The Evil Dead

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Cast & Crew

Bruce Campbell
Ashly 'Ash' J. Williams

Ellen Sandweiss
Cheryl

Betsy Baker
Linda

Richard DeManincor
Scotty

Theresa Tilly
Shelly

Sam Raimi
Director

Sam Raimi
Writer

Bruce Campbell
Executive Producer

Sam Raimi
Executive Producer

Rob Tapert
Executive Producer

Rob Tapert
Producer

Joseph LoDuca
Original Music

Tim Philo
Cinematographer

Edna Ruth Paul
Film Editor

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Critic Reviews for The Evil Dead

Audience Reviews for The Evil Dead

• Sep 19, 2016

  It's always fun to go back and watch films with a mass-cult following. Perhaps no horror film in history has a bigger cult following than The Evil Dead, and rightfully so. Director Sam Raimi and the small cast made one of the most intense and original films to date. Sometimes it's hard for myself to go back and watch horror films from decades ago, especially those with a smaller budget. Most of the time the lack of sufficient funds to edit horror pictures make the end product a lot less re-watchable. With The Evil Dead, the one-setting and minimalistic story actually adds to the film and makes it all the more terrifying. Yes, 5 friends spending a night in a secluded cabin in the middle of the forest with little lighting is unsettling, but with Raimi's amateur directing style, it's horrifying. Of course, I mean amateur with the best intentions. This was essentially a film funded using what we call 'kick-starter' now, with a bunch of his friends. Bruce Campbell being the one friend who went on to do extensive acting. Although Raimi didn't have the proper funds necessarily, there's actually a lot more skillful directing than you may think. You imply just have to look at the effective camera placement in suspenseful sequences to know this guy had a future in the filmmaking industry. The first act of the film is played out a lot like an old Hitchcock suspense thriller. It's all about "what you don't see" that make the hairs raise on the back of your neck. Until the film changes into a contained gore fest for the last hour which is among the best slasher pictures of the 80's. The dialogue and acting isn't all that great but it makes for a solid B-movie atmosphere, which was common for plenty of horror films of that time. It's great on its own, but the story behind the making of the film certainly certifies this as one of horror-cinema's crown jewels. +You can already see Raimi's talent +One cabin, one forest, one friend group +Atmospheric -Dialogue 8.2/10
  

  Thomas D Super Reviewer
• May 03, 2016

  Both equally funny and horrifying, Sam Raimi's horror classic is just the right amount of campy fun and ingenious scares to overcome it's (admittedly well used) low budget.
  Matthew M Super Reviewer
• Oct 29, 2013

  It has its moments, but it's largely unimpressive. It is too campy and too silly to be taken seriously or to be scary. The premise is interesting, but the plot feels too restricted. This movie had potential, but was executed poorly.
  

