100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 137: The Evil Dead

Director: Sam Raimi

Genre: Horror

Runtime: 85 minutes

Year: 1981

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York, Bob Dorian, Sam Raimi, Robert G. Tapert

Description: Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Review: “The Evil Dead” is the directorial debut of Sam Raimi and may be called one of the scariest horror films of all time. The movie, that together with its two sequels reached a cult status, is filled with great camera shots, a nail biting soundtrack and effective effects. The movie introduced people like Joel Coen as assistant editor, actor Bruce Campbell and off course Sam Raimi himself. “The Evil Dead” only cost 90 000 dollars, but was the best sold video in 1983.

It’s obvious “The Evil Dead” was made with a lot of enthusiasm. The movie is very bloody and has a great tension buildup and atmosphere. The fact that the budget was low, is visible in the makeup and special effects. It’s sometimes not credible, but it never bothers you. The same goes for the slapstick moments in the film.

Besides the fact that “The Evil Dead” is exciting and very scary, which many people tried to copy, it’s also a very violent movie. Chopped off heads and limbs, lots of blood and the zombies look kind of disgusting. The best scene is probably where Ash is alone in the house and his fear is visualized by surrealistic images and sounds. The camera shoots him from the ground, from a high angle, extreme close-ups. The clock goes back fast, to show us the night is endless. Also great is the moment where the camera moves through the woods, very low on the ground towards the house.

“The Evil Dead” is a great horror film, that didn’t cost a lot of money but gave us so much. A must for every horror fan. Nail biting and hard on the stomach.

Rating: 4,5/ 5