Not sure why this is a classic

Rating: 6/10 (9 October 2004)

Good concept (for 1981), great camera work and you have to be impressed with how much they did with so little. But what Raimi needed more than money was time: time to write the script, think about the characters, and rehearse. The acting is wooden, as if the actors are still blocking out where they will be standing in each scene. Their actions and reactions are implausible, with the impressive exception of Ash's vacillation over what to do about his girlfriend. You share his moral dilemma as he weighs whether he would be slaying a demon or murdering an innocent girl. With so many horror movies that are executed so much better, this movie is only useful as part of Raimi's biography...and perhaps the history of the genre. Good for film students; not a priority for anyone else.