The Evil Dead (1981)

THE EVIL DEAD

Director : Sam Raimi

Year : 1981

Genre : Horror

Rating : ***1/2

''The most ferociously original horror movie of the year'' -

Stephen King

Later on tonight, I will be going to my local multiplex to catch the 19:10 screening of Fede Alvarez's eagerly anticipated remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult horror classic 'The Evil Dead'. While I am no fan of reimaginings of classic horrors, there are some that do improve on their sources such as Cronenberg's 'The Fly' and John Carpenter's 'The Thing' and I have heard and read many reviews that say that Alvarez has indeed improved on Raimi's gore - filled debut. I am sure that they are right and I will see for myself in the next few hours just how right or wrong they are, but what I do know is that Alvarez certainly has big shoes to fill as 'The Evil Dead' is one of the most popular (and one of my favourite) horror movies of all time. Although being far from perfect, it is one of the most consistently entertaining horror movies I have ever seen that just gets better and better with every view.

'The Evil Dead' tells the story of 5 friends who stay in a log cabin in the centre of the woods. While exploring the damp ridden basement under the cabin, they find a mysterious book and a tape recorder which they proceed to play and unwittingly release spirits which begin to possess the young adults, turning them into cannibalistic, hideous demons.

Sam Raimi is now best known for his hugely successful 'Spider-man' trilogy, which made hundreds of millions of dollars around the world.  With giant budgets, star filled casts and cutting edge special effects, the 'Spider-man' movies would become some of the most profitable films of all time and would turn Raimi from an arthouse and horror director into a mainstream director who could handle big blockbusters. Of course, this ultra modern franchise is worlds away from the movie that made Raimi a star and allowed him to put his foot in the door. Made for $300,000 and starring a cast of unknowns; including the now  iconic Bruce Campbell, 'The Evil Dead' would bring Sam Raimi to the cinematic forefront and would eventually make him one of the most reliable and successful directors of recent times. However, this wouldn't happen without a fight. Due do it's relentless horror and unprecedented levels of gore, 'The Evil Dead' would  become of the most controversial movies of the 1980's.  elaborate crane systems and endless amounts of cables if it was made by other directors. Other impressive thing about 'The Evil Dead' is the makeup effects, which were created by Tom Sullivan, who with surprisingly little cosmetics, is able to turn each actor in amazingly realistic and terrifying demons. The contact lenses worn by the possessed were so effective on screen because they were actually thick as glass and could only be worn for 10 minutes due to their eyes not being able to breathe. Added to this, the layers of hideous makeup, which creates the effect of rotting flesh and peeling skin and terrifying sound effects, these all add up to a hugely memorable and scary creation. The deadite.

Even for it's time, 'The Evil Dead' did contain an unprecedented amount of gore on screen and some of the effects still have the same skin crawling power today. From the horrible image of a pencil being stabbed into someones ankle to one of the most bloody eye gougings in horror history, 'The Evil Dead' would become known as one of the bloodiest films ever made. Dismemberment, beheadings, exploding heads and muliple stabbings are all on the menu and they are all carried out in surprisingly realistic ways. However, despite the huge amounts of gore on screen, there is an underlying comedy running through the entire duration of 'The Evil Dead'. Sam Raimi himself described the film as, ''A Three Stooges movie with blood and guts replacing custard pies'' and this analogy is exactly the feelings I get when watching 'The Evil Dead'. I find myself laughing more than cringing and there are some parts where even if I think about them now, I laugh to myself. Throughout the rest of his career whatever the genre, Raimi's film have all contained a quite overt element of humour, whether it be 'Spider-man 2' or the hugely underated 'Drag Me To Hell'. This humour always makes watching a Sam Raimi film a real delight and 'The Evil Dead' is no exception.

The cast of 'The Evil Dead' are not the best ever seen in a horror film and with stilted dialogue and overacting in some scenes, the actors really do show themselves as first timers. Even Bruce Campbell, who is now a legend in horror cinema starts off pretty bad. But  he quickly immerses himself into the role and soon shows elements of the icon we all know and love. Despite not being the best of actors, the cast really do shine when their characters become possessed and with strange convulsing body movements and a terrifying relentlessness, each actor is able to create their own terrifying demon. The best character in the movie for me is Betsy Baker's horrifying deadite, who is perpertually grinning and speaking in a very creepy high pitched voice; whether she is being hit with a large plank of wood or just having been beheaded. I am quite scared of clowns and this imagery really does stand out to me as one of the most disturbing images in the entire film.

On it's release, 'The Evil Dead' was met with considerable critical acclaim, with some reviewers naming it as one of the best horrors ever made, complimenting it as a black comedy rather than an outward spattter film. However, due to the 'video nasties' scare, the film would be hardly distributed and as a result, 'The Evil Dead' served poorly at the cinemas. Video tapes of the films were burned on their release in 1983 and 'The Evil Dead' was banned in the UK by parliament due to it's tendency to supposedly 'deprave and corrupt' under the Video Recordings Act. It wouldn't be until 2001, when the film was released uncut on DVD in the UK that audiences could view the majesty of 'The Evil Dead' without any unneccesary edits or shortened scenes of violence.

If you are a horror fan, I'm sure you will have seen 'The Evil Dead' already. But if you haven't, I strongly urge you to as it is by far, one of the most fun and entertaining horrors ever made. If you are not a fan of gore then I would avoid this film like the plague. After the first 20 minutes, it is a non stop barrage of bloody mayhem and for some this may be too much. For me, 'The Evil Dead' is  a rollicking, stupidly silly film that pushes the boundaries of both horror and comedy and would start the career of one of the most innovative directors of our time.