Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Hal Delrich, Sarah York

Director: Sam Raimi

Summary: Five vacationing college students unwittingly arouse a number of evil demons from their ancient slumber. As a result, the students are turned into hideous monsters.

Director Sam Raimi's first film has achieved legendary status since its 1982 release, and for good reason. Though perhaps not as widely seen as its two sequels, EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS, THE EVIL DEAD is arguably the best of the three. It is the story of five college-age friends who travel to a cabin in rural Tennessee where the stumble upon the Book of the Dead, an ancient tome bound in human flesh and inked in blood. After unwittingly awakening the unspeakable terror told of in the book, each of the friends is transformed into the evil dead, one by one, except for Ash (Bruce Campbell). So Ash is left with no other way to survive than to dismember the living corpses of his sister, girlfriend, and two of his friends. Shot on a shoestring budget, the film boasts some impressive camera work and extremely over the top gore effects as well as a sense of humour much more subtle than the tongue-in-cheek aesthetic of the two sequels.

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Writer-director Sam Raimi's extremely stylized, blood-soaked follow-up to his creepy Evil Deadisn't really a sequel; rather, it's a remake on a better budget. It also isn't really a horror film (though there are plenty of decapitations, zombies, supernatural demons, and gore) as much as it is a hilarious, sophisticated slapstick send-up of the terror genre. Raimi takes every horror convention that exists and exaggerates it with mind-blowing special effects, crossed with mocking Three Stooges humour. The plot alone is a genre cliché right out of any number of horror films. Several teens (including our hero, Ash, played by Bruce Campbell in a manic tour-de-force of physical comedy) visit a broken-down cottage in the woods--miles from civilization--find a copy of the Book of the Dead, and unleash supernatural powers that gut every character in sight. All, that is, except Ash, who takes this very personally and spends much of the of the film getting his head smashed while battling the unseen forces. Raimi uses this bare-bones story as a stage to showcase dazzling special effects and eye-popping visuals, including some of the most spectacular point-of-view Steadicam work ever (done by Peter Deming). Although it went unnoticed in the cinemas, the film has since become an influential cult-video favourite, paving the way for over-the-top comic gross-out films like Peter Jackson's Dead Alive.--Dave McCoy

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary With The Writer And Director And Producer, Commentary With Bruce Campbell, Talent Biographies, Theatrical Trailer, TV Spots, Fan Analysis, Discovering Evil Dead Featurette, Out Takes And Deleted Scenes, Photo And Still Gallery, 2 Easter Eggs
Year:	1982
Release Date:	September 30, 2002
Runtime:	86 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A B D 4001
Keywords:	Special, Dead, Evil, Version, General, Edition, Wide, Screen, Uncut, Horror, Occult, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Horror/Occult