Evil Dead (1981 film)
This article is about the 1981 film. For the series, see The Evil Dead (franchise). For other uses, see The Evil Dead (disambiguation).
| The Evil Dead | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Produced by | Robert Tapert |
| Written by | Sam Raimi |
| Starring | Bruce Campbell Ellen Sandweiss Hal Delrich Betsy Baker Sarah York |
| Music by | Joseph LoDuca |
| Cinematography | Tim Philo |
| Editing by | Edna Ruth Paul |
| Studio | Renaissance Pictures |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $350,000 – $400,000 |
| Box office | $29,400,000 (est.) (As of July 26, 2006) |
During its theatrical run the film grossed $2.4 million[2], currently holds a 100% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes[3] and has developed a cult following.[4] The film has spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992), and a stage musical; in 1994 a heavily censored version was shown in US theaters and received an NC-17 rating. Work on a script for a further film has started[5] although it was announced on July 13, 2011 that Raimi and Campbell would now shift focus to a remake of the original film.[6]
Plot
Five Michigan State students venture into the hills of Tennessee to spend their Spring Break vacation in an isolated cabin. There, they find the "Naturan Demanto", a Sumerian variation of the Book of the Dead. They also find a tape recorder that plays demonic incantations from the book, unleashing evil demons. The demons proceed to isolate and kill off the students, beginning with Cheryl, who is hypnotized by the voice of a demon and lured out into the woods at night. Alone and far from the safety of the cabin, Cheryl is attacked by trees possessed by the demons, which come to life in a tentacle-like fashion and brutally rape her. Escaping the trees, Cheryl flees back to the cabin and is nearly overtaken by a demon.The others do not believe Cheryl's story and assume that she was attacked by a wild animal. Her brother, Ash, decides to drive her to town where she can find a place to stay for the night. However, they find that the only bridge connecting the cabin to civilization has been destroyed with the supports bent into the shape of a hand. Later, Cheryl, with the essence of a demon infesting her body following her encounter with the trees, becomes possessed and stabs Linda, Ash's girlfriend, in the ankle with a pencil. Scotty forces Cheryl into the cellar and locks it, but his girlfriend Shelly is also possessed by a demon, which spies on her from outside her bedroom as she is changing before hurling itself at her. Now possessed, Shelly attacks Scotty and sustains a number of brutal injuries before Scotty dismembers her with an axe. Clearly shaken by Shelly's death, Scotty leaves to go find an alternate trail through the woods.
Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds that she, too, has become possessed, but she makes no attempt to attack him. Scotty returns, having suffered grave injuries inflicted onto him by the possessed trees. He tells Ash that there is an alternate trail through the woods before passing out, and Linda and Cheryl start laughing maniacally at their predicament. The two women suddenly seem to snap out of their possession, but it is revealed to be a trick when Ash almost releases Cheryl from the cellar and she tries to strangle him through the door. Ash locks Linda outside of the cabin and tends to Scotty's injuries, but he quickly bleeds to death. Linda sneaks in through the backdoor and attacks Ash with a ceremonial dagger, but Ash is able to take the dagger from her and impale her through her torso, seemingly killing her.
Ash takes Linda's body to the work shed and tries to dismember her with a chainsaw, but finds that he cannot bring himself to do it and buries her instead. She rises from the grave and wrestles with Ash, who eventually lops her head off with a shovel. Returning to the cabin, Ash finds that Cheryl has escaped. Armed with a shotgun, Ash finds Cheryl hiding outside and shoots her in the shoulder, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. After barricading all of the doors, Ash descends into the cellar to find some extra shotgun shells, and while down there he experiences a series of strange events such as mysterious voices and blood seeping from numerous crevices and openings in the walls. Scotty's body reanimates, now possessed by a demon, and tries to kill Ash, but he cripples him by gouging out his eyes. Ash then notices that the Book of the Dead has fallen near the fireplace and is starting to burn, as are Cheryl and Scotty, giving the illusion that disposal of the book into the fire will destroy the demons.
