Directed by:
Sam RaimiScreenplay:
Sam RaimiCinematography:
Tim PhiloComposer:
Joseph LoDucaCast:
Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Ted Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, John Cameron (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Story of five college-age friends who travel to a cabin in rural Tennessee where they stumble upon the Book of the Dead, an ancient tome bound in human flesh and inked in blood. After unwittingly awakening the unspeakable terror told of in the book, each of the friends is transformed into the evil dead, one by one, except for Ash (Bruce Campbell). So, Ash is left with no other way to survive than to dismember the living corpses of his sister, girlfriend, and two of his friends. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (13)
On the one hand, it is perhaps too frantic and prolonged by several unnecessarily long scenes of destroying "friends", yet on the other hand, it is definitely imaginative, playful, solidly suspenseful atmospheric fun. I saw Evil Dead for the first time today, so I really can't go on and on about nostalgia, VHS tapes and whatnot. But even so, the film has a kind of special charm that is hard to describe. I'm curious about the sequel.
()
This crazy affair, changing from an atmospheric horror to a slasher to a splatter finale, holds together only thanks to the occasional crazy idea. Sam Raimi delivers fresh ideas but lacks balance. Bruce Campbell has charisma, but the others around him only serve as background. As for the suspense, the best for me was probably the laughing Linda between the doors, the thought of which still makes me laugh and scared at the same time. But the highlight remains the last visit to the basement before Raimi unleashes his gallery of disgust. The atmosphere there is palpable. In the final evaluation, it is a weaker horror flick, where the viewer can fully enjoy grabbing at various limbs and their ultimate amputation. And even though I enjoy being scared of what I can't see, it's disappointing when I don't find out anything at all.
()
To etch such an innovative notch in the annals of horror at 21 requires quite a lot of filmmaking talent, and Raimi here proves with every minute that he has more than plenty of it. The perspective shots and the visual tricks with the foggy environment in the first half generate an atmosphere that is thick as oatmeal (and also delivers rape-by-tree and the book of the death), while the great make-up and an endless dose of inventive camera movements in the second half hold the entertainment value at the highest level, even though the script is stuck in one place. The watering of the light-bulbs and the window projecting blood are immortal moments with deserved cult status. A simple premise exploited to the fullest with a very unorthodox and delicate climax – modern ghost stories can’t hold a candle to this. 80%
()
So I caught up on my biggest and hopefully last horror outstanding debt. I've been heavily skeptical of this film for three years now, it got worse after the remake became my favourite, but in the end The Evil Dead is a decent demonic genre film even today. The visual effects weren't too bad after all, there’s also quite a lot of gore for its age and the atmosphere is quite dark, though it dragged before the film got going. When I compare it to Halloween where blood is a foreign concept to the filmmakers and it is only two years younger, I have to give it a strong rating here. The remake, however, is well beyond insane. 70%.
()
When I saw this legend of B-movie horror films in 1990 for the first time, to this day a functional genre cult, I was perplexed. Now that I have repeated this experience, my doubts are still there. I consider Evil Dead to be an amateur film that fails fatefully in all the aspects that are important to me. Terrible acting performances, a nonexistent script, cheapness, the idiocy of the film characters - should I continue? Even that one star I'm giving it is not for any merits because the film is bad and is taken seriously to the extent that it is somewhat amusing in its twisted way. Nevertheless, Sam Raimi showed here (at least in his camera work) that he has filmmaking in his blood, and when he adds enough perspective (which he already demonstrated in the sequel of the same title) and gains some experience, he can shoot in a grand style. Overall impression: 10%.
()
Gallery (344)
Photo © Renaissance Pictures
![The Evil Dead - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/157/851/157851845_521f84.jpg)
Ads