Good low-budget entertainment

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2003)

I've said this before and I'll say it again, I always feel more of a connection to films that are made on low budgets than the big studio flicks, because I'm an aspiring filmmaker myself. Watching a movie like this inspires me, especially since I've always wanted to make a horror movie. Is it a great film? Of course not. Once the movie hits the 20-minute mark, the notion of plot completely disappears. But I loved the special f/x, which immensely surprised me, knowing the budget was only $375,000.00. I didn't expect the gore to be so elaborate. That's right, there's tons of gore (some say that to today's standards, the gore would be considered tame, but I say it's still quite extreme), and it doesn't look cheesy at all. The blood looks real, the make-up effects are great. I could tell Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert put their hearts and souls into this project.

I'm so glad I purchased the DVD, because it (along with "Evil Dead 2's") contains one of the most amusing and insightful commentaries I've ever heard. Sam and Rob both have an incredible sense of humor. And I was fascinated by the way they described the production of this movie. First of all, I assumed it was shot in either 2 or 3 days. This movie proves that continuity is for sissies, because it's packed with continuity errors and I didn't notice a thing. The film was actually shot over the course of many months. They seemed to have lots of fun making it, though it was a grueling process, since there were no stunt people (actors were getting scrapes and bruises all over the place), they'd stay awake for hours and hours and it was freezing cold outside.
"The Evil Dead" contains a few scares and the gore effects are often fun to watch (this was before the invention of CGI and I felt impressed knowing that not one effect was genered via computer), but I still wish it could've had more plot. After all, we're basically watching one character after another get killed and come back alive again, and all that changes within the repetition of this pattern is the way they get killed. The film needs a little more closure. But at least Raimi doesn't pretend this is a work of high art. In the commentary, he actually pokes fun at a lot of the film's peculariaties. But he experienced much joy in making the film, and watching "Evil Dead" allows me to share some of his joy. This is truly the work of an earnest, committed filmmaker who luckily went on to direct bigger movies like "Spider-Man" and "A Simple Plan."
My score: 6 (out of 10)