The Evil Dead

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: A group of friends heads off to spend some time at a cabin in the woods. They uncover the mysterious tapes and journal of a professor who used to own the cabin. Upon listening to the tapes, they unleash some mysterious force in the woods which slowly begins to take over each person, one by one.

Scariness factor: It's spooky. It's got a lot of incidental campy moments in it, but it definitely has some damn creepy moments.

Gross-Out Factor: Blood. Pus. Pus-y blood. Bloody pus. It's got it all. Definitely not for the squeamish. And definitely not to be watched while eating.



Complaints: Seriously: what can you really complain about when it comes to this movie? It's got gratuitous stop-animation transformation scenes. It's got blood AND pus. It's got Bruce Campbell. It's got some moments that will surprise you in how well they can creep you out. And it's got camp.

High Points: This is one of those flicks that's on most horror-movie-lovers' Top 10 lists. And with good reason. It is the movie that brings us the dawning of Ash. And despite the extreme campiness and fun silliness of the two sequels, this one is genuinely scary at times, definitely creepy, and lots of fun. Bruce Campbell is awesome, as always. It's gross and goofbally. The acting is terrible. And yet, it still manages to be spooky and creepy, with an attempted rape committed by trees, exploding demonically-possessed people, and the maniacal and kid-like laughter of Ash's girlfriend. Sam Raimi also enjoys his special fx WAY too much, making it that much more entertaining to watch.



Overall: This is a classic. If you haven't already seen this, you deserve to get your ass kicked.

Grade: A