How crazy is it that The Evil Dead is 40 years old? I have a weird relationship with this franchise. I have seen and enjoyed all of the movies, but I watched them out of order! I first saw Army of Darkness as a teenager, then Evil Dead 2, and then the original Evil Dead! I am not sure how I ended up watching them in this order, but it meant that the original movie did not click with me like the rest of the franchise.
How to Download The Evil Dead
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also the 2023 film from the series – Evil Dead Rise.
The Movie Review
The main reason I say that is because the original Evil Dead is a straight-up horror movie, it is Sam Raimi in his directorial debut and it would unleash the legends that is Bruce Campbell on the world. By the time I saw this original movie, I was already a huge horror movie fan, but I saw the Evil Dead series as more of a comedy series than a horror.
Anyway, enough of my trip down Deadite memory lane! The plot of the original Evil Dead is cliché, but a ton of fun. We have a group of college students that are going on vacation in a cabin in the woods. This is a great idea as nothing bad ever happens in a crusty old cabin deep in the woods, does it?
Turns out that the person in this cabin before them was messing with The Book of the Dead! They find the Book of the Dead and an audio tape which they play and this unleashes the demonic force that starts causing all kinds of chaos. Look, in 2023, you do not need me to tell you what the plot of The Evil Dead is! It is people trying to fight off demonic possession and just do what they can to survive.
While The Evil Dead is more of a straight horror and actually back when this was released it was very controversial with some countries wanting it straight up banned! This movie does have that Sam Raimi vibe about it which I think is very interesting to see and while it does play it way more straight than the other movies, it does still have that Evil Dead vibe about it.
Ash Williams is our hero here and as you know, Ash is the hero of the franchise in general. Bruce Campbell is a whole lot of fun in this movie and while he is not the full wise-cracking Ash he would become. The character is there and you can certainly see the more outgoing and wild personality of Ash just dying to get out.
Speaking of “dying” the original Evil Dead well and truly brings it on the gore and horror front. The movie has some cool practical effects and some very clever camera tricks that help hide the fact this was made with a modest budget. It does look rather dated by today’s standards, but I think that just adds to the charm.
I like the original Evil Dead and I think had I watched the movies in the right order, I probably would have a lot more love and nostalgia for it. I still think that this is a good movie and one that is very important to horror movie history. I watched this again recently to help me get hyped up for The Evil Dead Rise and I still had a lot of fun with it.
