Write a commentIt started as just a normal Wal-Mart trip...
My parents weren't exactly puritanical, however, they did their best to protect me, as any parents would their child. My parents knew me to be "sensitive" often and "scared" at times, so they wanted to shield me from certain things. I'm not exactly positive that this was the best course of action, or that they were entirely successful, considering their attempts to protect me were frequently thwarted by my close friends.
My core group of friends in middle school through college definitely kept my parents on their toes. While the usual drinking and partying ended up being issues later in life, when I was still in middle school, it was exposure to "bad" movies. Horror, for the most part, was off limits to me. My father relegated me to John Carpenter's Halloween, The Twilight Zone and Hitchcock films. One of my cousins was very much into the Friday the 13th franchise, but my father said they were "trash" and didn't want me to watch them. He wasn't entirely wrong. Trash can be fun.
It became somewhat of a game between my parents and I. They'd allow me to buy movies but I would have to watch those movies with them. If they were inappropriate by their standards, I wouldn't be able to watch it until I was 17. This same nonsense happened when I bought myself a copy of The Killing Joke at our local comic shop and my father saw Commissioner Gorden tied up, causing him to hide it on me. My father died in 2009 and the hiding place died with him because I surely can't find it.
Sometimes, I'd be able to sneak one under the radar. One that my parents really didn't have any interest in and, sometimes, the cover was goofy enough that they didn't care. In what seems now like a bygone era, Wal-Mart used to do displays of horror movies on VHS for Halloween promotions. You'd see shelves that would be a nightmare for someone with OCD: candy corn, plastic pumpkin, Reese's Peanut Butter cups and The Exorcist III. None of it made any sense, that is unless you take into consideration how much effort your average retail worker puts into their jobs.
It was a couple of weeks before Halloween and my mother and I were in Wal-Mart randomly. Halloween time has always been my favorite time of year so I was always looking for something new to pique my interest. On one of these random displays, I found a VHS copy of The Evil Dead. The cover was definitely a bit goofy. A man with an axe and a shotgun standing on what's clearly a set. The tagline of "THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE IN GRUELING TERROR" was at the bottom.
Even as a high schooler, I knew of the concept of "fluffing". Essentially, people trying to sell their movie. There are all kinds of movies out there with amazing or evocative taglines and the movies are usually pretty bad. But, i was willing to give The Evil Dead a chance because I liked Army of Darkness, which is the third in the Evil Dead series.
Can't be that much different, right?
Once I got home, I brought the VHS straight upstairs and into my room, as though putting it upstairs was hiding it from my parents. Because my room was pretty cramped, I decided to watch it in my parents' bedroom. I just had to be wary. Sometimes they'd just come into the room without knocking. I didn't know what was going to be on screen if they did.
The next 85 minutes changed my life. As hyperbolic as that sounds, it's completely true. The Evil Dead is a technical marvel. For all the stuff the filmmakers accomplished on such a small budget, it's mind-boggling. Often, we hear about low budget movies that yield major box office hits, but movies like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Obsession don't have an ounce of the inventiveness of Raimi's camerawork. That's not to poo-poo these other films, but you have to stand in awe of what Raimi and his crew accomplished.
The plot is incredibly simple. Five friends go to a cabin in the woods, read from a cursed book and demons start to possess the friends one-by-one. The only way to stop the possession is to kill and dismember the physical bodies. In lesser hands, this could be a very boring and maybe even pedestrian film. It's unlike any of the current horror output. The characters aren't trying to escape trauma, they don't have some shady past. It's just five semi-likeable young adults. I say "semi-likeable" because the characters make some questionable decisions. Of course, for there to be a movie, the characters have to be at least a little dumb. Even prior to seeing this film, I don't think I'd start reading from a book or listening to a reel-to-reel recording of someone reading it. Honestly, seeing the Necrinomicon at all would likely inspire me to get out of Dodge, with or without my friends in tow.
And while the characters themselves can be a bit difficult to understand or identify with, Ash Williams, portrayed by Bruce Campbell, rises to the top, mainly by merit of surviving to the end. I'll probably write a more in-depth review of something else Campbell has been in to fully express my feelings about the man, but over all the movies I've watched in my life, I'd have to say he's one of the most underrated actors I know. Even in this first film, you can see how Campbell commands the screen. You care about whether or not Ash gets out of the situation. You fear what's next because of Campbell. Campbell is put through so much as an actor through this film (and the series at large), it's kind of amazing he and Raimi remain friends to this day. The Ash character is put through so much, mentally and physically, that you can't help but root for him as the film goes on. Sure, there are some amateur theatrics at times, but this performance is more an introduction of what Campbell could do and what we see a lot more of in the subsequent sequels.
Watching this the first time, I was terrified beyond words. I let the credits continue until the tape stopped itself and automatically rewound. I kinda didn't know what to do. For all I know, me watching the movie could have sent out the demon signal and now my family were Deadites. I had no idea. I isolated myself in that stupid bedroom and now had no idea what was going on outside of it. The door to the room had been haphazardly painted and the second floor of our house was always a bit humid so the paint of the door would stick to the paint of the threshold when you shut it. As if on cue, the door opened and I jumped away from it. It was my father.
"Just getting some underwear. Calm down," he said.
As he walked in, he picked up the case for the VHS. He looks at me suspiciously. "Does your mother know you bought this?"
I said, "Yeah."
He said, "But does she know what it is?"
"Yeah. It's a horror movie."
My father's eyes narrowed. He knew something was up. "You scared?"
"Yes."
"Well, that'll teach you for trying to get one over on your mother and me."
He went to his dresser, pulled out a pair of boxers and walked out. I was still in shock. The Evil Dead has that effect, and that's exactly why it remains a classic to this day.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly
Runtime: 85 minutes
MPAA Rating: NC-17 (for substantial graphic horror violence and gore)
Rating (out of ****): ****
The Evil Dead is available on all major streaming platforms to rent and buy. It also is available to purchase on Blu-Ray and 4K.
