Unapologetically gory and surprisingly very amusing

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2013)

The Evil Dead and its two sequels have achieved a small, but loyal cult following in the field of horror, showcasing likely some of the goriest brutality on film in the eighties. It follows a group of twentysomethings, Ash (Bruce Campbell), his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker), his sister Shelly (Sarah York), and his friends Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) and Scotty (Hal Delrich) as they embark out to a remote cabin in the middle of the woods. They stumble upon "The Book of the Dead," which is inked in blood and bound by flesh, and unleashes a number of demons and evil spirits that quickly begin to take over the cabin and the souls inside. It's up to Ash, the cool-guy hero of the group to defeat the spirits and save his friends.
The plot is, without a doubt, as standard as standard can get. At the end of the day, we come for the scares and the gore and that's exactly what we'll receive. Buckets and buckets of blood are utilized; one of the best scenes involves Ash puncturing a demon's eyes with both his thumbs, with huge amounts of blood quickly oozing out. Yet even with all this constant, flashy violence and gore, the film never veers off on the course of being sadistically exploitative or depressingly nihilistic. Its gore and violence isn't meant to be taken seriously or offensively. There's an aesthetic and tonal cheeriness to this material that is widely unexpected - especially in the eighties, when it seemed many horror films attempted to be as bleak as they possibly could be.
Director Sam Raimi (who would later become known for not only his Evil Dead trilogy, but his Spider-Man films) knows how to employ terrific tactics when he works on horror movies. His presence and involvement with the 1980's horror film Intruder, while one of his more obscure films, definitely replicates a style that he would soon become affiliated with. Here, Raimi always seems to be trying something new, specifically with the camera angles. Consider the POV shot we get of someone (or something) gliding through the forestry near the cabin, even going as far as to colliding through the windows of the cabin. The trick to these scenes is we never know exactly what the POV is of, but we don't need to. We know it's not good, since it zips by at an unusual, lighting speed and makes the characters scream when they come in contact with it.
These scenes work because Raimi largely knows when to utilize them and how to have them work accordingly with the cinematography. Shot on a roughly $350,000 budget, much of the atmosphere is presented through a lens concerned more with naturalism than polish. The presentation of the picture feels rawer and purer than many other horror films of the time period. This is yet another horror film that contributes to the thought that smaller budgets make better horror films in general.
There isn't a whole lot to The Evil Dead. As a horror film, it features the obligatory faceless characters, little development, and devotion to smaller events that may or may not lead up to a grandiose finale. And yet, it works mainly because it aspires to be a bit more ambitious in the regards to its film techniques and gore usage. It's a delightful blend of black comedy and riveting horror excitement, which is a combination that is depressingly underutilized.
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Betsy Baker, Sarah York, Ellen Sandweiss, and Hal Delrich. Directed by: Sam Raimi.