Product Details

• Actors: Betsy Baker, Bruce Campbell, Barbara Carey, Richard DeManincor, Philip A. Gillis
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: New Line Cinema
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1999
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (585 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305095566
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,996 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #4 in	Video > Cult Movies > Landmark Cult Classics
  #16 in	Video > Cult Movies > Horror
  #17 in	Video > Horror > Things That Go Bump > Occult

• This is item 1 in The Evil Dead Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 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 (Nampa, ID United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Evil Dead (Special Edition) (DVD)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

This review is from: Evil Dead (Special Edition) (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.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic horror film. A must for collectors!, July 23, 2000

By	aaron wittenberg (portland, or) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Evil Dead (Special Edition) (DVD)

I spent some time trying to find this edition. You can find the Anchor Bay copy all over, but it is VERY lacking in features.

This DVD cost me as much as the collectors edition of The Thing, but it is SO worth it.

The bonus features include roughly 20 minutes of RAW behind the scenes footage. You can see the markings on the film go past the projector, no music, very basic. But it's very interesting to watch. In fact, many of the actors comments are left in.

Also, they include dozens and dozens of pictures. Some are just ok, others are pretty interesting. The theatrical trailer is a little different too. I've never seen that one before.

First, my biggest complaint is there is no wide screen version. Maybe wide screen versions didn't exist in 1982, I have no idea.

You can select two types of commentary. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, or Bruce Campbell. Let me just say that I was very, very disappointed with Sam and Robert. They might as well have not even bothered. During the ENTIRE movie, you could just about fit BOTH of their feedback on a single sheet of paper. Worthless. At times they would go over 5 minutes with no comments. Doesn't that totally defeat the purpose? Both men are very quiet. I wish Elite would have just scrapped them altogether. I am very glad I didn't buy it for their commentary.

Bruce, on the other hand, gave EXCELLENT commentary. Just about every single scene he gives detail. He shows you mistakes, tells you how scenes were filmed, how far apart they were, and so much more information. In fact, I learned more about Evil Dead from his commentary than from ALL the fan sites combined. He did an outstanding job telling us how they filmed it.

On with the DVD, I can't imagine someone reading these reviews who hasn't seen it. My guess is that most readers will just want to know what the DVD has to offer. If you want selection, get the Elite version. The Anchor Bay version has virtually nothing on it.

The special effects look a little more fake on DVD, but I think just about everyone knows they were very low budget. Still, the blood and guts hit home. This is an excellent late night, weekend or whatever horror flick. Not for the weak, even with the low budget special effects.

As most readers will know, Evil Dead set a standard for its extreme use of blood and guts, bodily dismemberment, acts of killing, and demonic disfigurement.

The Elite version costs more than the Anchor Bay version, but if you are a TRUE Evil Dead fan, get the Elite copy. It is far superior. You will be VERY glad you did.

Did you know they shot in at least 3 different locations? Hal and Sarah (actors) were not their real names? Betsy Bakers character had several stand ins? That there was no cellar in the actual cabin? That many of the back to back scenes were actually filmed 6 month (or years) apart? Well, you'll find out.