Low Budget Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2019)

This film I have an interesting past with. I saw Army of Darkness first, then had my mother pick up Evil Dead 2 before finally seeing this one. I don't think my video store had this so we bought it on VHS as the reason why. It is an interesting way to watch it as both of them are more comedic where this really has much more of the horror. I've seen this quite a few times now, with the last time being in the theater on 4K. The synopsis is five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.
We start with a group of friends in a car going to a cabin that is in the middle of the woods. The man driving is Scott (Richard DeManincor) with his girlfriend sitting next to him Shelly (Theresa Tilly). He is kind of a jerk and likes to play jokes on those around him, some of which are not that funny. In the back is Ashley J. Williams (Bruce Campbell) with his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker). Campbell's sister is also along Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss).
Odd things happen from the beginning. The wheel to the car locks and it is aimed right for a truck that is coming. It actually rips out of Scott's hands. He blames Ash for it happening, but he tells Scott that he just took it in for a tune-up. They have to go over an old bridge and along a narrow path to the cabin. There is a porch swing that is hitting the shuttered window until Scott takes the key down from the door frame and it. It then shots moving by itself.
They unpack and start to settle in. Cheryl likes to draw and is doing of a clock. Something is calling to her to join them from the woods and then her hand is taken over by something. It makes her draw a rough looking book with a face. They then have dinner when the door to the cellar flings open. They all look into it and Scott goes down to see what caused it.
Ash calls out to him, but he doesn't respond. He then takes a lantern to go find out what is happening. The cellar is dark, damp and weird things are hanging from the ceiling. He goes into a back room and Scott scares him. They find a table with a shotgun, shells, a book that has a face and looks odd as well as an old tape recorder along with a long knife with skeletons on it.
This stuff is all brought upstairs and they start to listen to the tape. The voice is a professor who found this text while doing a dig and has come here with his wife to translate it. The book is the Book of the Dead; it is bound with human flesh and inked in human blood. It contains ways to summon demons and things to this nature. The tape upsets Cheryl and she shuts it off. Scott wants to hear more so he fast forwards it and plays it again. He ends up to a point where the voice is saying a incantation. We then see something wakes up in the woods. Cheryl screams to shut it off and a tree crashes through the window.
Cheryl goes to her room and something is calling to her. She goes outside and is attacked by the trees. She does make it back to the cabin and demands that Ash take her into town. They soon learn they're trapped when the bridge is destroyed. They go back and Cheryl becomes possessed. She attacks them and in turn possesses others. Can this group find a way out of this nightmare and survive?
Since I've already given my history with this movie, I'll get into this. This is more horror than the others ones and even though I know what's going to happen, it still creeps me out. What is insane though is how low of a budget that writer/director Sam Raimi had to work with though. They went far with what they had to bring this all to life for sure.
I should also state that some of the movies that terrify me the most are possession films. I might not be able to necessarily stop a killer, but I have a fighting chance. When it comes to films with demons like this, I wouldn't know what to do and would probably either die or become possessed before I could. This also does bring a bit of issue I have here. Not enough to effect my rating, but my problem is that there doesn't really seem to be a rhyme or reason for who becomes possessed. Cheryl gets attacked and I understand her. Same thing for Linda and Shelly, but Ash is attacked in similar ways and he seems to be able to resist. It doesn't get explained either.
Something else I do like is the Book of the Dead. They don't use the name Necronomican yet, but that's what it ends up becoming. I really like the concept of this book that contains ways to bring these demons to life. It is spooky that they're just living around us, not bothering us and they seem to be upset when their slumber is disturbed. I also like that after what the professor did, they're subtly roaming the woods and messing with these people. I do want to know if the incantation needs to be read every night to attack or what. That's something else that is not fully explained either.
I do have to say that the pacing of this is really good as well. It doesn't take long for creepy things to happen and we get to meet the characters around it. This is interesting as well, because we get to know them through seeing fear of what is going on. With a runtime of 85 minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome and the horrific elements are evenly paced throughout. As I said, it never gets boring either and I like how this all ends.
That brings me to the acting. I will admit, it is quite amateur and I have to commend them for going out to do what they did here. Campbell isn't the Ash that we know and love yet, but you get glimpses. You can also see that he would go on to do great things as well. I like him here as our lead. Sandweiss I thought was fine. She's kind of hysterical, but I almost think that is due to her being more in tune with the supernatural without realizing it. She is also easy to isolate. DeManincor is a jerk and I think he does well. He got a reaction out of me, so I have to give credit there. Baker and Tilly are both fine. I did find Baker to be pretty attractive. Everyone also does really good when they're possessed. It is so creepy if I'm going to be honest.
That will take me to the effects, which for the budget look really good. They were all done practically. Some of them were clever and still gross me out. The blood we get looks good and I like that the possessed people have almost black blood. I think this is an interesting choice to kind of differentiate. There is a bit of an issue that the blood and gore on characters isn't also consistent, but that's fine. There's a lot to keep stretch and someone who has worked as a Script Supervisor, that can be tough. It is also shot very well in my opinion.
A grip that I do have is with the 4K version only. They added a new soundtrack to it. I heard on a podcast about it and now that I've seen it, I agree with them. I don't like it. I thought going for almost not having a soundtrack over most of it was actually creepier for me. I can't hold this aspect against the film, as my DVD is different there. I just wanted to bring it up if you happen to check out that version as well.
Now with that said, this film has a lot of nostalgia for me. I can recognize that this low budget effort has flaws, but I'm going to overlook them. Many of them don't really affect anything so there's that. The demons here are creepy and even after knowing how things play out due to multiple viewings, it still works. I like the Book of the Dead that is used here. Like I said, there are some inconsistent story parts. The effects though looked good and the pacing is effective to a solid ending. I don't like the soundtrack that is added for the 4K and prefer the original way we got it. This is definitely a classic and I believe this to be a great movie.