The Evil Dead
Sam Raimi is something of an evil genius. If you look at the time he spent torturing his actors in the prolific and horrifying movie The Evil Dead, then you wouldn’t be wrong for accusing him of being some twisted mastermind who enjoys the thrills of making his cast squirm. If you at the movies he has inflicted on the world, as in Oz: The Great and Powerful and Spiderman 3 (squirms,) then there is further proof that Raimi was sent to this planet to make people suffer with horror movies so vivid beyond imagination and movies so bad it is outstanding. Yes, evil genius indeed.
That being said, this evil genius has created one of the best horror movies to date that is one of the biggest cult movies of all time and gave the world a chin we can believe in. It’s time to talk about The Evil Dead.
The Evil Dead made is a 1981 low budget horror movie designed to make the audience suffer. Starring Bruce Campbell (there’s that chin I was talking about,) The Evil Dead is about cult icon Ash Williams and his friends who all mosey on down to a decrepit cabin in the woods thus sparking off a horror staple for years to come. But this isn’t the biggest mistake are kids would do, no. When they find a strange book called Necronomicon (The Book of the Dead.) Lo and behold, the teenagers read from the book and unleash a whole hoard of demons.
If you rolled your eyes at the blurb above because you have heard this all before, then sit down. The Evil Dead is the horror standard that other movies cannot quite grasp. Famously banned from cinemas, The Evil Dead shocked nations and gripped countries in genuine fear. After all, a movie that has so much blood, sexually assaulting trees, demon possessions, decapitation, and body parts flung everywhere and so much more, even the steeliest of dispositions would turn queasy. Despite an impressive box office (anything is impressive when you shoot the whole thing $90,000,) The Evil Dead was shot down as a “video nasty” by censors and banned in several theatre complexes adding notoriety to an already controversial movie. Fully backed by horror legend Stephen King and magazine Fangoria, the movies had garnered a buzz unlike any other. The censors did the best thing, adding another slice of edge to the cult classic.
But what is astonishing here is how much Raimi achieved on such a miniscule budget. While on first viewing, you may find the special effects laughable, you cannot deny that there is still a level of fear and terror with this movie. Raimi and his childhood friend Bruce spent many years and short films later coming up with this sickening idea, giving it full pelt when it came to the release. Pushing boundaries and the actors to the limits, Raimi let his sickening imagination run free. Like a child at a very twisted Christmas, Raimi poked actors with sticks, burnt them with furniture, had them get lost, made them ill and uses lived chainsaws to gain the realistic horror you see on screen. With The Evil Dead, he took away taste and reason for all the right reasons. The Evil Dead is still shocking, sickening and satisfying for any horror fan.
The Evil Dead is not everyone’s cup of tea. You cannot serve it up to your grandparents and hope they’d take a deep gulp. In fact, The Evil Dead is one of those movies that is still whispered about, passed around in schools and snuck on at sleepovers. The Evil Dead is a triumph of torture and a throne of violence with some equally great sequels to boot. And the remake makes Raimi’s first attempt more impressive, proving that thick lenses and corn syrup are a lot more effective than CGI. I’m not condoning the level of violence here, on a personal preference, there are moments that make me uncomfortable. What I am saying is that The Evil Dead has merits. It is vastly energetic, full of kinetic energy and some powerful nauseating violence that will possess you for years to come.
TTFN
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