The Evil Dead

[neuromancer1984@hotmail.com]

 I find this movie to be an inspiration for anybody that wants to try their hand at amateur filmmaking. for the budget, it rocks. I still get chills watching the scene in the basement with the projector and the record player. Gross, but still an etertaining departure from (dare I say it?) I know what u did last summer!

[David Emery]

Good movie, good effects for the budget, but Ash is a pansy. I guess I shouldn't have watched Army of Darkness first, I couldn't believe that Ash couldn't bring himself to chop up his zombie girlfriend. I was so stoked to see the chainsaw, and then...nothing! And that scene where he's walking around the cabin for like 45 minutes stalking the zombies...I found it hard to stifle a cheer when something finally punched through the door at him. Watch these movies in order, they get progressively better.

[NetFrog Alpha]

Evil Dead is one of the better horror movies out there. It mixes the scary with the funny, the humerous with the peverse, and leaves you feeling satisfied at the end. It's always best to watch the trilogy in order, starting here and finishing with the over-the-top Army of Darkness. Good stuff.

[The Vomitstomper]

Campbell didn't get a 'rogering' at the end. What he did get was smacked in the mouth with the camera, knocking out most his front teeth. The rest of the series is dissapointing compared to this. Evil Dead 2 might have more gore, but it's a comedy and doesn't try to scare you at all. Army of Darkness is just lame, its a substandard comedy with no gore at all.

[Ravenbomb]

Evil Dead only 2 Slimes? What's the deal with that? No, seriously. I thought this was the best in the series. Army of Darkness was too adventury and Evil Dead 2, while I thought it was very good, was just a remake of this only more polished and comedic. This one was really really good, and as soon as I have any money I'm at Best Buy getting the Book of the Dead special edition.


P.S. Are you going to review Last House on the Left? Or the Baby?

[Joe]

The DVD has a great commentary - and I beleive Ted Raimi (Joxer and brother of co-producer Sam Raimi, who also produced this summer's Spider-Man film) was part of the crew.
Word has it when this film was released in New Zealand a girl named Lucy watched this film and commented on how sick the producer of this film must have been.
Years later she ended up working for the producer (and with his co-producers brother Ted).
Years after that they married and today she is knows as Lucy Tapert.
Don't get her angry or she'll throw her round killing-thing at you.

[legumeman@yahoo.com]

  To slime drops is a bit harsh for this movie I think. I would have given it four. I agree that it's not as good as the second but after the first twenty five minutes of relatively nothing this film becomes great. I love it when she chews her hand off, that part really does it for me. This film was incredibly well directed so a rating of two just doesn't seem fair.

[prodigy@webjc.com]

I think you are pretty hard on Evil Dead. Yes, the story is ludicrous, yes the acting is atrocious, but hey, Sam Raimi does a wonderful job, and shows to all the Sonnenfeld & Shumacher of this world what can be done with little money, talent, invention, and the Coen brothers on your side :) Evil Dead almost invented a new filming style of its own, and certainly kicked some major butt when it was released in 83. Maybe one of the most important horror film of all time with the Exorcist and Dawn of the Dead. Too bad Raimi ended filming Kevin Costner in crappy movies...

[Paul H.]

Not much to add.  I agree with most of the below messages.  Evil dead 1 is very good.  The most complete of the three films.  It is hard to compare with evil dead2 as they are different visions of the same film.  Evil dead2 is excellent but it should not be compared to evil dead 1. They excell in different areas.  As for Army of darkness, it is fun to watch but it lacks the seamless magic of the first two.

[Stefan Robak]

I remember watching the first couple parts of this during school lunch last year (we had a cool writing teacher who let us watch stuff like anime at lunch time in his room) and several of us noticed this: Ash (only in this one though) looks a lot like Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Chris K.]

What in the Holy Hell is this horror clasic doing in the Bad Movies section? This is the very best. Contains some really gory shots and is really freaky. Originaly released in the theaters with an Unrated, it is out on video with a Not Rated and yet the MPAA should say this should br rated R or NC-17 (my ass it should be, that's a joke). And this was made in 1979, not 1982! 1982 is it's release date. Trust me this film is NOT chessy. Followed by EVIL DEAD 2 (1987) and ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992).

[fulcirules]

Why was this film only given two marks? That's blasphemy! The gods of gore are frowning upon you. The Evil Dead is the best of the trilogy, and that's saying something! Although I enjoyed the sequels,they seemed to put  humor at the forefront. But we're talking horror movies here. I thought Evil Dead suceeded on every level. I saw this one before the sequels so maybe that's why I thought it was better. But it has a real horror movie element that the sequels just didn't have. I really enjoyed Evil Dead 2 but I have to admit I was a little disappointed with Army Of Darkness. Although a fun film,I felt it took a wrong direction somewhere. I hear they are going to make a fourth installment. I hope they don't pull any punches with it and just let the body parts fly! Have a nice day.

[Film Geek]

For a low-budget (no budget?) film, Evil Dead had some really cool lighting and well set-up shots.  It was a good time had by all who I watched it with, whether they liked the filmmaking or the ridiculous amount of blood, guts, and tree rapes.

[Chadzilla]

I had the displeasure of first seeing The Evil Dead during a theatrical run in Hong Kong in 1983.  I saw it with a bunch a rowdy classmates who heckled and laughed their way through the entire film and, to add insult to injury, almost all of the more flamboyant special effects were cut out.  I came away feeling that it was nothing more than an energetically made and vastly overrated cheap horror movie that was about as frightening as a dime store halloween mask.  During the summer of 1984, while visiting a friend in the states, I watched the film again on video, alone, and it scared me.  Too bad the first time I had seen it it had to be ruined by its "target audience."

[Cham]

Evil Dead is one of my all-time favorite movies. SO cheaply made, but really a very scary movie. Ash isn't chubby, and he sure as hell isn't pansy. He kicks demon ass in every direction. One of the first horror movies I ever saw and still one of my favorites. I give it a 5/5