Original splatter

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2004)

The Evil Dead takes a not-so-new premise (young people go to a secluded
cabin and are killed off) and gives it some new twists. The fivesome, not content with the usual distractions of alcohol and sex, instead lug an antiquated
recording device up from the sinister cellar and start listening to the tape which is still loaded up on it. The recording, made by the previous tenant, details his discovery of a Book of the Dead, bound in human skin and inked in human
blood. When the incantations within are spoken aloud, ancient demons arise
from hell and possess the living. The recording awakens the semi-dormant
demons who are lurking outside the cabin in the woods and soon, the fivesome
are under attack from outside and from within.
This is a low budget effort filled with black humor and innovative special effects. It is one of the first films to feature over-the-top gore, as the possessed literally explode in showers of pus, vomit, guts, blood and oatmeal-y goo. The plot is nothing special, but it doesn't really matter: it's all about the gross outs. A girl is raped by a tree, another girl slowly chews off her own hand, a pencil becomes a deadly weapon and the possessed all sport milky-white contacts and layered
demonic voices that rival Mercedes McCambridge. There's also some great
camera work here, as demonic POV shots skim over murky swamps, crash
through windows and race through the house to sneak up on the last survivor. This isn't a film about plot or performances; it's all about effects and this film boasts some incredibly good ones considering it was made in 1979. It also
manages to create a great, menacing atmosphere as the forest and even the
architecture turns on the group, trapping them all within the cabin and
preventing their escape.
Followed by Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, this is still (in my humble
opinion anyway) the best entry in the series. Incredibly original and strangely funny, this is gore done well when gore was still something new.