The Evil Dead is a supernatural horror cult classic movie featuring demons, possession, and the chainsaw we've all grown to love.
Sam Raimi is credited with the original idea, having both written and directed the piece. Raimi and Bruce Campbell, the film's leading man, worked together before production to fundraise and film Within The Woods, a short concept film the two used to gather funds for a more sprawling script. Many have said that Raimi literally begged various donors for their contributions, as well as rumors that Campbell was faced with the task of asking family members for donations. The two succeeded in their fundraiser, raising right at $90,000 to film, just short of the $100,000 Raimi set out to get.
The cast and crew were almost completely made up of friends and family of the two, Campbell himself opting to Produce and play the lead role. Actors from Within the Woods found themselves landing a role in the film, as well as a few stragglers brought in by a local paper ad.
The crew originally had problems securing a filming location, but found that the state of Tennessee was quite open and excited to be on the big screen! The cabin lies just outside of Morristown, Tennessee, and today all that remains of the structure is the original brick fireplace and the massive hole in the ground that served as the cellar. Fans of the series have traveled far and wide to bring home a piece of the horror, and sadly the cabin has suffered the consequences. This property remains private, so please, admire it from the street unless otherwise invited by the owners.
Once released, the film was heralded as an instant classic. It is continuously praised for its delicate balance of horror and comedy, blending together the absurd and reality with just the right touches. Besides, what else can you really do for a possessed hand, besides hack it off?
Raimi had also impressed the critics with his unusual camera angles, dipping and swerving through thick foliage to perfectly mimic the flailing embodiment of evil.
This good fortune didn't stick with Raimi originally, as he went on to make Crimewave, which failed phenomenally at the box office. But as such, the film flopping pushed Raimi to make the Evil Dead II.
Raimi eventually hit it big in the 2000s and was chosen to direct the Spiderman trilogy from 2002 - 2007. Campbell can be spotted in all three films in a cameo appearance. The two have never strayed too far from one another, as they've made it a habit of making appearances on one another's projects over the decades.
The Sequels
Campbell and Raimi converged again in 1987, only six years after making the original The Evil Dead, to film The Evil Dead II. It was wildly successful and was followed by the Army of Darkness after another six years, in 1993.
The Unofficial Sequels
Joe D'Amato's company Filmirage released three sequel films in Italy. Here the film was known as La Casa, D'Amato produced Ghosthouse (La Casa III) and Witchery (La Casa IV) in 1988, followed by Beyond Darkness (La Casa V) in 1990. As a result, House II was re-released in Italy under the moniker La Casa VI, as well as The Horror Show was released as La Casa VII. Way to keep it simple, guys.
As always, The Evil Dead serves as a phenomenal mash-up of kooky, wtf-just-happened? horror with just the right dash of comedic timing. And the Sequels continue in the same vein of horror-comedy with a serious side of WTF?! Along came the television continuation of the films, Ash VS The Evil Dead, in which Ash (still played by Bruce, of course) and his ragtag team of youthly slayers fight the Evil Dead episode after episode. And just this year we got the best news of all of 2020, which was that Evil Dead: The Game was announced. It's set to be released next year and we can't wait to get our hands on it.
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