#195: The Evil Dead

Release Date: April 15th, 1981

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: Sam Raimi

Directed by: Sam Raimi

4 Stars

Sam Raimi’s 1981 film, The Evil Dead, is the kind of film that can serve as a litmus test. If you don’t like this movie, or at least appreciate it, I’m not sure I understand your film values. 

Frankly, I’m not sure I can be your friend.

Made when Raimi was just 20-years-old, and starring his real-life childhood friend Bruce Campbell, the movie bounds with a youthful spirit and inventiveness that trounces whatever budgetary restrictions Raimi had (the film’s budget was less than half a million dollars, and it seems like it was stretched to its absolute limit). 

The film’s plot is simple enough: A group of young friends set out for a remote cabin for a weekend getaway. In the cabin’s cellar they find an ancient copy of the Book of the Dead and an audio tape with incantations that unleash a demonic force from the surrounding wilderness. 

It’s at this point that Raimi and his performers give you everything they have.

These are young artists shooting for the moon because they don’t know any better. The film’s setting looks absolutely miserable (I mean that as a compliment), and it reportedly was in fact miserable for the actors and crew, with freezing temperatures, austere accommodations, and terrible food for weeks of filming. 

They still perform their hearts out for Raimi.

And Raimi meets their energy. His camera hauntingly floats and pans and soars; it becomes a sort of gonzo entity of its own in the film. And on a technical aspect, The Evil Dead is remarkably proficient, considering Raimi’s relative lack of experience.  

I see influences from The Exorcist (especially the sound design) and from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (both films are just so effectively ugly). But The Evil Dead is less restrained and more ignorantly confident. It’s the type of art that can only come from youth, when their passion is overwhelming. 

It’s a gory good time.