‘The book is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood…’
Every year on my birthday, I force my wife to sit through two or three films back to back while I bask in the warm glow of being the birthday boy. Last year it was an eclectic mix of LA Confidential, The Big Lebowski and The Karate Kid. One memorable year we watched the first four Rocky films (it was a truly wonderful time to be alive). And this year I opted for The Evil Dead – traditionally one of my favourite horror films of all time. I even have an origin story for Sam Raimi’s cult classic. When I was a young warthog, my family and I went on a family holiday to Matlock. Because I was a typically bratty teenager, I opted to spend all my holiday money on horror films so I could stay in the wooden cabin we had rented while my family went out to enjoy the holiday like normal people. And so it transpired that I literally watched all of The Evil Dead, alone, in a wooden cabin, whilst an actual thunderstorm raged outside. You couldn’t wish for a better introduction to such a seminal film. And for 90 glorious minutes, on my birthday no less, I was transported back to The Evil Dead and to that cabin in the woods, and I’m delighted to report that it is still as horrifying as ever.
When a group of teenagers, led by the hapless Ash (Bruce Campbell), decide to decamp to a remote woodland cabin, they come across an ancient book, a mysterious recording and some particularly aggressive trees.
I was worried that The Evil Dead wouldn’t live up to my memory of it, but it really is an astonishing achievement. Raimi’s direction is breath-taking, particularly when taking into account the fact that he was a 21-year-old filmmaker with hardly any previous experience. The sound editing and cinematography are truly momentous and the amateur cast strike the perfect balance between black horror and over-the-top, B movie posturing. It’s easy to see how Campbell become the star of the whole thing. Classically handsome, and with bags of charisma, The Evil Dead is just as much about Ash’s descent into hell as it is a standard cabin-in-the-woods horror movie.
Watching this again made me realise that, if anything, The Evil Dead is actually underrated. This deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as The Shining and Halloween, and Raimi’s long and successful directing career is a testament to the fact that he had something special from the very start.
A genuine horror masterpiece.