To countdown to this year’s Halloween, Luke Owen reviews a different horror film every day of October. Next up, cult favourite The Evil Dead….
Yesterday we discussed how Killer Klowns From Outer Space was the perfect fodder to become a cult hit. It was zany in every possible manner, had a lot of over-the-top violence and some memorable moments. And while Killer Klowns is a great example of cult horror classics, The Evil Dead is perhaps the perfect example.
Made for virtually no money donated by people in their local town, The Evil Dead tells the story of a group of teenagers who accidentally raise the spirits of the dead who begin to torment them. It’s a visceral and bloody experience with many stomach churning scenes as well as uncomfortable moments, all made with the kind of self-made brilliance that is missing from a lot of modern low-budget horror movies.
As discussed back in the Hollow Man entry of Countdown to Halloween, we live in an age where you can produce virtually anything you want with just a computer and a few mouse clicks. But in the early 80s and with no money to spare, Sam Raimi and his team of amateur filmmakers did what they could to make the movie they wanted to produce. Whether it be running with a camera nailed to a piece of wood to create the feeling of spirits traveling through the trees or fashioning a battering ram to break a window so the camera could pass through, The Evil Dead is perhaps one of the best showcases of a ‘DIY horror’ that works.
But it’s not just the simple technical brilliance of The Evil Dead that makes it so great, it’s also its cast of likeable characters – something else that is missing from horror movies of the last 10 or so years. Every member of Raimi’s ensemble has their own personality, their own character and their own motivations. We spend time with them and adjust to their idiosyncrasies – all of which makes their inevitable deaths and torture all the harder to sit through. We want to see them survive the night and when that right is taken away from them, it affects us an audience.
This year saw the release of the remake/redo/re-telling/reboot/re-whatever of The Evil Dead and a strange observation kept being brought up – that which claimed The Evil Dead to be a comedy. It’s a perplexing claim as there is nothing about The Evil Dead that screams “comedy” while its sequel Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is a movie that certainly borders on the insanity of humour and the third part of the trilogy, Army of Darkness, is clearly an all-out comedy – but the original The Evil Dead is a straight-up horror movie. Perhaps the aged effects and sillyness of the story have altered some people’s perception of the film (or they’re getting the first two movies mixed up as they are more or less the same film), but The Evil Dead still comes across like a horror movie taking its subject matter seriously, whilst not taking itself too seriously.
The Evil Dead is not a perfect movie – far from it. It’s incredibly flawed and features some pretty terrible acting, but it’s made with a lot of heart and dedication and it’s simply fun to watch. Like a lot of films of its era, it’s dated quite poorly but if you can forgive its short comings you’ll find a lot to enjoy. For a first-time director with limited resources and budget to work on, there is a lot to appreciate about The Evil Dead. As with Killer Klowns From Outer Space, it has earned its cult status.
The 2013 version on the other hand? We’ll get to that tomorrow.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published October 12, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
