fiercely kinetic, unabashedly gory, excitingly original

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 1999)

Don't be fooled by the multitudes of younger horror fans who believe that the first "Evil Dead" movie is inferior. Unfortunately they've been weaned on diluted Hollywood style "horror" flicks with big budget scores, sets, and casts to detract from the actual horror. In the 70's and 80's the horror genre welcomed low-budget, no-frills horror films that truly excited and scared audiences (i.e., Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, the Fog). Even though I can now enjoy the twisted humor of Evil Dead II and III, I was disappointed that Raimi decided to veer further into "tongue-in-cheek" hi-jinks and laughs rather than the more serious tone of Evil Dead I. ED II & III can't truly be classified as horror films. I honestly can't think of a movie since 1985 that scared me as much as those 70's-80's horror gems. "Evil Dead"'s kinetic camera-work, adrenaline surged pace, and truly evil nature, takes you on a roller-coaster ride of terror. Watch all three and tell me which one's the real horror film.