The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead (1981) is a raw, relentless horror film about five friends who retreat to a remote cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an ancient evil. While exploring the cellar they find a decaying book — the Necronomicon, or “Book of the Dead” — and an old tape-recorded translation of its incantations. Playing the tape releases a malevolent force that gradually possesses the group, turning friends into violent, flesh-ruining “deadites.” What follows is a nightmarish, escalating fight for survival as paranoia, body horror, and bloody set-piece kills pick the characters off one by one until only a single desperate survivor remains. Watching the movie is an intense, claustrophobic experience: Sam Raimi’s kinetic camerawork and inventive low-budget effects create frenetic suspense and grotesque practical gore. Expect jump scares, relentless tension, increasingly surreal and violent possession sequences, and a bleak, unrelenting atmosphere. The film is gritty and uncompromising — disturbing at times (including an implied sexual-assault scene handled implicitly rather than graphically) — and has since become a landmark cult classic for fans of visceral, old-school supernatural horror.

Actors: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor

Director: Sam Raimi

Runtime: 85 min

Genre: Horror

6.6 /10 71 /100 7.4 /10 7.0 /10