"Oh, you bastards! Why are you torturing me like this? WHY?!?!?!"
There are very few things that one can remember from early childhood. More times than not, memory retention is heavily rooted in the intensity of the trauma experienced by the individual. This former 4-year-old remembers just as vividly the first time he was exposed to The Evil Dead as he does the last time he watched it (which was about an hour ago). It was this particular movie that truly ignited the fire that burns inside of me for horror movies. Now it is time to put into words what I have felt for the past 15 years.
But the plot comes first: five friends are spending the weekend in an archaeologist’s abandoned cabin deep in the woods of the Tennessee mountainside when they play a recorded recitation of passages from one of the archaeologist’s finds: Necronomicon ex Mortis (the Kandarian Book of the Dead). By doing so, they accidentally release the ancient Kandarian demons that were lying dormant in said woods. Thus begins the fight to stay alive until morning. But the attempt is mostly futile, and the "Deadites" possess all of the members of our precious group until only one remains to try and survive the rest of the night.
When discussing what makes this film so great, you cannot exclude Director Sam Raimi’s famous "wheelbarrow camera," which was created as a way to save on the budget by not having to design the something that’s "out there." As a result, the wheelbarrow camera becomes a very effective mood setter and I believe that in most ways the film benefits from this more than it would have if they had created a physical form for the woods-lurker - the condition of not being able to see the nemesis is scores more menacing than coming face-to-face with them. Also, I can’t help but catch myself saying, "Yep. They’re screwed," every time that the camera starts wailing and darting towards the cabin. This is all the mark of a great director, and though Raimi will more than likely be remembered for his colossal summer '02 hit Spider-Man, he should, by all rights, be just as commended and revered for this effort.
This is also the film that made star Bruce Campbell "The King of the B-Movies" and a veritable cult icon. And rightly so: Campbell’s portrayal of our quintessential reluctant hero Ash is nothing short of phenomenal. Campbell pulls us into his character because he makes Ash so believable; he convinces us that his actions reflect how we would operate if we were faced with his situation. That, in and of itself, merits the term "brilliant."
But this realism doesn’t necessarily carry over to the other characters. For instance, it would take a great deal less than a car’s steering wheel suddenly jerking wildly, the destination being an abandoned and run-down cabin deep in the Tennessee mountain woods, a porch swing rocking under its own volition, and a tape discussing demonic summoning passages to make anyone with common sense realize, "Hey, maybe we should just turn around and go to ‘Graceland’ instead"... But, if our dear protagonists displayed this common sense, we wouldn’t have this fantastic strip of celluloid, now would we?
Speaking of which, the special effects, by today’s standards, suck. Truly, badly, and vigorously suck. But to its credit, when this movie was filmed they were very graphic and explicit. Hell, even though they suck in the manner described above, they still have their own special way of making your stomach flip-flop and lurch. Speaking of their effectiveness, the "sexual encounter" in the woods will still make you think twice about taking a nice, quiet evening stroll in the dark and foggy forest.
Over the years, this movie has spawned 2 sequels, 2 video games, numerous action figures, lunch boxes, and other little knick-knacks such as patches, stickers, buttons, as well as a heavy cult following. As a matter of fact, I own all three films, one of the action figures (Evil Ash from Army of Darkness), and a sticker, and as I write this I’m looking at the patch owned by my good friend Constance, which is sewn onto her book bag. But the question must be asked: why is this movie still considered a "cult" classic? To me, any film or series of films that achieve this kind of devotion and popularity is in no need of having any colorful adjectives preceding the word "classic." Besides, when was the last time you saw a Citizen Kane lunch box?
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