One of the most over-rated movies I ever came across.
A group of college students take a trip to an isolated cabin deep in the woods, and they soon come into a trap door leading to a downstairs cellar. Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his friend Scotty (Hal Delrich) investigate and come into contact with some items that leads to them awaking something evil. The group finds themselves facing a vile supernatural force. -summary
Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic The Evil Dead is a horror movie that really needs no introduction. For many years it has been recognized as not only a classic in the horror genre, but it’s also hailed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. I will say this for sure, it’s definitely something anyone claiming to be a hardcore horror fanatic should see for historic value if anything else. However, in regards to being among the greatest… I still find it tough to believe it was the greatest of its time when looking at that little horror gem from Canada called Scanners.
The Evil Dead does take place in a chilling setting in that old ran down looking cabin, and due to the evil lurking in the woods it becomes clear that these people are stuck with little hope. The smartest thing for them to do is leave, but the supernatural clearly keeps them from even attempting this. I love premises like these because the viewer is rarely forced to deal with extremely stupid characters whom would do everything under the sun except try and leave, but don’t get it twisted though, these characters aren’t exactly the sharpest knives in the draw either.
The characters receive some development in hopes for the viewer to feel their plight, but when their personalities have been established it’s pretty much full throttle from there. The Evil Dead works really well with its possession angle to deliver some chills, and at the same time puts the characters in tough positions. Although the interactions could have been better there’s still plenty of entertainment value.
The movie has always gotten flack for its low budget and pretty weak special effects. The gore still looks pretty good at times. It can be overly gross and nasty which I don’t mind at all in my horror. Unfortunately some things really do look too fake and it hurts the horror atmosphere quite a bit. To the best of my knowledge, The Evil Dead wasn’t originally intended to be laughed at yet the special effects worked towards comedic effect. This also goes for the possessions that take place, which went from downright creepy to silly and annoying; these are things that had always rubbed me the wrong way with this movie since I’m more of a serious minded horror fan.
To keep this review shorter than usual, The Evil Dead is way overhyped and massively over-rated; the fact this movie was panned on its original release doesn’t seem to register with those whom love it, even though they will admit it’s a “so bad it’s good” deal. The naysayers also highly exaggerate how terrible it is, which I believe comes from them feeling swindled into believing this movie is brilliant. My recommendation is to forget the two opposing opinions and give it a watch if you can see it free. Personally, I actually somewhat like this one when compared to the two sequels which I don’t like at all.
Pros: Fun horror film with some nice gore at times
Cons: Unintentionally funny which hurts atmosphere