Great low budget American horror film!

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2007)

Forget today's "modern," "hip," "polished" "PG-13" horror movies full of pretty people, recycled plots and cheesy computer effects. I'll take a cheaper, grittier and more audacious, inventive and humorous 80s horror movie any day of the week! Five people, led by future cult horror hero Bruce Campbell, rent a cabin way out in the middle of the woods. In the basement they find an ancient book, read a few passage out of it and all hell (literally) breaks loose! Several characters quickly become possessed by demons whose only mission is to kill the living. And that's all the plot this terrific little fright flick really needs. It's not a "plot" movie anyway, it's an exercise in horror in the purest sense; with atmosphere, mood, pacing, camera-work and splatter all at the forefront. Sam Raimi's now-classic film set new standards for levels of blood and gore way back in 1981, and the film stands the test of time miraculously well considering all the advancements in special effects since it was made. In fact, I actually prefer this old style mix of make-up effects and stop motion animation to pretty much all of today's films. Also of note is the invigorating point-of-view camera-work, which has been copied endlessly sense. "Evil Dead" is a fantastic, scary, funny, imaginative and gory good time not to be missed! I know a lot of people seem to prefer the 1987 sequel or even 1991's third installment "Army of Darkness," but I'm still a much bigger fan of the look, feel and tone of the original.