Don't believe the hype,- could've been brilliant, but isn't.

Rating: 6/10 (19 July 2002)

I love horror films, but finding a good scary horror film is not something that occurs very often. Then I hear about the Evil Dead,- a film for which I haven't seen a bad review so I thought I would pay out some of my hard earned money for a copy on VHS. Were my expectations too high? Maybe. In the opening scenes, the acting is wafer thin, the script not too good either. Then the scene with the cellar was genuinely creepy,- if the rest of the film was left to the imagination like this scene then I think maybe we would have a timeless classic on our hands. Very tense. Some of the special effects are still impressive (even 20 years on), but the make up is just hillarious. It isn't scary, it just seems like a joke. The reactions from the cast when they encounter the "undead" is so annoyingly bad,- imagine one of your best friends/your girlfriend has been possessed by an ancient evil spirit, i'm sure you'd look just a little bit concerned/frightened/confused. Not just "lets kill it" without an element of "what the hell is going on?!"
Maybe I'm being harsh, as apparently the film was made with a reasonably small budget,(which would perhaps forgive the amazingly non-frightening make up), but how hard is it to look frightened or to look surprised? This film could've been brilliant, but it is two dimensional with a poor script with mediocre acting - and this comes from somebody who loves horror movies. That aside, if you've had a few beers and you are with your mates this film would definitely be a good laugh. The disappointing this about that is it isn't intended to be a comedy. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a terrible film, just not as good as it is made out to be,- don't believe the hype. Watch it without expecting much then you will probably enjoy it. 6 out of 10 for effort.