Listen up, kids, because I'm only going to say this once: If you want to see an 80's film about demons, college students, and a very manly man with a very womanly name, then you need to pick up a copy of The Evil Dead (also, loosen up your standards a little). The story follows a group of college students on their weekend trip into the woods. While there, they discover The Necronamican (seen left), a book which if read has the power to bring the souls of the dead into our world. If you're on the edge of your seat, nervously biting the end of your nails in anticipation of what's going to happen next, you're an idiot with no concept of narrative structure or plot conflict...just see the movie.
Although this movie isn't afraid to touch on the heavy subjects (friendship, morality in the face of death, and demons raping women via posession of trees), it's more of a comedy than anything else. The protagonist Ashley, a role shared both by Bruce Campbell and his massive chin, is nothing more than a bumbling idiot who runs around melodramatically while fake blood is thrown on him by the bucket-full. The biggest question is if this is a failure of a horror movie that takes itself way too seriously, or is it a brilliant stroke of cinematic genius that dosn't take itself seriously enough? Consider the follwing:
1. The role of Ashley's girlfriend is played by two people whose hairstyles couldn't be more different.
2. Immeditely after crying over the loss of his girlfriend, Ashley proceeds to beat the demon she's become with a log. Not a twig, not a stick, not anything you'd normally use beat the living dead...but an ENTIRE LOG.
3. A tree rapes a girl. I'll be the first to admit that this was a very uptight girl who was stuck as a third wheel and probably needed to get laid (hell, I know I) would in that situation), but I've never seen anything to make me believe that demons are posessing trees in order to live out some sick, twisted, cross-dimensional fantasy.
Conclusion: Absurd though it may be, this movie is brilliant. If demons frighten you, you'll be scared. If they don't you'll be rolling on the floor.
B+ for Cinematic Form
A for Entertainment Value
A+ because Bruce Campbell has a chin with a mind of its own
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