low budget horror film.

Rating: 8/10 (3 December 2004)

Five friends, Ashly 'Ash' Williams (Bruce Campbell) his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), Scott (Hal Delrich), Shelly (Theresa Tilly as Sarah York) and Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) have rented a cabin in some woods in the middle of nowhere. They drive up to the cabin, through the woods. That night, as they eat dinner, the cellar door slams open. At first everyone assumes it to be an animal, but to make sure Scott goes down into the dark cellar to check. When he doesn't come back and doesn't answer when the four remaining friends call him, Ash also enters the cellar. Along with Scott he looks around and finds a shotgun, a tape player, a dagger with a carved handle of skulls and the Necronomicon, the book of the dead, a grotesque looking book that's bound in human skin and written in blood. Back up top they play the tape, it's a spoken translation of the text contained within the book of the dead. Once played the evil dead are resurrected and awoke from their ancient slumber. Later on that night Cheryl thinks she hears someone outside her window, having gone out to investigate she is attacked and raped by possessed tree branches. She manages to make it back to the cabin, no one believes her but Ash offers to take her back to town. However it soon becomes apparent that they can't leave as the only bridge has been destroyed. Back at the cabin Cheryl becomes totally possessed by the evil dead and she stabs Linda in the ankle with a pencil. Soon more of the friends are possessed until only one remains, will anyone survive? Can the friends be saved? Can a way back to town be found? Will that chainsaw in the work shed be used for bodily mutilation, or is it just for show? Watch it and find out, now!
Written and directed over the course of four years by Sam Raimi, who's now hot property in Hollywood following the success of Spider-Man (2002) and it's sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004), Raimi makes a cameo appearance in this as one of the hitchhiking fisherman near the start of the film. I love this film, it's so energetic, features loads of over-the-top gore and is just great to watch on a pure fun entertainment level, and it's no surprise Raimi has gone on to enjoy the success he has. The direction from first timer Raimi is full of imagination, style, vigour and as many clever camera tricks he can get away with and his budget would allow for. I love the 'dead cam', we get a P.O.V. shot from the evil dead as they twist and turn their way through the woods, with trees falling down in front of them as they pass over them. A cool looking shot where Ash buries Linda in the woods, the camera is placed in Linda's grave looking up at Ash as he shovels dirt into it, Ash chucks the dirt onto the camera lens, bit by bit the screen goes black until finally only Ash's face is visible through a little section that hasn't been covered, god knows how this was achieved but it works really well and looks like a lot of effort and thought went into a short scene. A great throwaway shot where the camera is positioned under Ash looking up at him as the soles of his shoes are visible on each side of the screen. Or a shot which follows Ash across the room from above his head, the camera speeds along to keep up with him and the beams in the roof coming into shot as he walks under them, and they make a whooshing noise as they quickly enter and leave the shot. And a shot where Ash walks on screen, but the image is upside down and the camera moves towards the back of his head and over it and turning 90 degrees it comes to rest on a shot of his face the right way up. Or the way Raimi can make someone walking up a wooden staircase to the cellar interesting, he puts his camera behind and underneath the slats of wood that make up the staircase and follows Ash as he walks up them from this cool angle, the film is visually excellent and a joy to watch, throughout. The acting is just OK, except Campbell who is as likable as always. The script by Raimi is also great entertainment and manages to pack the screen with a feast of blood soaked set-pieces. Although variable in quality the effects include, zombies, dismemberment, stabbings, decapitations, eye gouging, staking, shotgun blast wounds, burnings, beatings, bitten off hands and a pencil stuck in someones ankle, the blood flows freely in this one! There is also some slightly unconvincing stop motion animation at the end, but like all the special effects in this film, I've seen a lot worse and they really aren't all that bad, just not comparable to todays multi million costing soulless CGI. There a couple of shots here and there when it's obvious that a double was used probably because the original actor or actress was no longer available, in particular the fight Ash has with the possessed Linda after she emerges from the grave he buried her in, her hair style is totally different between certain shots! The only nudity is when Cheryl is raped by the possessed trees, another cool sequence. I love this film, get past a slightly slow first 20 minutes and your in for a highly entertaining and action packed gore fest, watch it as soon as you can! Highly recommended.