Evil Dead (1981)

A very basic story and plot surrounding five college aged adults who are on vacation and staying in a cabin deep in the Tennessee woods. They unknowingly release a demon when they play a tape recorder they find in the cellar. After that all hell breaks loose.

The atmosphere, I think, is the scariest thing about this movie. It takes place deep in Tennessee woods and most of the film takes place at night. Throwing into the mix demons and no way out. how can you not be scared?

Bruce Campbell, acclaimed B movie actor and star of the "Adventures of Brisco County Jr." got his debut role in this film as Ash . In a role that could either make the movie or break it, he definitely pulled it off . Ellen Sandweiss, who played Cheryl, the first girl to be possessed, will forever haunt me. Betsy Baker whose dialogue consist of laughter and not much else adds to the eerie feel of this movie and seriously freaked me out as a preteen. It was also one of the few times I have ever been hysterical about not wanting to see something again. Luckily it doesn't have that same affect on me today. The remaining two characters played by Hal Delrich and Theresa Tilly, as Scotty and Shelly, seemed mostly like filler characters.

In my opinion this film was beautifully shot. There were at least seven or eight times that I jumped and screamed while watching this film. They took a beautiful location and made it horrifying. If not for seeing this movie, it might have been a place I would have liked to vacation at. That being said I have no urge to vacation in a secluded cabin in the woods anytime soon.

The special effects in this movie leave a little to be desired, at the end. The rest however are great, especially for being made in 1981. The make-up and eye contacts were awesome and very scary. The music wasn't that great but the rest of the movie more then made up for it.

This movie is a classic horror film, the first full-length feature of the great horror director Sam Raimi. One of the scariest movies ever. In my opinion it's second only to "The Exorcist". If you're a horror fan and haven't seen this movie, you're doing yourself a great injustice. Without question this movie deserves 4/5 stars.