Cheryl breaks into the cabin and knocks Ash down with little effort. While Scotty pins him down, Cheryl repeatedly beats Ash with a fireplace poker. Ash is able to grab the book after several attempts and tosses it into the fireplace just as Cheryl raises the poker to impale him. The demons leave the bodies of Cheryl and Scotty, which become inanimate and rapidly decay and fall apart. Ash, believing he has survived the ordeal, heads outside. A demon emerges from the woods and descends upon Ash, who turns to see it and lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
Cast
- Bruce Campbell as Ashley "Ash" Williams: Ash is the last survivor of the group and the main protagonist of the film. Ash is a young man who only wanted to take his friends on a trip into the woods, unaware of what to expect.
- Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl Williams: Ash's younger sister and the odd woman out of the group. She is the first to suspect the danger surrounding the cabin and the first to be possessed. Her deadite serves as the main antagonist of the film.
- Betsy Baker as Linda: Linda is Ash's girlfriend, with whom he is very much in love. She keeps a necklace that Ash gave to her early in the film.
- Richard DeManicor as Scotty: Ash's college roommate. In the first half of the film, Scott is more of a joker and does not take anything seriously, but after Shelly's death, he starts to comprehend the evil that the group is up against.
- Theresa Tilly as Shelly: Scotty's girlfriend and the least developed member of the group. She does not understand what's going on around the cabin and is not alive long enough to figure it out.
- Bob Dorian as the voice on the recorder (uncredited)
Production
The short film Within the Woods (1978) was made as a prototype to help convince possible investors to fund The Evil Dead. In it, the filmmakers experimented with techniques they would use in the feature. It shares plot elements with The Evil Dead and also stars Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss, although with Sandweiss as the main character.[7]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 (also a producer of the film and Raimi's childhood filmmaking partner), 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.
Joel Coen served as an assistant editor on the film.
Release
The film premiered on October 15, 1981, and was released in 128 theaters on April 15, 1983. The film was re-released in March 2010[8] as part of The Evil Dead Cross Country Tour,[9] which began in the NuArt Theatre in West Los Angeles.[10]Critical reception
Based on 47 reviews, the film holds a 100% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus states "This classic low budget horror film combines just the right amount of gore and black humor, giving The Evil Dead an equal amount of thrills and laughs."[11] The film was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the 400 candidates for AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films.[12]The tree rape scene has been described by some as being misogynistic.[13] Raimi has since stated he regrets putting it in the film.[14]
Censorship
Because of its graphic violence and terror, 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. In 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 film was one of the first to be labeled a video nasty during the mid-1980s controversy over such movies and was finally released uncut in 2001.When the film was re-submitted in the US 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.
Home media
The limited edition Blu-ray with a newly restored picture was released on August 31, 2010 in the United States,[18] featuring two discs with audio commentary with writer/director Sam Raimi, producer Robert Tapert and star Bruce Campbell.[19]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.Stage musical
Main article: 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 first 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. On August 4, 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, June 14, and August 2, 2008.A production opened 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. In addition, the likenesses of the characters in the comics do not bear any resemblance to their prior movie counterparts, except for Ash, who still maintains the likeness of Bruce Campbell.Dynamite Entertainment has an ongoing "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.
Remake
Main article: The Evil Dead (2013 film)
On July 13, 2011 it was announced that The Evil Dead was being remade and it would be written and directed by first-time feature film maker, Fede Alvarez. Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert would produce the film. Screenwriter Diablo Cody was brought in to revise the script. It is set for an April 12, 2013 release date.[20].On February 3, 2012 it was announced that actress, Jane Levy, who currently stars in the television series, Suburgatory would be replacing Lily Collins as the star of the upcoming remake. Levy will play Mia, who will replace Ash as the main character of the film. Mia will be one of five young people who head to the remote cabin where evil awaits.[21]
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