The term "Video Nasty" could have been invented for The Evil Dead - the ultimate ultra low budget horror flick.
Plenty have tried to imitate The Evil Dead with variations on the formula - none have succeeded getting near to its strength as a movie (and don't get me started on The Blair Witch Project - pah!). What makes The Evil Dead so special? It certainly helps that it was a true original. The acting whilst not being outstanding even in horror movie terms, contains a certain spirit and cohesiveness which helps make the events appear believable (sort of). The tiny budget allowed the makers to concentrate their efforts on atmosphere without resource to be over elaborate (which is where bigger budget productions trying to emulate the formula always miss a trick). Also when the gore happens rather than be embarrassed by the lo-fi ness of the gore and fx, they are made to be quite wonderfully over the top. All that and a underlying sense of humour helped create a fantastic landmark piece of horror cinema.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18517 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Synopsis
Five vacationing college students unwittingly arouse a number of evil demons from their ancient slumber. As a result, the students are turned into hideous monsters.

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Customer Reviews

Wrong aspect ratio - should be 4:3
Yet another example of a film that was originally shot (and presented at the cinema) in the 4:3 aspect ratio, only to be chopped up into 16:9 for its DVD release. They did this by chopping the top and bottom of the picture, so you're actually not seeing this as the director intended.

Avoid this and buy the Elite Entertainment release that is in the correct aspect ratio of 4:3.

A work of pure genius
This film truly is what gripping horror is all about. When I first saw it my reaction was the same as when I saw the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both films were very low budget and both films have a real rawness to the camerawork and acting due to the lack of budget and acting experience. This does not detract from the film - if anything it makes even the most implausible idea real.

The stunning use of various innovative camera techniques by Raimi and the fact that you never actually see the `evil dead' that possesses the actors adds to the overall atmosphere of horror. At first I admit I did find it a tad extreme (the pencil through the ankle being a scene I found too sick - and who could forget the violation-by-tree scene - yuck!). I found after initially watching the film I concluded I did not wish to repeat the experience and I placed the DVD at the very bottom of my ever-growing DVD pile.

I then found the film started playing on my mind. I found myself thinking of various scenes as I was travelling to work and as I was walking in town. The sudden urge to re-watch overpowered me. I wanted to re-discover the events in the cabin deep in the woods, just to see what I thought of it after a repeat viewing. I took the DVD round to my friends and we all watched it. We all had the same reaction - we loved it! The story is superb, the acting is great and the film that introduces a screen legend like Bruce Campbell is a must-see for anyone!

The film really grips you especially when the first possession becomes evident. That truly is a creepy scene. Some people call this film silly (IMO that is the sequel - but that is the point of the sequel, whereas Evil Dead is supposed to be a horror film and it truly succeeds!).

This film has now piqued my interest in trying to track down some of the other `video nasties'. As well as that I have now well and truly been won over to the Evil Dead series (I had played all the computer games and decided to give this a shot due to the immense enjoyment playing the games - however I digress....). Sam Raimi is a superb director, as evident by such decent films as Darkman, Spiderman 1 and 2 (lets not mention 3) and A Simple Plan.

My conclusion: Buy this film and witness the birth of an acting legend (Brucie), a Directing legend (Sammie) and a truly enGROSSing series of films. I highly recommend the sequels as well.

One of the greatest horror movies ever made.
This is one of my favourtie horror movies of all time, and its very scary and funny. In the top 10 of horror i would definetly place this in the top 5. Its got really great gore and its genuinley very scary. A classic.