Back from the Dead: The Evil Dead

Fog washes through the screen. A camera tied to a board and worn around the neck for stability provides a low, smooth tracking POV (a shot that will later become know as Deadite-cam). Cut to a car with 5 happy-go-lucky twenty-somethings singing and following a map toward a remote cabin in the hills. The locals wave at them. They cross a rickety bridge. And there is the sense they will never be coming back. At the cabin, a homemade bench swings (though there is no breeze), banging against the exterior, then suddenly stops. This is Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981). 

The film follows in the tradition of other horror classics such as Night of the Living Dead (1968), in that it was filmed largely in a single location and on a (relatively) low budget of $100,000 (some estimates put actual costs as high as $375,000). It also launched the careers of both director Sam Raimi and chin-toting leading man, Bruce Campbell. 

There are shades of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in both the location (a rundown shack in the middle of nowhere) and the premise (a group of teens out for a good time get more than they bargained for). And more than a nod to other, similar horror setups (look for the torn film poster on the wall when they discover the book in the cellar). 

The actual plot follows a group of 5 young people who go on vacation to a remote cabin in the woods (before Chris Hemsworth made it sexy). There they find a book, the ‘Naturom Demonto’ (renamed ‘Necronomicon ex Mortis’ in the sequel). In true horror fashion, they decide to read the book aloud (sort of), unleashing the evil of the forest upon them. The rest of the film is a battle for survival against otherworldly forces, reverse-and stop-motion video, a ton of prosthetics and about 300 gallons of fake blood (yes, really!!). 

The film is schlocky in all the best ways, embracing many horror stereotypes almost like a playbook (running and falling in the woods, a creepy audio recording that delivers exposition and chills, female nudity, graphic violence and many, many, many stalking shots). The film is almost as famous for its inventive use of cinematography as it is for other, less wholesome reasons (the scene where the woods come alive and ‘attack’ Cheryl remains incredibly uncomfortable to watch). 

Raimi’s film was a critical success in the 80s, with almost as much praise for its graphic horror as for its black use of comedy (Raimi was and is a massive Three Stooges fan). It went on to spawn 5 sequels/reboots, including the upcoming Evil Dead Burn, which is out on 10th July, 2026. No surprise that the 4K steelbook of the original 1981 The Evil Dead is out the same week, on Monday 7th July.