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The Evil Dead (1981)
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, and Betsy Baker. Cinematography by Tim Philo. Edited by Edna Ruth Paul. Produced by Robert Tapert. Written and Directed by Sam Raimi.
Linda (played by Betsy Baker), Scott (played by Hal Delrich), Shelly (played by Sara York), Cheryl (played by Ellen Sandweiss), and Ash (played by Bruce Campbell) venture deep into the backwoods of Tennessee to enjoy a weekend vacation in a remote cabin. Shortly after their arrival the cellar door is slammed open by an unseen force. Their investigation in the basement pays off with a strange knife, a book bound in human flesh, and tape recorder.
The group heads back upstairs to listen to the tape, which ends up being the audio journal of a professor who has recently explored the ruins of Kandar. There he discovered the Necronomicon, or the Book of the Dead, which has the power to wake demonic forces. As the professor recites passages from the book, the woods surrounding the cabin are suddenly filled with a dark and evil power that will stop at nothing to destroy the living.
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell had been making Super-8 films together since high school, and Rob Tapert was thrown into the mix during their first year of college. The group started seeing a small amount of financial success by showing their silly comedies in the campus auditorium, and as they got more comfortable on both sides of the camera the films began to get more and more ambitious. Eventually it started looking like they could actually make some money at this.
Uncertain that their unique style of humor would translate into cinematic prosperity, they decided to try a genre that seemed most likely to sell; horror. Their first attempt at horror was a seven minute short called “Clockwork”. The test film was deemed a success and Raimi and his partners began work on their first feature length project.
To show potential investors what they were capable of they assembled another short horror film, this one titled “Within the Woods”. Shot over a weekend at the Tapert family farm, “Within the Woods” was thirty two minute version of what Raimi had in mind for his full length feature. The film was shown to anyone with money to spare and after a year of promotion the young filmmakers had ninety thousand dollars to get started with. With a short script in hand, Raimi and his small crew headed down to south to film The Evil Dead.
Filming The Evil Dead would be a difficult, but their troubles wouldn’t end when production wrapped. After a twelve week location shoot, Raimi had a section of the cabin recreated in his parent’s garage so that he could finish shooting at home. When everything was in the can, Raimi took his reels to New York to use the services editor Edna Paul and her assistant Joel Coen (the beginning of their ongoing relationship). The rest of the post-production work was completed as money trickled in.
Finally, with the help of legendary film businessman Irvin Shapiro, The Evil Dead played at Cannes where it caught the eye of and earned an endorsement from horror icon Stephen King. With momentum continuing to build, the film was finally picked up and distributed by New Line Cinema. The Evil Dead ended up being a respectable success both in theaters and on home video. It would also be a showcase for Raimi’s filmmaking talents and the beginning of one of the most well respected horror franchises in the history of the genre.
Budget: $350,000
Total US Gross: $2,400,000
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 85 Minutes
US Release Date: 10/15/81
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Awards: none
Tagline: The Ultimate Experience In Grueling Terror.
Quote: “Why have you disturbed our sleep? Awakened us from our ancient slumber? You will die!”
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