It was at some point during the mid 1980s that I first became aware of a film that would eventually become synonymous with horror in my estimation. My dad, a perennial fright fan and instructor on my road to the dark side, found it on the racks one day at the local mom and pop video store (remember those?) and brought it home. I wasn’t allowed to watch it at the time, but I can still remember listening in my bed to my mom’s screams of terror emanating from our basement living room as my parents watched it that night. Needless to say, there was no greater enticement possible. I knew right from the start that it was something I simply had to see.
My dad had a knack for picking out the best horror flicks back then, in those days of lurid VHS box covers and giant cardboard cases. He prided himself on finding this gem of a film, still rather obscure at the time. He was so blown away by it that he tried in vain whenever he could to properly convey its horrific intensity to friends and family. And I listened, trying to imagine a horror movie that could be so utterly harrowing. My experience up to that point, after all, was pretty much confined to Frankenstein and Dracula.
And so, when at last I came of age, one of the first R-rated movies I made sure to rent at the video store was Sam Raimi’s classic. Well OK, I wasn’t exactly of age yet, but let’s just say I was old enough that the guy behind the counter at the store didn’t care anymore (Hey, Video Reflections in Bensonhurst went out of business about a decade ago, I doubt anyone’s going to get into trouble over this one.) I giddily and anxiously watched the movie with my very best friend, at last able to partake in the cornucopia of horror I had heard so much about.
*listening to The Evil Dead OST as I write this*
The first half of this wonderful article perfectly describes exactly how I came to LOVE this formidable film. Although substitute the *listening to my parents watching the film in the other room* part for *listening to my uncle talk endlessly about that mysterious movie whose picture-less Beta/VHS Thorn/EMI Home Video back cover I couldn’t help but read over and over again every time I passed by the video store as a kid*. Finally peeped The Evil Dead for the first time on home video when I was 16 (after 9 years of imagining what it would be like) in what is still my most hyped up highly anticipated first viewing ever (clearly).
Needless to say, Sam Raimi’s cult masterpiece of a debut film met and exceeded the astronomical hype and “the ultimate experience in grueling horror” has earned a permanent spot as the one film I ALWAYS peep with undying delight on Halloween night (the conclusion of my third annual “31 Days of Night” horrorthon will mark the 15th Halloween in a row that I’ve viewed The Evil Dead). Only 9 more films/nights until “Scerry Xmas” finally arrives!
Also, click through to read the rest of the article and vote on the poll for your favourite film from The Evil Dead Trilogy. As is unfortunately always the case, the inferior but still fun Evil Dead 2 (which is essentially a higher budgeted but ultimately less balls-to-the-wall effective remake of the first film) is unsurprisingly winning as of this writing (I imagine whoever voted for Army of Darkness didn’t even see the first 2 films).
