Evil Dead, The
E**S
Back in the Day, Ashley was a Man and HE Couldn't Sing Either.
But we fans of "Evil Dead" certainly don't care. It's not his singing skills we're interested in. What we want to know is this; can the man still decapitate with the swing of a shovel? Well, of course he can! As long as you own this or "Evil Dead II" you'll get to watch him do it over and over as often as you want. For me, this is the scene that defines what "Evil Dead" is all about in a nutshell:-Creative camera work.-Spirited if not talented actors.-Audacious, imaginative gore.-Spook-house fun.With one swing of a shovel, Ashley (Ash/Bruce Campbell) defines the mood of this film. But maybe I should start at the beginning and slice this film up into little pieces. Only then will I truly bring honor to Sam Raimi's seminal film of the horror genre.-5 WHEELS HEAD FOR THE RICKETY OLD CABIN.This film moves at a blindingly fast pace. If you ever get bored watching "Evil Dead" regardless of what you think of it, then I don't want to be you. About 3 minutes into the film, we get POV (point of view) shots through the woods watching our 2 couples, Ash and Linda (Bruce and Betsy Baker), Scott and Shelly (Richard DeManincor and Theresa Tilly) along with Ash's sister, Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss); the fifth wheel I eluded to, driving up to the isolated and run down cabin. It doesn't take long for all hell to break loose after a recording found in the cellar is played with magic words in it. The words in German are: "Sam and Rob, Das ist Hikers Dan dee Roadsa" translated to mean "Sam and Rob are the Hikers on the road". Of course, this references Raimi and executive producer Robert Tapert who were portraying local yokels on the road leading to the cabin. Regardless of Raimi's goofy devices, fifth wheels are usually where all the trouble begins and those magic words aren't ones to ignore the rules. This thinnest of plots becomes one of the great scaffolds of horror ever put to film.-WHEN SETTING THE STANDARD IS NO STANDARD AT ALL.If there was a gorier, sloppier more audaciously violent film prior to "Evil Dead" I want to know what it is (because I want it!). I believe this film set the standards for eliminating standards in a horror movie. Even by today's "standards", "Evil Dead" can still hold its own for balls-out gore and grossness while still being a load of fun. Though the demonic makeup is a bit goofy by today's measurements, I still admire the vision of the work. At the very worst you see seams, wrinkles and flaws. At the very best, it is still very creepy and grotesque. The only standard this film didn't stretch was in the nudity department (as there really isn't any). However, when getting raped by a tree is ok, well... ...enough said.-SCARY? OH YEA!As horror films age, they tend to lose their visceral impact. Even horror classics fail to scare people most of the time with few exceptions. After nearly 30 years this film still holds up very well to its modern rivals. Though more over-the-top than anything that preceded, "Evil Dead" could still disturb the uninitiated. For me, few things are scarier than demonic possession. A demon is invisible, moves indiscriminately, is deceptive by nature and is in a hurry to get your soul. So, anyway it can get you dead is fair game. This movie plays on all those angles to the hilt. The big surprise with "Evil Dead" was the physical state possession left people in. This took "The Exorcist" to a different level. The funny and great thing is most of the actors are better at being possessed than human. Of course, Raimi's POV camera shots might be the scariest innovation employed in this film. Regardless, it all adds up to a nearly timeless horror experience.-HI I'M BRUCE CAMPBELL. YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ME FROM "DOG SOLDIERS".Yea, I'm kidding. That was a characters name in "Dog Soldiers"; clearly a case of a director paying his respects to a horror icon. Needless to say, Bruce is the undisputed king of camp and B-movie horror. He's even had his "A-movie" cameos (Spider Man films etc.). But this is where it all started for him. In retrospect, he was an awful actor in "Evil Dead", yet he brought a sense of slapstick to horror that was both fun and refreshing. He'll never win an Oscar (for what it's worth) but he has had a long and storied career since his initial portrayal of Ash. Amazingly, the