The Evil Dead (also known as: Evil Dead, The Book of the Dead, Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead, the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror) is a 1981 American horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Baker. The film is a story of five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a wooded area. Their vacation becomes gruesome when they find an audiotape that unlocks evil spirits.
The film was extremely controversial for its graphic terror, violence and gore, being initially turned down by almost all U.S. film distributors until a European company finally bought it in the Cannes Film Festival marketplace. It was finally released into theaters on October 15, 1981. Although its budget was just $375,000, the film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S. upon its initial release.[1] Despite getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it now has a dedicated cult following.[2] The film has spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness; work on a script for a further film has started.[3]
When the film was re-submitted for a rating in 1994 the MPAA classified it with an NC-17 rating. When the distribution company Elite Entertainment released the film on DVD in 1999 they retained the NC-17 version. Anchor Bay Entertainment has since acquired the DVD rights to the film, and their subsequent releases have surrendered the rating to allow them to release the film unrated.
Plot
Five Michigan State University students venture into the hills and mountains of Tennessee to spend a weekend in an isolated cabin. There they find the Book of the Dead (a Babylonian and Sumerian text, unrelated to the Egyptian Book of the Dead), otherwise known as the Naturan Demanto (renamed the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis in the sequels). While searching the basement of the cabin, the students find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting the Kandarian demons that devour souls. The characters are then possessed one by one, beginning with Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), after she is lured into the forest by the Evil Dead at night. Alone and far from the safety of the cabin, the trees come alive in a snake-like fashion and proceed to brutally rape her. Cheryl makes it home to the cabin but nobody believes her. Her brother, Ash (Bruce Campbell), decides to drive her into town where she can stay the night. They discover that the only bridge is completely destroyed and the supports are bent into the shape of a cupped hand. Soon thereafter, Cheryl, having been infected by the Kandarian demons surrounding the cabin, becomes a deadite (a possessed corpse) and stabs Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil. Scotty beats her with the blunt end of his axe and kicks her in the cellar; he then locks her in the fruit cellar, but afterward Shelly (Theresa Tilly) becomes possessed and attacks Scotty (Hal Delrich), who dismembers her with an axe. They wrap the dismembered body-parts in a blanket and bury them, after which Scotty leaves to find a trail out of the woods.
Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds that she too has become possessed by a spirit. Scotty returns, but has suffered massive injuries inflicted upon him by the possessed trees. Before losing consciousness he tells Ash there is a trail in the woods. After Linda tricks Ash by seemingly returning to normal, Ash drags her outside. He goes back to check on Scotty, but finds that he died from his injuries. Linda later returns and tries to stab Ash, but Ash stabs her through the chest with a dagger. Ash drags her outside to dismember her with a chainsaw, but finds that he cannot bring himself to do it, and simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and, after a violent struggle, Ash beheads her with a shovel. He returns to find the cellar door open. He hears a noise from Shelly and Scott's bedroom. With the shotgun, he goes in to investigate and suspects Cheryl may be in the closet. Cheryl jumps at the window of which a demon had earlier broken through to possess Shelly and tries to take the shotgun from Ash, grabbing at it wildly. Ash shoots her in the chest, but it does not seem to have any effect. Ash then proceeds to barricade both the front and back doors. He runs back into the cellar to find a box of shotgun shells and experiences a strange series of events including the cellar filling with blood and hearing voices. Cheryl tries to attack Ash through the door, but he shoots her and then barricades the door.
Meanwhile, Scotty's dead body suddenly revives to reveal that the Kandarian demons have now possessed him as well, only to have his eyes gouged out by Ash after a brief struggle. Ash notices that Naturan Demanto has fallen near the fireplace and is starting to burn. Ash sees that Scotty's body is starting to burn as well, giving an allusion that disposal of the book into the fire will also destroy the demons. Before he can reach it, however, Cheryl successfully breaks in through the front door and easily knocks him to the floor. Scotty then holds Ash to the floor while Cheryl grabs a fireplace poker and repeatedly hits Ash in the back with it. Ash manages to grab the book after several attempts, using the necklace he had given to Linda earlier in the film, and throws it directly into the blazing flames just as Cheryl raises the fireplace poker to impale him. The demons leave the bodies of Cheryl and Scotty, their corpses now becoming inanimate, leaving Ash to be the only survivor. He heads outside and stands in front of the cabin for a while, thinking he has survived the ordeal. An unseen evil speeds through the forest, breaks its way through the cabin doors, and descends upon Ash (who screams in horror) as the film ends.
