B-Movie Greatness

Rating: 10/10 (10 March 2008)

I still remember the "Banned in Countries" tag on the skull-head poster outside the movie theater when I first saw this in high school. From the first frame, everything about this film left me on the edge of my seat. The creepy cabin, the atmospheric woods, the young adults who were just bad acting cannon fodder for the horrors to come.
And then the horror begins.
Demon possession, dismemberment, madness, a spell book-it's a driven amalgam of horror movie elements that totally gels, directed with assured panache by a young Sam Raimi (with a few pages from Robert Wise's play-book). The tree scene blew-and warped-my teenage mind.
It's no wonder Raimi has gone on to Hollywood greatness.