other actors in "Evil Dead" may have actually done a better job than Bruce, but they lacked his persona. They have all become legendary for this film but have never translated that into successful film careers for a bunch of different reasons. To learn more about this, particularly the women, a little book is included with this version of "Evil Dead" titled "The Ladies of the Evil Dead". Boy, that's clever marketing,-WHICH VERSION IS THE BEST?I have no freaking clue! The "Evil Dead" series may be the most reproduced and exploited horror series ever. If you can find a series of titles more reproduced in more varied levels of quality (excluding Star Wars), then I'd like to know what it is. Given this, I don't know if one version is more complete than another. I have the one with the green outlined letters with Bruce Campbell's kisser poking through and the girl reaching up. This version has the little book in it. It's good enough for me.-PUTTING MY SOUL ON THE LINEAs low as the budget is, as clunky as the acting gets, as thin as the plot is, "Evil Dead" is a landmark horror movie. Horror films that came before could be viewed as sluggish. Much of what came after could be viewed as derivative. Regardless of these iconic traits, "Evil Dead" is just flat out entertaining. Who cares where it came from or where it's going. Forget my fan-boy rambling and just sit down on Halloween night and watch "Evil Dead", "Evil Dead II", and "Army of Darkness". If you enjoy audacious, in-your-face, balls-out horror done on the cheap, then this will do it for you.Story.......3 starsGore........5 starsActing......3.5 starsCreativity..5 starsFun factor..6 starsAverage....4.5 Stars
J**T
Well who else couldn't like this old school
I like to say is a great anniversary movie for two people who are into the evil Dead trilogy this is the best one obviously Bruce Campbell is an excellent actor in this
A**R
I am a Zombie Flix fan and wanted to see this enough to pay for it.
Will delight most Zombie flix fans.
D**K
Great movie!
Really good copy of a fantastic horror movie! Go watch it!
E**S
Awakened us from our ancient slumber...
"Low-budget" is usually used either as a criticism, or as an excuse for a movie's shortcomings. But a movie's actual cinematic quality isn't determined by its budget.Case in point: "The Evil Dead," the classic cult film that turned writer/director Sam Raimi into a big name. Produced on a shoestring budget in less-than-ideal surroundings, this movie proves that you don't need amazing special effects or big-name stars to produce an excellent movie -- just a simple tale of five clueless people going off to a cabin in the woods, only to encounter demonic horrors, possession, and some trees that don't understand what "no" means.Five college students are venturing to a remote cabin in the woods, including Ash (Bruce Campbell), his sister Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) and his girlfriend Linda (Betsy Baker). And with the words "remote cabin in the woods," anyone who has seen horror movies in the last few decades knows roughly what's going to happen. Either eldritch horrors or brutal murders are afoot. It turns out to be the former -- when the guys venture into the cabin's basement, they find a book called the Naturom Demonto ("roughly translated: Book of the Dead") bound in human flesh and inked with blood, and a tape recorder whose incantations release the book's evil. And the evil wastes no time in attacking the group... although it seems most interested in Cheryl. She hears voices calling "Join us," her walk in the woods leads to an encounter with some very rapey trees, and she ends up possessed by a rotten-faced demon.Unfortunately, the only bridge back to civilization has completely collapsed, leaving them stranded miles from any kind of help. And though they are able to trap the possessed Cheryl in the basement, more of the group are being targeted by the demons lurking in the woods outside -- either to possess them, or to brutally murder them. Or both. Will Ash be able to survive the night in this horrifyingly haunted house, or will he succumb to the "evil dead"?Sam Raimi managed to make "The Evil Dead" on a budget of under a million dollars, with a real cabin, minimal crew and inexperienced actors (including his childhood friend, future cult icon Bruce Campbell. In other words, this gory little cult movie is only a little more