  Matthew Samuel M Super Reviewer
• Oct 10, 2013

  Oh no, this isn't your honest-to-goodness, fetch you some tea from beyond the grave type of dead, this is some evil dead right here, I tell you what. You can here me with some kind of a thick southern accent with that sentence, and it would only be fitting, because this film does take place in Tennessee, seeing as how stuff like this is about what you'd expect from Tennessee... I think. They're lounging about on my beloved Alabama and I can't say that I care all that much about them, but Quentin Tarantino was born there, so I can safely presume that Tennessee is known for violent, bizarre happenings and a cult following with its entertainment. Seriously though, it's demons, a cabin in the wood and Tennessee, so you know this is going to be one terrifying thriller... or kind of morbidly funny, seeing as how this is also a Sam Raimi film. Well, you could certainly expect it to be gory, and sure enough, this flick is mighty messy, even if there is some disappointment in not seeing a scene in which Bruce Campbell kills a demon with his chin. "If Chins Could Kill..." is some serious false advertising there, Bruce, or at least as far as I know, but hey, this is still a pretty promising debut for Campbell and Sam Raimi, even if there isn't exactly interesting enough to have a whole lot of material to work into this opener. Yeah, I don't really know what to tell you, because as enjoyable as this film is on some kind of a morbid level, not all is intriguing, partly because the gore elements aren't the only messy aspects to this cult classic. Featuring some iconic characters, or at least an iconic leading man, this film offers characterization that is decidedly adequate, yet, more than that, questionable, because even though ambiguity is recommended in a film that is this driven by chills, and is often kind of ignorant of its characters, who aren't even all that interesting, there is hardly any kind of real development, and that distances you from the characters who may mostly be there for the sake of gory goodness, but are still instrumental in the "narrative". The lack of exposition proves to be distancing, make no mistake, but what may deliver an even harsher blow to engagement value is, of course, all of the blasted dragging, because even though this film, at just under 90 minutes, doesn't have a whole lot of time to drag its feet, it makes time, filling expository holes, and even building some holes to fill, with excess filler that drags the film out as repetitious, maybe even kind of aimless. The film is very atmospheric, so I understand the extensive meditations upon minimalism, but much too often, Sam Raimi wastes time, and that pill would be easier to swallow if his atmosphere was frequently effective, rather than with plenty of effective moments that essentially punctuates long stretches of dry quietness that blands things up and makes pacing issues all the more glaring. When the film slows down, it limps out, and it cannot afford to be doing that with an 85-minute runtime that it partly achieves by meeting slow spells with expository shortcomings, though that's not to say that this film was ever to be that effective. The issues that I just covered are serious, sure, but it's natural shortcomings that do this film in as underwhelming, and really, they shouldn't be able to do that, because beyond all of the minimalism of this subject matter, this narrative isn't especially interested in its substance, at least in comparison with the style, which is ultimately overplayed enough to further thin out weight in the premise. I understand the hype, I do, but I'm not particularly eager to jump on praising this film, because natural shortcomings are considerable, as are developmental and pacing issues, and at the end of the day, that's enough to craft an underwhelming final product that would perhaps be forgettable were it not for its importance in horror history. For me, this isn't too much to cry home about, but like I said, I understand the hype, quite well, because as flawed as this film is, it's quite enjoyable, and anchored by then-refreshing and now-iconic elements that can even be found within a story concept riddled with shortcomings. Pacing problems and whatnot, perhaps even some lapses in originality, undercut the potential of this thriller's story concept, which is limited to begin with, as this is a minimalist premise that may even more wrapped up in its style and mythology than its actual plot, and yet, with that said, this premise is far from shabby, carrying an intriguing and unique mythology that helps in getting you through the flawed characterization, which, even then, is sold about as well as it can be by the performances, which are quite underwritten, as you can imagine, but passable, with leading man Bruce Campbell being particularly charismatic in his portrayal of the iconic Ash Williams characters. Campbell, when given the opportunity, does a good bit to get the film by, but like I've been saying, the characters are kind of just there, being ultimately less significant in the driving of thriller than the tension, which is even sold by such seemingly little touches as the technical value. Shot in 1979 on a somewhat small budget, this film's effects, courtesy of Tom Sulivan, have become dated over the years, but even to this day, they're adequately buyable, and certainly impressive in concept, particularly when it comes to the gore, for although all of the gratuitous and over-the-top splattery gets to be either too disturbing or, well, kind of silly, the audaciously brutal attention to violence that this film makes is not only morbidly nifty, but adds to the selling of intensity within this thriller's conflict, while the intense atmosphere is partly sold by some aesthetic touch-ups. Now, Joseph LoDuca's score isn't all that impressive, partially because it has a tendency to celebrate those blasted late-'70s/'80s electronic sensibilities that cheese up the tone of this thriller, but on the whole, LoDuca's often minimalist, sometimes broodingly atmospheric score compliments the effectiveness of the tension, though not quite like Tim Philo's cinematography, whose definition is questionable, but with some sparse lighting plays that catch both eyes and nerves in a claustrophobic environment, into which you're most drawn by Sam Raimi's camerawork. The handheld camera style that Raimi explores in this thriller may seem a bit amateurish at times, yet its stylish playfulness, combined with a certain intimate tightness to framing, immerses you in the environment and reflects inspiration in Raimi's direction, not unlike the atmosphere. The film is too atmospheric for its own good at times, in that Raimi has a tendency to meditate quite a bit on not a whole lot, and that blands things up, probably something fierce, yet when those long stretches of nothing become tight and realized enough for meditativeness to be reasonable, Raimi really does a fine job of soaking up an intense air, inspiring anything from a fair deal of tension, to all-out chills. The film is pretty scary at times, and while the effective moments are not enough to fully justify the ineffective, or at least the somewhat questionable moments, they still stand, punctuating a consistent degree of engagement value that stands as adequate enough to get you by, even if its sharpness on a general standard, outside of the realm of significance in the horror industry, is debatable. To seal the book for now, underdevelopment is considerable, as is the dragging in filler that gets to be repetitious, if not aimless, and is made all that more glaring by dry spells in atmospheric pacing, while simple natural shortcomings, anchored by an attention to style over substance, secure the final product's underwhelmingness, which goes challenged enough by an intriguing and unique story concept, complimented by decent performances, - particularly the one by Bruce Campbell - strong and often effectively gory effects, brooding score work, and immersive camerawork and atmosphere, courtesy of director Sam Raimi, "The Evil Dead" stands a decent horror classic that offers a fair deal of blood and chills, regardless of the shortcomings. 2.5/5 - Fair
  Cameron J Super Reviewer

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