#tbt The Evil Dead review

The Evil Dead isn't dead. It is still very much alive.

Back in the early 80's, a little filmmaker made a small budget horror flick right out of college. It was made for a shoestring budget with his friends in the cast. That filmmaker was Sam Raimi, who went on to direct the first Spider-Man movies. That film was The Evil Dead (as you may have guessed), and developed such a big following that it rocketed Raimi to two sequels and an entire film career. I wasn't turned on to The Evil Dead Trilogy until about last year. I watched the entire trilogy and loved each movie. Because we're getting around Halloween movie season, I decided to do a series of horror movies for my next Throwback Thursday reviews. What better horror movie to review then "The" horror movie? It's the original "teenagers in a cabin in the woods" setting. Sure, it's cheesy as hell. But it does everything else right. It's certainly one of my favorite horror movies (although personally I prefer Evil Dead 2 over the original, but that's beside the point). The plot of the film is an old one. Five kids drive up to an isolated cabin to have a fun weekend. They accidentally summon a couple ancient demons which start to posses everybody. Except for Ash (Bruce Campbell), who's left to fight off his possessed friends. It sounds like a simple plot to a stupid B horror movie. The Evil Dead is a B horror movie, but it's not stupid. It's very well made for what limited resources the director had. Despite the hilarious special effects, Raimi still manages to make an incredibly suspenseful horror flick. On first viewing, I was sitting on the edge of my seat! Pardon that blatant use of an overused cliche, but it's completely true. The movie shocked and surprised me, without taking itself too seriously. It's good in that way. Sam Raimi is definitely the main reason for that. His direction is really tense and well done for a horror movie. He hasn't done that much horror after the Evil Dead films, except for Drag Me To Hell. He should. He's a decent director, and this is one of his best movies. Hell, it's probably better than like 95% of the horror movies that come out around now! The acting here is alright, but nothing special. The only real standout is Bruce Campbell in the lead role. His acting isn't good either. Yet, he makes a good hero and (especially in the later films) embraces the schlock and cheesiness with good-hearted humor. Campbell is one of the main reasons why this became such a cult hit. The Evil Dead is by far the best horror franchise. While each movie got funnier as it went on, it still kept with its roots. It's not like the Scream movies that started completely sucking after the second one. (Scream 4? Ugh.) Even with the all the incredible cheesiness and dated look, The Evil Dead still shocks and entertains. I recommend it of course! But if you're in unforgiving cynic, maybe don't watch it. Happy Viewing and Happy Throwback Thursday! Remember you can follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on 

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