The Evil Dead -1979

Director :  Sam Raimi

Producer : Rob Tapert

Writer : Sam Raimi

Genre Rating : NC-17

Running Time : 85 mins

Cast : Bruce Campbell, Theresa Tilly, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker

               No, they don't make 'em like this anymore, folks. This was a milestone in low-budget horror, Sam Raimi directed this 1983 horror feature fresh out of film school, and his anything-for-an-effect enthusiasm pays off in lots of formally inventive bits. The film is ferociously kinetic and full of visual surprises, though its gut-churning reputation doesn't seem fully deserved, This movie made Bruce Campbell "The Man of Horror" , and if anything the gore is too pristine and well studied, like an abstract artist mix of oozing, slimy colors, like some exotic species of new-wave Art design. There's a weird comic energy in the frenzied physical acting hysterical but comedic actors running in and out of rooms, zombies popping up from the floorboards and out of wall cabinets like jack-in-the-boxe and the mad Punch-and-Judy orchestration takes on an almost choreographic quality at times (this may be the first commedia dell'arte horror film). There are lots of clever turns on standard horror movie cliche' and formulas, and one image especially lingers in the mind, a woman splintering into an infinity of hairline cracks, like the suddenly shattered surface of a ceramic rose vase. With Bruce Campbell and Sara York. This is a must see!

10 Stars