Production
Raimi and Co. managed to secure a shooting budget of less than $375,000 and with the cast and crew, headed for a wilderness cabin in the woods near Morristown, Tennessee. The movie was shot over a period of about 1.5 years. Raimi used 'Fake Shemps' or 'stand-ins' to replace the actors who had left. One of the only actors loyal to the project from the beginning was Bruce Campbell, who went through torturous circumstances as the character 'Ash.' According to the Evil Dead DVD commentary, he would often return home after a night of shooting in the back of a pick-up truck, as he was usually covered in fake blood made from a mixture of corn syrup, food coloring, and non-dairy coffee creamer.
Actors Richard DeManincor (Scott) and Theresa Tilly (Shelly) both went under different "stage names" during the shoot, since they were members of the Screen Actors Guild and wanted to avoid being penalized for participating in a non-union production. They are credited in the credits as "Hal Delrich" for Richard and "Sarah York" for Theresa.
According to Bruce Campbell's autobiography, If Chins Could Kill, Richard acquired his stage name by combining his short name with his roommates' names, Hal & Del.
Joel Coen served as an assistant editor on the film.
Censorship
Because of its graphic violence, the original version of the movie was banned in several countries, including Finland, Germany, Iceland and Ireland. In Germany, the movie's release was hindered by public authorities for almost 10 years. Original 1982 cinema and video releases of the movie had been seized, making the movie successful on the black market video circuit with pirated copies abounding. Several well-known horror enthusiasts publicly criticized the German ban on the movie, including author Stephen King (who gave it a rave review in the November 1982 issue of Twilight Zone). A heavily edited version was made available legally during 1992. During 2001 an uncut German DVD version was released, but the Berlin-Tiergarten Court ordered seizure of the DVD in April 2002 (Case Number 351 Gs 1749/02). In Finland, The Evil Dead was later released uncut on DVD by Future Film, and rated K-18. In the United Kingdom, the movie was one of the first to be labeled a video nasty during the mid-1980s and was finally released uncut in 2001.
Criticism
The movie's "tree rape" scene has been described by some as being misogynistic[4] (Raimi has since stated he regrets putting it in the movie).
Spin-offs
There have been a variety of spin-offs and tie-ins including a musical and comic mini-series. The themes of this movie have become a cult favorite among tattoo clientele. The images and catch phrases adorn a wide range of people from the rank and file to tattoo artists like Dan Henk.
Evil Dead: The Musical
With the approval of both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, a musical version of the film was staged, enjoying a successful workshop in Toronto and performances at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal in 2004. The New York off-Broadway production started previews on October 2, 2006. The official Opening Night performance was November 1, 2006. The show continued with 8 performances per week at the New World Stages until closing February 17, 2007. Evil Dead: The Musical has recently started production in Toronto starting from May 1, 2007 with the run extended from June 23, 2007 to August 4, 2007. On August 4, 2007 it was announced that the show has now been extended for a final time until September 8, 2007, excepting its further extensions to May 3, 2008, June 14, 2008 and August 2, 2008. A production is also scheduled to open at the Campbell Theatre in Martinez, CA on June 13, 2008. A second Canadian production by the Sock 'n Buskin Theatre Company opened on March 12, 2009 for a short run in Ottawa at Kailash Mital Theatre at Carleton University. This version created quite a buzz and was well-received on opening night. Ground Zero Theatre and Hit & Myth Productions will be staging the next production at the Playhouse at Vertigo Theatre Centre in Calgary, Alberta, running May 26, 2009 to June 15, 2009, extended to July 12, 2009.
Comic book
In January 2008, Dark Horse Comics began releasing a four part monthly comic book mini-series based on Evil Dead, written by Mark Verheiden, with art by John Bolton, who provided art for the Dark Horse Army of Darkness comic. The comic miniseries has several noticeable differences from the film, such as Cheryl being only a friend of Linda, and not Ash's sister.
Dynamite Entertainment has an on-going "Army of Darkness" series and several mini-series and cross-over mini-series, featuring horror characters such as Darkman, the Marvel Zombies and Herbert West.
Earlier incarnations
The short film Within the Woods (1978) was made as a prototype to help convince possible investors to fund The Evil Dead. The filmmakers used the short to experiment with techniques they would utilise in the feature. It shares plot elements with The Evil Dead and also stars Bruce Campbell.[5]
References
External links
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