|
| Evil Dead, The |
|
  (8/10)
|
Runtime: 85 M |
| Public Rating: 9.17 (30 votes) |
Director: Sam Raimi |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Horror |
Year: 1982 |
| Writer(s): Sam Raimi |
| Reviewed by: Timotei Centea |
| |
The horror genre allows many a filmmaker to let their wildest fantasies run loose. Even respected filmmakers like Steven Spielberg have their roots in the scream factory genre (Jaws, Duel), as it allows a green filmmakers to experiment with the craftsmanship of making a film all while entertaining the audience relatively easily. And what Jaws and Duel were to Spielberg, the Evil Dead series is to Sam Raimi.
The story, also penned by Raimi, follows a group of five youngsters in their late teens as to a cabin in the woods. Of course, as is the case in any self-respecting B-movie, they find in that cabin the Necronomicon, the famed ages-old book of the dead which contains the passages that raise the dead from their graves. Through a certain twist of fate, those words get spoken, and voilà: an unspeakable evil is revived in the forest, the dead are raised from their graves, and the forces of evil, darkness, and hell start assaulting the cabin and turning all the teens but one (Ash) into horrible, decaying zombies. All the necessary ingredients for a fun horror movie, what! It must be said, however, that the plot is nearly zero. Zilch. There is very little in the way of character development, but none is necessary. All you must know is that Ash, the only survivor, is the textbook anti-hero: he just wants to live, but when needed, he can get out of any situation. And as such, the plot is more than enough to sustain 85 minutes of zombie-bashing, killing, and general maiming.
What little can be said of the acting is that it`s perfectly serviceable for this kind of film, even if a major part of the acting process consists of screaming. Bruce Campbell is perfect for this kind of film, as his performance is both comical and hard-assed. And as for the other actors, they play the parts of rotten zombies to perfection.
Evil Dead`s direction, by Sam Raimi, can be summed up in one word: maniacal. The camerawork is some of the most nauseating, unusual, and downright bizzare this side of Fight Club. Inversions, slow-motion, and ultra-closeups are just some of the bizzare effects that he uses. As I said, Raimi used this series of film as a sharpening tool, and thus he went all-out in his experiments. And I have to say that, in the context, the bizarre direction works pretty well.
But all this talk about direction, script and acting is pretty unrelevant, since most people don`t watch this kind of horror movie in order to extract meaningful messages about life, the universe, filmmaking, or acting. They watch it to have fun, and I chose this criteria as my guiding light in reviewing this film. And I have to admit that in spite of it all, I had a ton of fun watching this film. Evil Dead is the kind of movie that you can watch with friends and have a barrel of laughs. The individual elements are mediocre, yes, but the film is such fun that it doesn`t matter. It`s the perfect kind of B-movie: a guilty pleasure. And in those terms, it succeeds admirably.
|
 Printable Version
|
Do you agree/disagree with this review of Evil Dead, The? Let your opinions be heard in our forum.
|
Buy the Poster of Evil Dead, The (Click Here)
|
|
|
|