polished than the kind of homemade horror movies that some people put up on Youtube. And honestly... its rough, low-budget style is a large part of its charm, both in how cheesy it can become and in how inventive Raimi had to be.And about half the time, the results are pretty atmospheric and creepy... and the rest of the time, the movie is pretty hilarious. In the first half, when we have a slow-building, eerie build to the horrors waiting in the woods, with moments of almost Lovecraftian creepiness when the flesh-bound book is uncovered. Raimi uses odd camera angles (and the odd zoom-through-the-swamp-from-the-demon's-point-of-view) to emphasize the unnerving aspects of the story, which is quite impressive considering the limited budget. Actually, it's even creepier because of the gritty, realistic look of the movie.But once the demon possessions start, the movie bounces into the kind of excess that is utterly hilarious -- fountains of gore, guts, a chainsaw and zombie makeup, mingled with cackling demon girlfriends and a wild-eyed Bruce Campbell lurching around having weird experiences. It stops being scary, but it achieves a delightful cheesiness that is almost irresistible. Where else can you see blood streaming from wall sockets?The actors all do a pretty good job here, although most of them are generally not noticed in favor of Campbell -- Ellen Sandweiss is quite good as the tormented Cheryl, who is raped by branches and driven into hysteria by the knowledge of the demonic presence, while Richard DeManincor/Hal Delrich is pretty convincing as the insensitive jerk of the group. And of course, we have Campbell. He doesn't yet have that over-the-top, larger-than-life masculine presence he's known for, and utters a few woodenly-delivered lines, but he definitely has a scene-stealing presence and intensity. And most importantly, he can throw himself into seemingly silly scenes (attacking his possessed girlfriend with a wooden beam as large as he is) with utter conviction.It's cheap, it's cheesy, and its shoestring budget is apparent. But "The Evil Dead" ends up a delight through a combination of working well within its limited means, and in graduating from creepy suspense to an orgy of possession and dismemberment. And the demonic fun has only just started.
J**S
Horror
Always been a favorite
M**Y
Groovy gore and terrifying trees
As a horror fan, I'm always on the lookout for a film that can really scare me. And boy, does The Evil Dead deliver! This classic horror flick from director Sam Raimi follows a group of friends who venture to an isolated cabin in the woods, only to awaken an ancient evil that possesses and terrorizes them one by one. With its blend of over-the-top gore, campy humor, and genuinely frightening moments, The Evil Dead has rightfully earned its place as a horror classic.Now, with the release of the film on Blu-ray, it's never looked or sounded better. The picture quality is sharp and clear, allowing every gory detail to be seen in all its gruesome glory. The sound design is also top-notch, immersing you in the eerie atmosphere of the cabin and the surrounding woods. Plus, with bonus features like behind-the-scenes footage and commentary from the cast and crew, you can really dive deep into the making of this horror gem.Overall, if you're a fan of horror, you absolutely need to add The Evil Dead to your collection. This Blu-ray edition is the perfect way to experience the film at its best, with stunning visuals and bone-chilling sound that will have you screaming in terror. So grab some popcorn, turn off the lights, and settle in for a night of fright with The Evil Dead. It's a groovy good time!
M**N
Misleidende hoes. Extras ontbreken
De foto van de hoes suggereert 2 discs met vele extras. Maar het is maar 1 disc met alleen audiocommentaar. Zeer misleidend van Amazon en wordt dus voor veel te hoge prijs verkocht.
B**K
Blu-ray盤・通常販売・・・良い時代になりました(遠い目)
かつてJVDという悪名高きすっとこどっこいな会社からリリースされていたDVD盤がありました。このJVD、自社制作のポルノ映画…いや映画じゃないっすね、フィルム撮影より金かかんないビデオ撮影でしたし…の無予算Vシネマの予告集を「映像特典でござる」と主張するような厚顔無恥な会社でした。DVD発売当時、版権元から提示されたマスターが2種類あったそうで…①ノーカット・音声モノラル、②スコット目潰しシーン削除・音声2chステレオ…そこで②を選択した、そんなすっとこどっこいな会社から、版権は大手のSONYへと無事移行し廉価版・通常販売とめでたい状況に。まさに地獄から復活してきた本作です。
R**N
Sehr guter Film!!!
Hammer guter Film, leider habe ich ihn ab Altersfreigabe 16 bestellt. Sehr dumm von mir! Dumm Dumm Dumm DummDumm. Dumm
R**L
"We're gonna' get you, we're gonna' get you...."
