Scaredy-Cat Review: The Evil Dead (1981)

A Comedy in Horror Clothing.

Title: The Evil Dead
Director: Sam Raimi
Year of Release: 1981
Scaredy-Cat Level: 👻(More Silly than Scary)
Subgenre: Gory, Supernatural Horror (Maybe?)

Plot Summary (Spoiler-Free)

Without the benefit of about a million horror films explaining why it’s a bad idea, Ash and his friends rent a cabin in the woods for some fun. Spoiler alert: They do not have fun (unless you count some kissing and a very brief card game).

There they find an old, creepy book made of human flesh, and just looking at it makes you want hand sanitizer. Reading it will apparently awaken the dead. They don’t do this, opting instead to listen to a tape recording of someone else reading it out loud. Because obviously, when in doubt, press play on the creepy ancient chant! Completely logical horror movie behaviour.

Surprise, surprise, bad stuff starts to happen. Ash’s friends all become possessed, which forces him to make the difficult decision of messing them up with an assortment of sharp objects. Can Ash survive until daybreak, when everything will (apparently) return to normal? And what about this book — isn’t its continued existence a threat to mankind?

SPOILER ALERT!

The rest of this review contains some details and thoughts that might reveal too much about the movie. You have been warned!

The Scaredy-Cat Experience

• Jump Scare Count: Quite a few! Maybe around five, with two or three being pretty good.

• Tense Moments:  The beginning of the film was pretty tense, and it only gets worse from there. There are a lot of moments where Ash is fighting for his life, and the next hairy moment is always just around the corner.

• Spooky Atmosphere: A cabin in the woods, need I say more? The surrounding area is super dark as well — total pitch black — and I was constantly waiting for something to jump out at Ash and the gang.

The Funny Bits

• I accidently started watching the German version at first. Took me a good two minutes to notice.

• The close-up of the girl screaming when they almost crashed the car. Honestly, just YouTube it.

• The acting? Well, let’s just say that there’s a very — ahem — niche genre of film where their acting skills would fit right in.

• The infamous "tree" scene. It's disturbing and sort of funny.

• The music box just coming on randomly. So silly!

• The special effects — did they do it with Play-Doh? Honestly, I think a 4th-grade art class could’ve pulled it off.

Scaredy-Cat Verdict

The Evil Dead is, sadly, another victim of time. I’ve no doubt this was once a scary film, but it’s not anymore. Most of the “scary” scenes are just silly, and the special effects have not aged well. It’s more of a comedy than a horror now.

Having said that, the story is perfect for a horror movie. It’s clearly been influential to loads of other future movies, and it spawned a lot of sequels. I’ll have to check out the reboot, see how that fairs against this.

Final Thoughts

Even though it feels more like a parody today, The Evil Dead still holds a special place in horror fans’ hearts for its sheer inventiveness and ‘let’s do this thing’ attitude. If nothing else, the movie was a lot of fun, and I’m still really glad I watched it. Horror fans will love it.

Bits That Scared Me

• Listening to the tape was a bit creepy.

• The book is also creepy.

• A few notable jump scares that got me:

  • When the hand burst through the cellar door.

  • When she appeared behind Ash with the knife.

  • "Cellar Girl" appearing at the window.

• The cellar scenes had me on edge, all dark and creepy.

My (Out-of-Context) Thoughts During the Movie

• "They seem like a nice bunch. Hope nothing bad happens to them."

• "Driving a bit fast there, buddy."

• "Fakest. Scream. Ever."

• "I'd have turned back by now."

• "No way I'd be going in that cabin."

• "What is all this shit hanging from the ceiling?"

• "That's her paper ruined."

• "Put something heavy over that cellar door."

• "Yeah, don't open that book. Haven't you seen Hocus Pocus?"

• "Turn the tape off and drive home immediately."

• "She really thought he was sleeping."

• "That's so she can see his tiny penis."

• "Going outside. Alone. At night. Very clever."

• "Looks like that tree has... wood. I'll see myself out."

• "Shame that someone else wasn't with her, then they could have had a...'treesome'. I'll stop now, I promise."

• "He's getting out the car, unhinged behaviour."

• "Ah, the bridge is ruined. My crystal ball was right."

• "Why did no one help him secure the cellar door?"

• "Imagine being able to sleep after that."

• "How about they all stay back from the windows?"

• "This cabin's not that big. How come they keep losing each other?"

• "He just did a judo throw on that thing."

• "She's eating her own hand!"

• "Is that sword the key to defeating them?"

• "Oh, never mind."

• "They're never getting their deposit back."

• "Couldn't the burying of the body parts wait till morning?"

• "What's with the weird camera POVs?"

• "The ankle infection waited till he looked at it before it started spreading."

• "The zombie is making fun of him!"

• "If they let her out, I swear to god..."

• "That's it, kick her out."

• "Is she not bored, constantly peeking out of that cellar door?"

• "Now she's pretending to be asleep, how the turntables!"

• "He never buried her very deep, did he?"

• "Did he wash his face off-camera?"

• "Going back down the cellar, more madness."

• "Where'd all the blood go?"

• "That's a weird mirror."

• "So this is where 'join us!' comes from."

• "How come they're only sometimes stronger than him?"

• "The book has a tongue!"

• "Wonder what TripAdvisor score he gave."