Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly
• Directors: Sam Raimi
• Writers: Sam Raimi
• Producers: Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, Gary Holt, Irvin Shapiro, Robert G. Tapert
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, THX, Widescreen
• Language: Italian (Unknown), English (DTS 5.1), English (THX Surround EX)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: March 5, 2002
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (738 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005R24K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,150 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #82 in Movies & TV > DVD > Horror
• Learn more about "The Evil Dead" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the fall of 1979, Sam Raimi and his merry band headed into the woods of rural Tennessee to make a movie. They emerged with a roller coaster of a film packed with shocks, gore, and wild humor, a film that remains a benchmark for the genre. Ash (cult favorite Bruce Campbell) and four friends arrive at a backwoods cabin for a vacation, where they find a tape recorder containing incantations from an ancient book of the dead. When they play the tape, evil forces are unleashed, and one by one the friends are possessed. Wouldn't you know it, the only way to kill a "deadite" is by total bodily dismemberment, and soon the blood starts to fly. Raimi injects tremendous energy into this simple plot, using the claustrophobic set, disorienting camera angles, and even the graininess of the film stock itself to create an atmosphere of dread, punctuated by a relentless series of jump-out-of-your-seat shocks. The Evil Dead lacks the more highly developed sense of the absurd that distinguish later entries in the series--Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness--but it is still much more than a gore movie. It marks the appearance of one of the most original and visually exciting directors of his generation, and it stands as a monument to the triumph of imagination over budget. --Simon Leake

Product Description

Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss. A cassette tape filled with satanic incantations leads to unspeakable horror for four teens. Digitally remastered. Includes original theatrical trailer. 1982/color/85 min/UR/widescreen.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 131 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Widescreen & Full-screen April 23, 2004

By A Customer

Format:DVD

This is one of the greatest horror films ever made. Some people may find the special effects work primitive by todays standards, but for a low-budget film as this is they are excellent and charged with a weirdly supernatural energy; something one never sees today in the big production horror films.

However, this review is mainly going to be about the picture format. Evil Dead was filmed in 16mm, which is a full-screen format, not widescreen.
BEWARE of the so called "widescreen" versions: Book of the Dead Limited Edition, and the other editions from Anchor Bay. Nothing has been added to sides of the picture to make it wider; instead the top and bottom of the film have been cut away to make it look like a modern theatre film. Instead of more, you actually gett less. In some parts of the movie this makes an important differance; in the close-ups of faces, parts like the chins are now gone (...); other important details also disappear, like when the trap-door in the floor opens and we look down into the cellar, the lower edge of the opening is gone, so we don't see the entrance in its whole.

The full-screen version is still available, with excellent picture quality, in the Elite Entertainment edition.

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Join Us! Join Us in Blu-Ray! August 31, 2010

By A Thorough Reviewer

Format:Blu-ray

A couple of months ago it was announced that Evil Dead was coming out on Blu-Ray. I confess that I was not very excited due to the fact that I had a copy of the HDTV broadcast of Evil Dead and didn't expect much of an improvement. Yet I decided to pick up a copy at my local DVD shop. With little excitement, I nonchalantly put the disc in my Blu-Ray player and sat back. Unlike some other Blu-Rays, this one had didn't have to take time loading and immediately went to previews of horror movies. I skipped through these and went to the menu. When the menu started playing, my spirits immediately were uplifted. The menu had the same music as the one in the Ultimate Edition over a nice collection of suspenseful moments in the film with a sepia filter over them. I decided to watch the full screen version.
The moment the movie started I was shocked. The once blurry and pink Renaissance logo and Evil Dead title were now sharp red. I was intrigued. As the movie proceeded, I was thoroughly amazed, this is and probably will always be THE BEST PICTURE QUALITY THAT EVIL DEAD WILL BE PRESENTED IN. I highly doubt that a film shot on 16mm can be up-converted beyond this; however, don't get me wrong, this isn't reference quality Blu-Ray, it's very far from it. There is plenty of grain that is inherent to 16mm film. Apparently Sam Raimi really did supervise this transfer well. It no longer suffers from the problems evidenced in the widescreen Anchor Bay releases and surpasses even the Elite DVD in sharpness. The color timing is spot on and is probably what was intended. For example, at the end, the sky is white rather than pinkish like in the Elite DVD. Additionally, reds do not bloom as in the Ultimate Edition transfer and HDTV broadcast. In case you are wondering, I did compare this with the aforementioned HDTV broadcast, and the difference is like night and day. It reminds me of the difference between the original Anchor Bay DVD release with the vastly superior Elite DVD. Finally, I am pleased to say that this transfer does not use HEAVY DNR (grain reducer) unlike the Evil Dead 2 transfer (which makes me hope that Anchor Bay will re-release Evil Dead 2 on Blu-Ray with a new transfer by Sam Raimi. The Dolby True HD sound mix was immersive and very impressive; although, I am disappointed that the mono mix was not included for purists' sakes.
After finishing the movie, I watched it again in widescreen with the commentary. The widescreen video is exactly the same as the full screen video quality, so I suspect Sam Raimi supervised both of them. The commentary was informative and had it's moments. Although I enjoyed it thoroughly, it is nowhere near as good as the Evil Dead 2 commentary, which is in my opinion the best commentary ever.
The Evil Dead is a horror masterpiece. Though lacking in acting, it makes Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street look like the comedies they really are. It showed that horror should have no boundaries through the very raw talent of Sam Raimi. This rawness resembles the similar rawness Stephen King (who incidentally endorsed this movie) used in his (in my opinion) best novel Carrie. It gets to our horror tolerance limits then breaks them. Bruce Campbell brings a certain charm and innocence to the role of Ash that makes his character the best male horror protagonist.
With that, I am glad to say that Evil Dead has finally gotten the release it deserves. Now, JOIN US!!!

57 of 65 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Yet a Fan of This Cult Flick? "Join Us!" November 14, 2004

By Michael R Gates VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Even though it's been more than 20 years since its original release, 1982's THE EVIL DEAD is still an impressive marvel of low-budget filmmaking. It does have its palpable flaws, but this first feature-length directorial effort from SPIDERMAN's (2002) Sam Raimi, produced on a shoestring budget of circa $350,000, offers clever special FX, interesting make-up work, relentless shocks, and brilliant direction and camera work. And of considerable note to genre fans, it highlights Raimi's knack for pushing violence and gore to such an extreme that it becomes comic or farcical, a characteristic that is enhanced by the slapstick talents of actor Bruce Campbell (who would himself become a cult hero due to his work in this and other Raimi films).

The story involves a group of college students who, during a weekend getaway, find a Sumerian Book of the Dead in an old wilderness cabin they've rented. When they unwittingly unleash evil spirits and demons while reading incantations from the book, that's when the real havoc--and the real fun for the audience--begins. As each of the kids, one by one, are possessed by the demons they've loosed, body parts and bodily fluids go a-flying until only one young man is left to face down the Evil Dead. A simple plot with a simple set up, but Raimi and Campbell effectively milk it for all the scares and all the laughs they can get.

There are several editions of THE EVIL DEAD available on DVD, most of which come from the wonderful folks at Anchor Bay. Most are of great quality and offer beautifully restored digital transfers of this cult classic. The best discs also include feature commentaries from Raimi and Campbell.