I first read about Evil Dead online when I was in early high school. I was starting to get more interested in horror, but couldn't rent/ buy the films myself, so read plot synopsises or watched edited versions on tv. I never caught Evil Dead on tv, but when I turned 17, I bought up all the uncensored horror movies I could. Evil Dead being the third (Dawn and Day of the Dead being first and second). Did I mention these were on VHS? This was around 2001, I unfortunately hit the end of the VHS's life cycle and bought way too many. I actually have a lot of them, except the Dragon Ball Z ones, got rid of those to get the DVD versions, and then the season sets... and now the Kai Blu Rays, but now we're waaaaaaaay off subject.... Evil Dead.
So when I watched the movie for the first time I lived in the woods basically. My dad liked living in isolated areas, but when he moved out, my mom kept the house until my sister and I moved out. So here I am at night, basically alone, watching Evil Dead for the first time on VHS (I did this with Blair Witch Project also). The movie blew my mind with the gore and balls to the wall, non stop terror. I hadn't seen anything like it and still remains one of the my favorite horror movies.
I bought the Blu Ray a couple years ago, but didn't get around to watching the special features until now... but first lets talk about the actual film.
The Movie
Evil Dead is about a group of friends who go to a beat up cabin in the woods to basically have fun and party without being disturbed. They end up accidentally waking Kandarian demons who possess the characters one by one until only Ash, the hero of the other two movies remains. The premise of kids going into the woods and getting killed isn't all that original, but the execution makes up for this in spades.
I'm not concerned about spoilers since this movie was made before I was born, but if you don't want any, skip the entire movie section. Evil Dead was made for a relatively low budget and Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man Trilogy, Oz: The Great and Powerful) didn't have a ton of experience. The result is gritty, but well thought out. The demons alter the characters in powerful, intelligent zombies that have no control over their bodies. The only way to stop the possessed is to completely dismember them, which happens... a lot. The fact that the other characters have to chop of their friends with an axe is translated really well with dialogue.
The stop motion melt down scene at the end (as well as the battle right before) is great. The movie uses a lot of puss, which a bodily fluid you don't see in a lot of movies and is as gross as it sounds. The special effects were done really well for such a low budget, but it looked more terrifying on VHS. The Blu Ray's high resolution is not kind to this now 30 year old movie. Prosthetics can be seen on the actor's hands, separate from their actual hands. There are a lot of effects that hold up, but if you've seen it on another format, be prepared to laugh a couple times. The movie is still good, but Blu Ray does show that if the remake is good, an update isn't such a bad idea (especially since the new movie doesn't use CG, which means if it's done well, then this will be like Evil Dead back in the day, but with a decent budget).
I could talk about Evil Dead all day (or ED2 or AoD). You can sight individual scenes like when Ash has to bury Linda, the tree rape scene (yes.... there is a tree rape... not a person raping a tree...but... never mind), the melt down, when Ash starts to lose his shit due to the demons altering reality in the cabin... the list goes on.
Ash is the default hero in the other two movies, but his final place as protagonist isn't apparent at the beginning of the movie. His sister Cheryl looks to be the main character, but then she is the first to be possessed. There is sadly, no chainsaw hand replacement in this movie... actually no one is killed or hurt with a chainsaw at all in Evil Dead 1. Evil Dead 2 is thought of as more of a comedy, but has a ton of chainsaw action compared to the first movie.
This movie's place in continuity is complicated. ED2 picks up right after the end with an altered recap where only Ash and Linda (Ash's girlfriend) go to the cabin. The other 3 characters were going to be in the recap, but this was scrapped for a rebooted continuity. A couple of years ago a comic book version of Evil Dead was released (which had great art) and ended the final issue with Ash in the car sleeping with only Linda in the vehicle with him, making Evil Dead 1 a dream, but also possible a warning to Ash. I like the attempt to fit ED1 in ED2 and Army's continuity. As far as the movie goes though, it stands by itself as far as continuity goes.
Evil Dead has inspired, it has offended, it has been banned in Europe and censored in the U.S. Evil Dead encompasses our fears, but can also be humorous at the same time. Countless people have been affected by this film and now we will see a new version dropped in our laps on Friday. Hopefully it lives up to the original, but it could never replace it, nor, hopefully, will it try.
9 out of 10 dismembered body parts
The Features
The Commentary track is always what interests me on these discs. Having older movies re-released with commentary from the cast and crew as of recent is more interesting than new movies with commentary when the movie is brand new (even though, obviously it's a necessity... can't jump in a time machine and all). The commentary for this version is all about how the movie got made, but not a ton about making the movie. There is some, this is how we did this and that, but a lot of it is 'this is how we met and got money together, distribution, opening night, etc', that is interesting, but covered in the main featurette. The track is worth sitting through the movie and listening to Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi, because they seem to feed off of each other and truly seem to enjoy each other's company and input.
The main featurette on the DVD (yeah it's a DVD and not a Blu Ray for the features... which is odd), is massive and awesome. It goes through a ton of info about how the movie got made and is great for fans of the movie. One of the other segments is about the banning of Evil Dead in the UK as well as its influence on some current directors: Guest starring Edgar Wright (who I fucking adore) and Eli Roth (who I... don't like so much).
There are several convention panels, which are interesting seeing how the actors look today and interact with each other. There are make up tests and a hour of cutting room floor videos for the hard core fans.
The features are well worth the price. I HATE.... fucking HATE it when I buy a Blu Ray/DVD and there is jack shit on the disc (I'm looking at you Paranormal Activity... we know that the movie isn't real... give us a special edition of the first movie at least). I LOVE it when a Blu Ray has this much to offer. If you want to know more about the movie, this is the set for you. I'm glad I actually went back and watched all of the features.
10 out of 10 DVDs thrown into a Blu Ray set.
Watch out for the reviews for Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, plus a couple of bonus reviews this week. The week will end with reviews for The Evil Dead remake/reboot as well as for Jurassic Park 3D (which is of the original movie... not JP3... will that be called Jurassic Park 33D? I think JP: Sorry folks we kinda dropped the ball on that one 3D... would be more appropriate, but at least the Spinosaur and Pterodons are neat).
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