The Evil Dead (1981)

Directed by: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell

*

The Evil Dead is the movie that every film student tries to make. Unfortunately, I think a film student did make this. No disrespect to Sam Raimi since even in the bad movies he's made, I've recognized a conscious ability. If nothing else, he knows how to put together a structured story. He's also somewhat of a master at the suspense element of horror films.

In The Evil Dead, a group of friends make their way through the deep south forest, drive over a dangerous bridge in an old car that's certainly going to have problems starting later on, and arrive at a spooky cabin that's hardly fit for living and definitely not suitable for a nightly getaway. Why people go to these settings is one of the biggest mysteries of the horror genre, perhaps second only to why they stay. The groups discovery of a book and tapes recounting evil events that happened in the past involving demons sets off the suspense that makes up the entire majority of this film not including the films climax.

What Raimi does well is building up suspense and revealing nothing. Its this that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat but makes you aware of the fact that eventually there is going to be a payoff... something will be revealed. With that in mind, even though you know whats coming, you eventually get to the point where you aren't sure when. Unfortunately, this lone positive quality of the film is overshadowed by the numerous negative qualities.

First and most obvious is the autrocious performances, the first of several student film elements that Raimi includes. To be more specific, there were two points when I considered quitting on this film, the first was when I didn't think I could listen to the characters talk to each other anymore, and the second is when I got sick of the gore (another student film element that I'll discuss). Bruce Campbell is Ash. He's not a hero or even the protagonist. For much of the film, he's really kind of a pussy who stands in the corner and watches his friends get killed by zombies. I'm convinced the only reason he lives the longest is because he stays out of the way. Its hard to stay invested in a character during battle when he's shown no signs of leadership or ambition towards solving the conflict at hand.

As the movie rolled on, there were points were I started to think that perhaps there was a method to the madness that I was watching. Simple foreshadowing came full circle on a couple of occasions. Both times it was unexpected which is a sign of foreshadowing done well, but again, this comes back to my commending Raimi for his story structure. Any hope I had for this film however came to a end when the what should have been five to ten minute climax turned out to be twenty five minutes of zombie blood spilling all over the screen. The ability to make blood look realistic doesn't necessarily mean it should be used in the abundance it was. Film students don't understand this... Raimi should have. When the amount of bloodshed starts to gross out someone with no issue with gore in films, it might be a sign that it was overdone.

The Evil Dead isn't a student film, its just made like one. All its missing is a pretentious ending and a bad film transfer. As I said in my review of Army of Darkness, however, there is a structured story but again... it can't save this one. Maybe I just don't like these types of movies, but at the same time, I'm really beginning to have trouble understanding the reasoning behind their followings.