You don't have to be some sort of massive horror nerd to know that The Evil Dead is quite an important film (although it probably helps). Originally called Book of the Dead (until that title was deemed `too boring' by studio bosses) this spooky, shlock-horror shocker was director Sam Raimi's very first full length feature! Not only that, but it was one of the first of the `splatter' type films of the eighties and gained infamy as one of the, um...'infamous' video nasties which burst onto the scene like a squishy wound due to the availability of home video players. It was made with a very low budget for this type of film, with a small spattering (or splattering) of cast and crew members, many of which taking responsibility for multiple jobs during production; star (and king of B-movies) Bruce Campbell was chief contact lens fitter during the shoot, for example. The film was released in 1981 and tells the story of five college friends spending the weekend in a creepy cabin in the middle of the Tennessee woods. Everything is peaceful and idyllic (for about 10 minutes) until they discover a tape recorder in the creepy cellar and decide to see what's on it! This turns out to be as bad an idea as it sounds, as the tape contains a passage read aloud from the Book of the dead (see, that's why they wanted to call the film that). This passage awakens and seemingly `pisses off' a malevolent spirit in the woods which wants to come back from the dead by possessing the living....or something, I think that's its plan! The spirit `force' (as it's often referred to by geeks) is never actually seen and is only present throughout this sticky adventure via `point of view' camera shots and sound effects - many of which were just director Sam Raimi adding his own vocals to various sounds. One by one (by one) the five friends are consumed by the evil force and transformed into demons of sorts, they aren't officially zombies as such, as they can fly around and are incredibly agile and strong. Also, they aren't interested in eating brains or any other bits and seem to want to taunt and terrorize the survivors rather than simply kill them off (or un-undead them off, to be more accurate). The `Deadites' (as they're referred to, also by geeks) tend to have `fun' with their victims and play psychological games with them before trying to `off' them spectacularly! The sole survivor Ashley Williams (played by Bruce Campbell) has to fight off his former friends, girlfriend and sister in an attempt to stay alive until morning, when the spirits can be driven away, with each confrontation getting bloodier and more graphically violent (yay). Some of the film's highlights include Ash's newly `turned' sister taunting Scott from the cellar ("You're not gonna' leave me here, are ya'...are ya' Ash?"), the woods themselves coming to life and attacking anyone attempting to flee the cabin and Linda (Ash's girlfriend) transforming into a giggling, porcelain doll thing, shrieking with laughter as she tries to stab him with a knife that's almost certainly entirely too big! The film really doesn't let up after the awakening of the evil spirit and the constant action, bloody violence and imaginative camera moves and sound effects leave the viewer practically exhausted by the closing credits! Sam Raimi is well known (by geeks and um, `norms') for his strategic use of camera angles and clever shot set ups and his films are instantly recognizable as `his' due to the specific look of his movies (also because they usually either have Bruce Campbell or his `classic' car in them, or both). This film is no exception, as there are lots of sweeping, frantic camera moves and some disorientating shots which add to the atmosphere and main character Ash's rapidly deteriorating mental state! The creepy sound effects and music also add to the unsettling atmosphere, with the possessed friend's voices and sound of the main `force' spirit being particularly effective and chilling. Overall then, this is a film that's aged well and just won't stay dead (like a lot of Ash's friends) and considering it's over 30 years old it still holds up as a well made and quite creepy horror classic. The effects are still, um...effective, especially the `deadite' make up (creepy white contact lenses etc) and the spectacularly squelchy end sequence (which is one of the messiest endings to any horror film, possibly trumped only by films like Braindead and Bad taste). Upon release this must have been incredibly scary and effective and it's doubtful we'll see any horror films coming out in the future that will have anywhere near as large an impact or influence as the Evil Dead has had over the years!Overall score: 5 Necronomicans out of 5
R**S
très bon le plaisir de redécouvrir se film
je conseille les personne quille veux revoir les effet des film de peur merci quelle souvenir merci
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