THE EVIL DEAD (1982)

By Chris Ward

One of the most notorious so-called ‘video nasties’ of the early eighties, ‘The Evil Dead’ really has earned it’s place in the horror movie hall of fame. Probably the first significant horror movie of the eighties, it set a new definition in gore, shocks and filmmaking that, in many ways, has yet to be rivalled, even though director Sam Raimi has gone on to bigger, though not necessarily better, things with the Spiderman series.

‘The Evil Dead’ begins with a ‘demon’s-eye’ camera shot passing through the trees and swamps of the Tennessee woods (in fact, Sam Raimi with a camera on a piece of timber being pulled along by Bruce Campbell) before cutting to five young people in a car having a sing-song. The group contains two men – Ash (Campbell) and Scott (Hal Delrich) – with their girlfriends, plus Ash’s sister Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), who are on their way to a secluded log cabin high up in the hills. After unpacking and settling in, creepy things start to happen, leading to the discovery of the Necronomicon, or the Sumerian Book of the Dead, bound in flesh and written in blood. Along with the book there is a tape recorder which, of course, the group play and unwittingly invoke the spirits living within the forest, who begin to possess the members of the group one by one.

A very basic plot, to be sure, but one that is executed with such inventiveness and style that watching this movie is like riding on a relentless fairground ride that won’t let you off until you beg for your sanity. Unlike previous movies that have displayed such qualities, like Tobe Hooper’s ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, ‘The Evil Dead’ has a hearty injection of black humour running throughout, making the over-the-top gore on offer easier to stomach. The special effects are pretty nasty and very unsophisticated, as you would expect for such a low budget feature, but they never seem out of place, fitting the context of the movie perfectly. The characters are fairly faceless and unsympathetic, except for Ash, who comes through as a sort of reluctant hero. Bruce Campbell has become a massive cult favourite since starring in this movie and it’s sequels, mainly due to him adding some over-the-top quirkiness to the character, but in this first movie his performance is fairly low-key, even though you do start to will him on towards the end of the movie – to end his torment and your own.

The main star of this movie, though, is the unseen force that lives in the woods. Raimi and his crew built several different camera rigs to enable different views and angles throughout the movie. Usually simple devices made out of timber with a camera mounted on the front, it is this kind of maverick approach to filmmaking that comes across – the ‘demons’-eye’ shot swooping over the swamp, the unseen force rushing through the trees and up to, and smashing, the windows of the cabin, the 45 degree angles that dominate the final part of the movie that seem to add a sense of freneticism – and makes a simple movie a much more satisfying movie. Also – and this may seem odd to say – there is also a real sense of confidence throughout. Even though this is Raimi’s debut feature, there is a sense of knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and it’s execution that almost seems like he’s laying down the gauntlet for others to follow. There are subtle nods to previous horror staples – the tool shed, with it’s rustic handtools and hanging relics, is evocative of the house in ‘…Chainsaw Massacre’, the shots of the moon and setting sun echoe Romero’s ‘Night of the Livng Dead’, whilst there is a torn-in-half poster of Wes Craven’s ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ hanging in the basement – as if to acknowledge what has gone before, and set a new level of terror for a new decade.

Despite all of this, the movie does have it’s flaws. As previously stated, the acting is fairly stiff, only Campbell displaying any sort of charisma. Scott comes across as plain spiteful, whilst Cheryl is just annoying – after all, this is somebody who goes out on her own into the woods, in just a dressing gown, in the middle of the night shouting ‘Who’s there?’. There is a particularly nasty scene involving Cheryl being ‘raped’ by a tree which was part of the contoversy that surrounded the movie when it was first released, although if Raimi had cut this out, like he later wanted to, then it would have made little difference. Although there are a lot of continuity goofs, mainly due to the fact the movie was made over the course of three years, the good certainly outweighs the bad and to list them all here would be picky.

Overall, this movie still stands as one of the defining horror movies of modern times. Just as ‘…Chainsaw’ and ‘…Living Dead’ were perfect ‘drive-in’ movies for their era – movies that were meant to be shown on the big screen – ‘The Evil Dead’ was perfect for the then-new medium of video, inspiring a myriad of inpersonators well into the 21st century – ‘Cabin Fever’, anybody? The inevitable sequel may have perfected the blend of horror, action and comedy, but it is with this truly innovative original that Raimi laid down a template for eighties horror that, nearly thirty years on, still delivers the goods.