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Evil Dead
Films can generate an enormous impact on popular culture. Often the flick that finds itself with such a new found degree of popularity literally seems to come out of nowhere. With no budget of any substance and publicity basically relegated to word of mouth a little independent film can overcome all the usual obstacles any film faces to become more influential than any thought possible. It is not uncommon for such a movie to come out of the horror genre. One reason why so many movies of this type become successful franchises is how they are so easily infused into pop culture. One little flick that hit big with just about everything stacked against it was ‘The Evil Dead’. It cost the meager sum of around $375,000, not even enough to cover the bill for coffee on big budget movies. The cast and crew most have been pleasantly surprised when the film brought in $2.4 million in initial box office. Most would agree that if only our retirement funds offered that kind of return on an investment the economic outlook would be a whole lot brighter. ‘The Evil Dead’ did a significant amount more than just make some people wealthier; this movie became a cult classic horror flick exerting its influence on more than a generation of film makers. The franchise was a brief on with only two subsequent installments, ‘Evil Dead II’ and ‘Army of Darkness’. As you look at this film you cannot help but to notice all the innovations and stylistic flair that are present in a countless number of other horror movies had their origins in this little 1981 classic. Blu-ray editions have been available for the second and third flicks and have now been joined with the movie that started it all. What propelled this movie into the collective consciousness of its loyal fan base is the way it can blend enough blood and gore to keep even the most jaded horror aficionado satisfied by at its core there is a well written story worth telling. The film opens with a trope that has become standard in the genre; a road trip. Five friends from Michigan State University are traveling through what looks like a nicely wooded area. This number turns out to be a highly suitable for this kind of film keeping the core cast small enough to give adequate back stories a large enough to sacrifice a few to grizzly deaths. This particular group of friends hails from Michigan State University. Seated at the wheel is Scott (Richard DeManincor listed here as Hal Delrich) with Shelly (Theresa Tilly listed as Sarah York) riding in the shotgun seat singing cheerfully. In the back is Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) holding the map and navigating, the smiling Linda (Betsy Baker) next to him and Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) rounding out the group. After almost getting run off the road by a truck the group head down a road much less traveled and come up their destination, a rundown cabin. Let’s see good looking young people and a deserted cabin deep in the woods; you know this is not going to turn out good for the group. Scott is the first one in the cabin as the others start unloading the car. The cabin is dank and dusty, skulls of animals on the walls and various antlers dangling from the ceiling by strings. This is just the right ambience for weekend getaway. The good news is the electricity works and Scott turns on a light bulb. With a little cleanup and lighting up the fire place the cabin almost seems cozy as Cheryl lazily begins to sketch the grandfather clock. All of a sudden she starts squabbling frantically on the paper, unable to control herself; not a good sign here. She looks down and sees a trap door to the basement. The others finish dinner and take a look at the portal to the basement. Ash finally goes down to investigate. He finds a door and as the sinister violin music plays in the sound track reaches out to open it. With this action they break the one rule no one seems to follow in this situation; "do not awaken the sleeping evil, you moron". They find a bunch of weapons, including a shotgun, a tape recorder and a very old book with what looks like satanic drawings. The take the items upstairs and play the recorder. The voice on the recording explains that the book is the dreaded "Noturam Demondo", the ‘Book of the Dad’. The voice continues to explain that recitation of the chants will cause the demons to rise up. Of course this is followed by a chant in some primeval language. Outside unseen by the group the ground glows red as a tree branch crashes through the window and the electricity goes out. While Ash and Linda have a little romp of the floor Cheryl hears a noise outside and goes to investigate it. It takes only a few minutes for the trees to come alive and brutally rape her. Ash tries to drive her into town but the bridge has become twisted to look stabs Linda in the ankle. They lock Cheryl in the basement but now Shelly becomes a demon and is killed by Scotty. One by one everyone is killed or transformed leaving only the hapless Ash to find the forces of darkness and get out of there alive for the sequel. This was the work that put Sam Raimi on the map. Like many independent film makers he both wrote and directed the movie but far more than that he was the creative force that held the production online for the over four years it took to make. In that time members of the cast and crew had to take on other work to make a living but Raimi had the perseverance to see his dream through. He not only made his own fame here but secured it for his actor brother Ted and for one of the fans’ favorite heroes, Bruce Campbell. Both frequently appear in all of Sam’s films. Since the production took so long Raimi had to draft friends and family as uncredited creatures that came to be known by the fans as ‘the Shemps’ after the Three Stooges used stand-ins to play the late Shemp Howard died. In this first film Ted was a ‘Shemp’. Thanks to artful camera work and lighting you can barely notice the constant substitution. Among the fans two camps have arisen. On one side are those that prefer the 4:3 aspect ratio and those who side with the 1:85:1. Normally I side with the wide screen camp but in this case I have to go with the full screen folks. The reason is the letterbox version was created by hard matting the full screen frame. This resulted in a loss of the amount of image shown. Now the Blu-ray release of ‘The Evil Dead’ the trilogy is completely available in high definition. Along with this new edition there are some new extras to enjoy and a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Once again even if you have a previous edition this is worth getting once more. All-New Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Sam Raimi, Producer Robert
Tapert And Star Bruce Campbell Posted 08/28/2010 | ||||||||
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