Review: The Evil Dead (1981)

Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss

Budget: around $380,000

Directed By: Sam Raimi

Evil Dead, one of the horror greats and trend setters and something I watched very early on a very poor VHS copy and I didn't really understand it's weird claymation stuff and disjointed feel so much so I never finished it until I watched it again at a later date.

Which i'm glad I gave it another chance, especially since I saw evil dead 2 before re-watching this which gave me a better understanding.
watching this series all out of order at around 11-13 years old was not good, yet despite this on watching it again especially being older gave me a totally new perspective on this film.

I realised the film was pretty low budget and once i discovered it was filmed months apart at some points I understood why it felt disjointed at times.

This is the beginning of a series of films that would end up being something much, much bigger and something we all wanted so much more of for so long before it finally got a TV series (I would have preferred a movie but that's for another time)

Ok so lets get on with the movie, to be honest it was/is a very simple premise some friends hear of a cabin in the woods and decide to go there for a weekend away. Then after some ancient words are spoken and releases an evil they all die one by one.
Yes so in more detail, Ash Williams (Campbell), his girlfriend Linda, sister Cheryl, Scotty and his girlfriend Shelly travel to an abandoned Cabin in the woods they have heard about. It's a bit run down but they neaten it up by the time they go to have lunch.
while eating the cabins basement door blows open, this leads the youths to take a look what did it. Finding a tape recorder, ancient book, knife and shotgun they bring them all up into the cabin and proceed to listen to the recordings.

Unknown to them the words spoken on the recorder awaken an evil force out in the forest. Later a scared hysterical Cheryl goes out into the forest when she thinks she hears something out there.
Searching around for a few minutes she is attack by tree branches which rip at her clothes and eventually violate her. Ash has given Linda a small silver magnifying glass necklace which she adores, Cheryl is unable to convince the others so talks ash into taking her into town.
He agrees though unfortunately when they reach the bridge it is totally destroyed, sending Cheryl hysterical again. Heading back to cabin they listen to more of recordings, Cheryl starts to predict the cards being pulled from a deck and spins around floating in the air possessed by a demon.

Cheryl manages to stab Linda in the ankle with her pencil before the guys lock her in the cellar, unfortunately Shelly becomes possessed also. Scotty having heard that they need to be dismembered from the recording grabs an axe then proceeds to hack her up.
Scotty also tries to flee after this to find some kind of trail through the forest back to town, while he's gone Linda also turns yet she just sits there taunting Ash. Not very long later Scotty bursts back in very bloodied and hurt by unknown assailants.
Linda and Cheryl pretend to be normal again but revert quickly forcing Ash to throw Linda outside she however attacks him until ask manages to use the dagger against her. He goes to use the chainsaw in the tool shed to dismember her but can't bring himself to.
He ends up just burying her corpse, which once done she immediately leaps from her grave, only to be decapitated by a shovel. Heading back inside Cheryl has freed herself from the basement and ash manages to wound her with the shotgun, Ash heads to the basement to find more ammo.
Emerging from the basement Ash is shocked when Cheryl attacks again and also Scotty comes back as a demon too.

I'll leave it here as we're near the end of the film and this is one film that NEEDS to be watched by any horror fan, trend setter and franchise maker THN awards Evil Dead 5 out of 5