The Evil Dead

For other uses, see The Evil Dead (disambiguation).

The Evil Dead
File:Evil Dead poster.jpg Poster for The Evil Dead
Directed by	Sam Raimi
Written by	Sam Raimi
Produced by	Sam Raimi Bruce Campbell Robert Tapert
Starring	Bruce Campbell Ellen Sandweiss Betsy Baker Hal Delrich Teresa Tilly
Music by	Joseph LoDuca
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release dates	October 15, 1981 April 15, 1983
Running time	85 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$375,000
Box office	$29,400,000 (est.) (As of July 26, 2006)

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 Terror) is a 1981 cult classic horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Betsy Baker. The film depicts five college students and their vacation in an isolated cabin in the woods, which turns into a nightmare when they find an audiotape that is a key to unlocking evil spirits.

The film was extremely controversial for its graphic violence and gore, being initially turned down by almost all U.S. distributors, until a European company picked it up. It finally premiered on October 15, 1981. Although its budget was just $375,000, it was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S. upon its initial release. Despite getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it is now widely accepted as a classic of the horror genre and has a dedicated worldwide cult following. The film spawned a sequel, The Evil Dead II.

Plot

Five Michigan State University students venture into the hills 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 Morturom Demonto.

While searching the basement of the cabin, the students find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting slumbering demons that thirst for revenge. The characters are then possessed one by one, beginning with Cheryl (Sandweiss) after she is brutally raped by the evil force (using the nearby trees) in sequences of intense, bloody violence and horrifying voice-overs. Cheryl makes it home to the cabin but nobody believes her. Her brother Ash then decides to drive her into town where she can stay the night. They discover that the only road bridge is completely destroyed and the supports are bent into the shape of a hand. Soon after, Cheryl becomes a demon and stabs Linda in the ankle with a pencil. They lock her in the cellar, but soon after Shelly becomes possessed and attacks Scotty 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 her to be possessed also. Scotty returns, but is mutilated by 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, who dies. Linda later returns and tries to stab Ash, but she falls on the dagger. Ash drags her outside to cut her up with a chainsaw, but he simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and Ash beheads her with a shovel. The head soon comes back to life and taunts him, and the body gets up to chase Ash back to the cabin. He returns to find the cellar door flown open. Cheryl jumps at the window and tries to break in. Ash shoots her, but she doesn't die. 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 things in his mind. Cheryl tries to attack Ash through the door, but he shoots her and then slides a bookshelf in front of the door.Meanwhile Scotty's dead body suddenly revives and he and Cheryl attach on Ash again. Suddenly they begin to scream, and smoke starts to rise from their bodies. Ash notices that The Book of the Dead has fallen into the fireplace. He puts it directly into the flames and finds the demons to be almost completely inanimate that begin to rot away as dawn breaks. Ash is the only survivor. He heads outside and stands there for a while, thinking he has survived the ordeal; but the evil "force" runs him down. The screen goes black as Ash turns around with a look of terror on his face as the Evil catches him.

Production

Raimi and Co. managed to secure a budget of $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 4 years, during which many of the cast and crew abandoned the production. Because of this, Raimi used '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 corn syrup.

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.

In other media

• As of March 2008, the movie currently has a rating of 100% for all 40 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
• In the basement of the cabin where Ash finds his friend and they discover the Morturom Demonto, there is a ripped up poster of Wes Craven's 1977 horror film, The Hills Have Eyes.
• In Wes Craven's 1996 horror film, Scream, it is brought up as an option to watch at the party.
• In Wes Craven's 1984 horror film, A Nightmare On Elm Street, one of the characters is watching Evil Dead on television.
• In the movie Donnie Darko, The Evil Dead is being shown on the big screen during the theater scene.

Censorship

Because of its graphic violence, the original version of the movie was banned in several countries, including Finland, Germany, Iceland and Ireland. The "tree rape" scene in the movie was also described by some as being misogynistic. 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 a hit on the black market video circuit with pirated copies abounding. Several high-profile 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 legally available in 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 movie was one of the first to be labeled a video nasty in the mid-1980s and was finally released uncut in 2001.

Spin-offs

There have been a variety of spin-offs and tie-ins including a musical and comic mini-series.

Evil Dead: The 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 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 and then to June 14, 2008.

Comic book

The comic book Marvel Zombies versus the Army of Darkness includes the Deadites and the main character of the movies.

In January 2008, Dark Horse Comics began releasing a 4 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.

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 and The Reanimator.

Prequel

Before The Evil Dead, there was Within the Woods (1978), a movie that shared the same plot as The Evil Dead and also starred Bruce Campbell. The movie was made to fund the next installment The Evil Dead.

External links

• The Evil Dead at IMDb
• Evil Dead from Deadites Online has a list of "interesting facts" about the movie production.