• Director: Sam Raimi
• With: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Richard DeManincor, Theresa Tilly, Ted Raimi
• Music by: Joseph (Joe) LoDuca
• Duration: 1h25
• Studio: New Line Cinema
• Genre: Horror
• Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Five college students take time off to spend a peaceful vacation in a remote cabin. A book and audio tape are discovered, and its evil is found to be powerful once the incantations are read out loud. The friends find themselves helpless to stop the evil as it takes them one by one, with only one survivor left with the evil dead who desperately tries to fight to live until morning.

Review:

This is a genuine cult horror classic! It had been such a long time since I rewatched these movies.

This movie is what started the careers of Sam Raimi as director and Bruce Campbell as an actor. And what a debut!!!

I remember when I was younger my parents had been seeing this movie (I think it was on VHS and not in the movie theatre but I’m not sure) and they found it so gorey and sick and sooo good. And my mom kept trying to scare me by quoting in an eerie voice… “I’m gonna get you, I’m gonna get you!!” (She had changed the ‘we’ to ‘I’! Instead of scaring me I started laughing at her everytime so it became a bit of a gag between us. (Aaah memories! I guess I was destined to be a horror lover 😂)

And though later movies in the franchise became more horror comedies, this first ‘The Evil Dead’ movie is much more serious in tone. It shows that it’s a low budget movie (who would have thought back then that this would make Raimi one of the top directors of its time?) but I honestly have seen worse movies with bigger budgets!

The abandoned cabin horror with an eerie book and a tape with a recording and reiteration from the book ultimately leading to demonic possessions of ash’s friends… that’s an hour and a half of pure fun with blood flowing, limbs bitten off, the first time seeing Ash using his chainsaw (but not really) and the sound of the wind while the demon(s) race through the woods towards the cabin! I just love this movie!!! And I’m already excited to rewatch ‘Evil Dead 2’ now!

Oh and yes, Sam Raimi’s trademark ‘Eye Shots’ are present! And of course, his trusted 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 as well!

Rewatching this is the start of a little Evil Dead movie marathon, working my way up to the new ‘Evil Dead Rise’!

And of course I will watch ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead as well! (I only have to found the season three blu-ray)!