Trend-setting on a low budget

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2004)

I'm a huge Raimi/Campbell/Tapert fan for many reasons, but this film is the first and foremost. It's because when these three guys get together and rally their friends, the magic echoes in the higher-budget versions of the results Rennaisance Pictures achieves.
Case in point: Hercules and Xena were both filmed in New Zealand, years before that country became the locational mecca it is today. Granted, it took a movie like LORD OF THE RINGS to really bring New Zealand to the forefront, but it was the discerning eye of Renn Pictures that first brought us Middle Earth, back when it was Ancient Greece, back before all but extreme sports enthusiasts and avid travelers had ever heard of such a place as New Zealand.
But EVIL DEAD is our first glimpse of the influence Raimi has had on moviedom as a whole. With the use of jagged camera angles, a few stage-magic tricks, and some interesting composition, Raimi's direction really set the stage for a lot of now commonly-used techniques. Take the eye close-up: these days, a trick used so often to let us know what a character is really thinking or hoping for, turning up first in this movie. Another technique of Raimi's that has seen use in other films, one of them again being LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, is the effect of dual personalities communicating with one another. Granted, this was more from EVIL DEAD'S two sequels, but it's just another example of the influence Raimi has had on film in general.
What is amazing about this film, however, is its effectiveness. While Lucas and Spielberg were creating fantastical spacecraft with the predecessors of CGI, Raimi was using two x fours and Karo syrup to make us scream. Even viewing it a few weeks ago the movie is still more gruesome to me than anything Carpenter ever did with ten times Raimi's $300K budget (Carpenter did a movie with the same theme, a little one called THE THING; EVIL DEAD is much scarier and more genuine).
One last thing that is worth noting is the acting of Ellen Sandweiss, who plays Ash's sister, Cheryl. (Nothing needs to be said of Bruce Campbell's performance, he's The Man and that's all there is to that!) Sandweiss's panic and terror were incredibly real, and her performance was amazing. It's too bad she decided not to pursue acting as a career, because she would have gone on to be great. Note her reaction to the vine that falls in her path as she follows Ash to the bridge when he tried to take her into town for an example of what I mean. And those of you who saw WITHIN THE WOODS, the demo picture shown to the investors of this movie, will also know what I mean.
All in all, I consider EVIL DEAD one of the best works of all time, not because it's CITIZEN KANE or GONE WITH THE WIND (hahaha), but because it is a movie that is purely made on the talent and imagination of its cast and crew. And a billion-dollar budget can't replace that.