In the midst of Evil Dead Rise on the horizon, the Halloweenies return to the cabin once more. This time, however, they talk about the magical forest. In particular, those amazing graphics that put Dead into Evil Dead. The evil of Evil Dead. From the DIY chaos of the original film of 1981 to the literal jaw-dropping madness by KNB No thing is ignored.
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I'm finding myself enthralled by my personal choice of the greatest horror movie ever the film from 1981, The Evil Dead, more and more each time that I watch it. This is the case for the sequels (Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) and soft reboot from 2013, which I do not really consider a true remake, but would count in the top ten top remakes of horror movies if I did. I also find myself noticing something new about this saga of intensely gory and often humorous stories of demonic possession each viewing, too.
Rewatching the original four Evil Dead movies in preparation for the quickly approaching five-parter, Evil Dead Rise -the only that I'm anticipating the most -- was certainly not an exception. So, how about you simple screwheads take the time to go through this list of the cool things that came to me while rewatching one of the best horror movie franchises in history? Let's begin at the beginning.
A few might write off The Evil Dead as just another cabin in the woods thriller, but a more thorough examination of the frightening, seminal classic reveals just how intricate director and writer Sam Raimi's screenplay is. For instance, the film's clever use of foreshadowing, an aspect of the narrative that I hate to admit did not dawn on me until this latest rewatch. I like the way that the film hints at Cheryl Williams' (Ellen Sandweiss) eventual fate when she observes the door to the cellar opening and closing on its own early on, and when her older brother, Ash (Bruce Campbell playing the part that made him a great horror film icon), finds a drawing within the Necronomicon which resembles the book as it "comes to life" at the very closing.
It is not that I've never noticed the way blood flows from the possessed Scotty's (Richard DeManincor, also known as Hal Delrich) stomach wound like a faucet up to now. But this was the first time I really focused on the incident. I suppose I was amazed by the look of blood that has an equivocation to cherry Kool-Aid instead of dyed corn syrup and I think I appreciate the distinctiveness of it more than ever before even though the blood looks more medically accurate in the rest of the series.
Another shot from the visceral final sequence from The Evil Dead that has always amazed my is when arms explode appear out of Cheryl and Scotty's deadbeat Deadite themselves. For a long time, I chalked this up to being yet another reflection of the extraordinary visual skills of director Sam Raimi however, it dawned on me on this rewatch that these are demon arms and specifically, those of the demons that possessed Ash's companions. Have you ever seen something as terrifyingly bizarre in a supernatural horror movie that deals with demonic possession, like, say, The Exorcist? I doubt it.