I always seem to prefix horror movie reviews with the same
statement and here it is. I don’t really like horror movies. I don’t like to be
scared and horror movies scare me. Now that’s out of the way I can spring a
little surprise and say that watching The
Evil Dead was just about as much fun as I can remember having with a movie,
possibly ever. It’s fantastically gory and over the top as well as being
hilariously and outrageously funny to boot. I watched the movie for two
reasons. The first was to try and expand my cinematic viewing (horror is the
only genre I generally avoid) and the second was to make sure I saw the
original before the remake Evil Dead
hits cinemas next month. I’m really glad that I saw this terrific movie before
the remake.
The story will sound very familiar as the concept has been
copied hundreds of times over the last thirty years but basically five college
students head to a cabin in he woods for a break and things start going bump in
the night. Shortly after arriving they discover some creepy looking items in
the cellar which include a tape recorder on which a scientist documents strange
goings on in the woods. What follows is an hour of gory, gruesome and genuinely
mirthful slayings as the kids battle the demonic forces that lurk in the woods.