Two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather's grave in Texas end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic psychopaths and must survive the terrors of Leatherface and his family.
The monstrous spirit of a slain child murderer seeks revenge by invading the dreams of teenagers whose parents were responsible for his untimely death.
Director:
Wes Craven
Stars:
Heather Langenkamp,
Johnny Depp,
Robert Englund
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a bloodthirsty, flesh-eating breed of monsters who are ravaging the East Coast of the United States.
A group of camp counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp where, years before, it was the site of a child's drowning and a grisly double murder.
Director:
Sean S. Cunningham
Stars:
Betsy Palmer,
Adrienne King,
Jeannine Taylor
Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director:
John Carpenter
Stars:
Donald Pleasence,
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Tony Moran
Ash has spent the last thirty years avoiding responsibility, maturity, and the terrors of the Evil Dead until a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind and Ash becomes mankind's only hope.
Stars:
Bruce Campbell,
Ray Santiago,
Dana DeLorenzo
Five college students take time off to spend a peaceful vacation in a remote cabin. A book and audio tape is 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 and desperately tries to fight to live until morning.Written by
Miss Murder
Without any formal assistance from location scouts, the cast had to find filming locations on their own. See more »
Goofs
The giant piece of wood Ash is beating his girlfriend in the head with is obviously foam and actually breaks in half while he's doing it. You can see that he is desperately trying to hold it together. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Scotty:
Hey, Ash, where are we?
Ash:
Well, we just crossed the Tennessee border...
See more »
Crazy Credits
The Evil Dead, the ultimate experience in gruelling horror, was filmed in Morristown, Tennessee, and in Detroit, U.S.A. See more »
Alternate Versions
When originally released to theaters in Britain, the UK censors removed 49 seconds of footage including an ankle stabbing, Shelley chewing off her own hand, an eye gouging, Shelley's body being dismembered, body blows with a poker and a wooden post, and shots of blood spurts, and it was this version that was released on video originally. Despite the cuts, it became one of the most notorious of the UK video nasties and was subject to many obscenity trials before being withdrawn on video in 1984, when mandatory video censorship was introduced to the UK. It was not until 1990 that the film surfaced on video in the UK again, due to wrangles between the distributors and the BBFC over how much footage should be cut from a legal video release. In the end, a further 1m 6s was removed, in addition to the previous theatrical version cuts. Most of the scenes depicting excessive gore were shortened or removed, with the tree rape scene being particularly targeted for cuts. The fully uncut version was finally released on DVD in 2001. See more »
Sam Raimi's feature length debut "The Evil Dead" is truly one of the greatest horror films of all time and the start of a magnificently entertaining trilogy of hilarity and some real scares. Made on a budget of only $375,000, the film is surprisingly accomplished on a technical level. The effects, although they do look fake by today's standards, hold up a lot better than you might have expected, and the stop motion sequence at the end, which looks a lot faker than anything else in the movie, was accomplished for its time and budget.
"The Evil Dead" is about a group of young adults who travel to a cabin in the woods and discover a 'book of the dead'. No prizes for guessing what happens next as each character is possessed (except for Ash) and disposed of via an intriguing variety of methods. Considering its budget, unknown director (at the time), and typical slasher plot "The Evil Dead" would almost certainly seem headed towards forgotten B-movie status, and yet it has stood the test of time and remains one of the most widely acclaimed horror films of all time. Why? It's simple. Although "The Evil Dead" is nowhere near as funny as its sequels, it's still a humorous self-satire while also being terrifying despite its age. This odd combination (only perfected in this film's sequels and "Creepshow") works because Raimi crafts a tense and moody environment, puts his characters in there, and then ruthlessly disposes of them, sometimes doing so several times for the same character. What's worse is that there's nowhere to go. Raimi creates a claustrophobic feeling in anyone watching, he wants you to think about being in a situation where you're trapped with nothing but death and destruction surrounding you. For most people, he probably succeeds. As far as acting goes, none of it is really very good but Bruce Campbell is instantly likable as Ash, who just has to be one of the most memorable horror film characters of all time.
Gory, desolate, hopeless, and still funny, "The Evil Dead" is a horror masterpiece that isn't quite the strongest entry in the series, but is shockingly accomplished and entertaining despite its low budget and inexperienced cast and crew. This is a film everyone must see, along with its sequels.
9/10
65 of 79 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Sam Raimi's feature length debut "The Evil Dead" is truly one of the greatest horror films of all time and the start of a magnificently entertaining trilogy of hilarity and some real scares. Made on a budget of only $375,000, the film is surprisingly accomplished on a technical level. The effects, although they do look fake by today's standards, hold up a lot better than you might have expected, and the stop motion sequence at the end, which looks a lot faker than anything else in the movie, was accomplished for its time and budget.
"The Evil Dead" is about a group of young adults who travel to a cabin in the woods and discover a 'book of the dead'. No prizes for guessing what happens next as each character is possessed (except for Ash) and disposed of via an intriguing variety of methods. Considering its budget, unknown director (at the time), and typical slasher plot "The Evil Dead" would almost certainly seem headed towards forgotten B-movie status, and yet it has stood the test of time and remains one of the most widely acclaimed horror films of all time. Why? It's simple. Although "The Evil Dead" is nowhere near as funny as its sequels, it's still a humorous self-satire while also being terrifying despite its age. This odd combination (only perfected in this film's sequels and "Creepshow") works because Raimi crafts a tense and moody environment, puts his characters in there, and then ruthlessly disposes of them, sometimes doing so several times for the same character. What's worse is that there's nowhere to go. Raimi creates a claustrophobic feeling in anyone watching, he wants you to think about being in a situation where you're trapped with nothing but death and destruction surrounding you. For most people, he probably succeeds. As far as acting goes, none of it is really very good but Bruce Campbell is instantly likable as Ash, who just has to be one of the most memorable horror film characters of all time.
Gory, desolate, hopeless, and still funny, "The Evil Dead" is a horror masterpiece that isn't quite the strongest entry in the series, but is shockingly accomplished and entertaining despite its low budget and inexperienced cast and crew. This is a film everyone must see, along with its sequels.
9/10