Necronomicon Ex-mortis: The Evil Dead

Once in awhile you stumble across a film you might never have known existed, and it turns out to be a work of genius. Film nuts such as Yours Truly spend a lot of our free time seeking out films that not many people have heard of. Their existence is almost a myth sometimes – like the battle epic Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989). It’s always a wonderful moment when, half-way through the film, you realize that you have practically tripped over something very special. Then there is The Evil Dead (1981).

           

The Evil Dead sits in a decidedly different category of discovery. The nature of this wonderful gem of a movie is perhaps more akin to a legend than a myth. The Evil Dead is something that everyone has heard of, and many have seen. Yet for some reason it still sits in that place where it enjoys a sort of beloved notoriety. The title itself is enough to ward off most of those who do not desperately desire to see such things (and God have mercy on the ones who see it accidentally). But for horror aficionados, The Evil Dead is the holy grail of low-budget filmmaking.

Anyone questing to see it has a bewildering dilemma. Some movies are difficult to watch because they are hard to find (just try finding an uncut copy of Razorback [1984], I dare you). The Evil Dead has the exact opposite problem. To date, there are no fewer than six Region 1 DVD releases and two blu-ray releases (one with an extra special features disc and one without). This is disregarding the Region 2 4-disc set, multiple VHS releases, and a Sony PSP version. Needless to say, pursuers of the film are faced with the problem of which release they should lay down their hard-earned bucks for. Die-hard fans tend to buy multiple releases simply to own the complete array of supplemental material out there.

Even more puzzling than this is that the film isn’t more popular in the mainstream, considering its wildfire popularity in the horror community. Certainly, its gore isn’t for everyone. And the atmosphere of terror will put off more than a few for sure. But there is a magic to it. For anyone seeing it for the first time, no matter how much they have heard about it, The Evil Dead is an unexpected treat.

So what makes this cult classic so great? Is it originality? Ingenuity? Or is it simply fun? How about all of the above? Honestly, when one takes a look at the film on a surface level, it just should not work as well as it does. When director Sam Raimi and company embarked on production in late 1979, they had no location, two actors, and a budget of $375,000. Finding three more cast members was hard enough, but when they arrived at the cabin they were supposed film in, they found it occupied by about two dozen squatters.

A change of venue was in order. Raimi and producer Rob Tapert discovered an abandoned cabin outside Morristown, Tennessee. There were no squatters this time, but the floor was completely covered in four inches of manure. Actor Bruce Campbell (who would become the famous hero, Ash) almost single-handedly shoveled the entire cabin. The crew knocked down walls and replaced them, added a generator and a telephone, and used a good chunk of the budget to do it.

If these hurdles weren’t enough, it is safe to say that no Hollywood producer of the time would back the picture if they saw it in production. Raimi and crew seemed to violate nearly every tenant of horror filmmaking. First off, they had a male hero – a strong female lead was considered a must at the time. Secondly, the set-up was almost flip-turned upside down. Instead of the characters being picked off one by one, the hero is basically tortured and picked on for the duration. Simply, it should not work. But it does.

Perhaps the biggest reason for this is that The Evil Dead is astonishingly proficient filmmaking. This makes it all the more impressive considering that the primary cast and crew all dropped out of film school to make it. The storyline is tight, the acting is honestly too good for a film of this budget and this genre, and most of all the camera work is positively captivating. The cinematography is so intricate and unique, in fact, that one can spot its influence on big-budget productions in practically every genre since. From the POV ‘Demon Cam’ to the ingenious placement of the car and camera on an incline to make the actors look off-kilter – it’s all been copied from a film which, for all intents and purposes, is practically a home movie.

The fun of The Evil Dead comes from a brilliant and original combination of horror and humor. Most horror films at least attempt to rely on subtlety to build suspense. Here subtlety is chucked out the window. The audience gets to see everything happen. There are no *wink wink* cutaways from the action, nothing is artfully implied. It is all onscreen. Raimi and Co. keep the blood flowing, the goo splashing, and the ribs tickling and never let up.

The incessancy is another point. Once the action starts rolling, it just does not stop. The audience is never given a chance to breathe. The most effective proponent of this is the film’s downright inventive sound design. The tension is skillfully manipulated through the precise, meticulous placement of noises and sound effects. Moments range from impressively long and loud action pieces, to dead silent instances where the only thing audible is Bruce Campbell’s labored breathing. In most horror films, loud stings and jump scares are often considered cop-outs or just trying too hard. In The Evil Dead, these devices are legitimately terrifying because of this aggressive and original sound design.

But even the most original film would fall flat if it was a one-trick-pony. The Evil Dead supplements the horror with a viciously unique brand of humor. Even the truly disgusting gore effects are in on the joke, such as the moment when Ash pulls a stick lodged in his zombie-fied friend’s leg and the result is the *pop* of a cork and a torrent of blood gushing as if being drained from a jug.

The film also seems to thrive on little, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments of dialogue – “WE CAN’T BURY SHELLY; SHE’S A FRIEND OF OURS!!!” – and sight gags like the ‘eyes open-eyes closed’ interplay between Ash and his girlfriend Linda.

The glee the filmmakers take in manipulating the audience is so apparent, that we absolutely must laugh along with them. Where most films’ self-awareness has a tendency to become pretentious, here it is genuine and infectious. The picture itself seems to know there is no rhyme or reason behind what is happening and takes absolute, nonsensical pleasure in that fact. This is never better shown than when Ash screams, “Why are you torturing me like this? WHY?!!!” As the audience, we just continue to scream in fear and laugh in delight.

All of these things have combined to create one of the most entertaining experiences one will ever have in the horror genre. The Evil Dead is one of the few films that lives up to its grandiose tagline –“The ULTIMATE Experience in GRUELING TERROR!”

Watch it if you dare!