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Evil Dead(1981) Viewing Thoughts
12 years ago
There are only two series of films I’ve seen from Sam Raimi and these would be the Spiderman movies starring Toby McGuire and the Evil Dead series starring Bruce Campbell. Evil Dead as a series has spawned a couple sequels, a loyal cult following, and a remake in the works. A major contrast between the original and the sequels are that while the sequels play up the horror aspect for laughs, Evil Dead does it strictly for horror. During it’s release, however, investors of the film complained that even Evil Dead was silly in concept—that he had made a comedy in place of a horror(the claims were rescinded after Sam Raimi claimed it was something that was made to sell). I, however, am of the view that not only is Evil Dead scary as a B-Horror film, but it terrifies us subconsciously, transcending to a piece of cosmicism. To understand this, we must explore the outline of the film, its history, the elements within the film and contextual, outside forces that played their part in constructing this beautifully dark film.
The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film directed by Sam Raimi and starring his childhood friend, Bruce Campbell. Ash is accompanied by his girlfriend, Linda, his sister Shelly, and his best friend Scotty accompanied by Cheryl. To celebrate their spring break, the five of them journey out into the hill country of Tennessee and rent out an old cabin out in the middle of the woods. Unbeknownst to them, there is a great evil that lurks in those woods. All it takes is the opening of the “Book of the Dead” and death is unleashed upon them. Every single one of them becomes subjected to possession by ancient demons except for Ash, who manages to destroy the Book of the Dead and outlast the others until first light. Though he seems victorious, the demons manage to take him anyway.
Definitely reflecting the atmosphere of many old B-Horror movies, Evil Dead was a film that had been developed for about four years in various experimental films. Raimi and Campbell worked together on many shorts in the early days such Six Months to Live(1977) and It’s Murder!(1977). It was during the filming of a suspense scene that Raimi had a revelation like how Doc Brown hit his head on the toilet and got the idea for the flux capacitor. Raimi became inspired to create true horror and this soon spawned the idea of their film short Within the Woods. Essentially a miniature version of Evil Dead produced for a measly $1,600, it’s purpose was to attract interest by financial backers to produce a more complete version. The cost for Evil Dead(At the time titled under the working title Book of the Dead) was estimated to be over $100,000. It was rejected by every mainstream American film distributor and was instead independently funded by a pool of dentists, family members and interested investors. After a screening at a film festival, the film was picked up by Palace Pictures.
Raimi certainly got creative with his low budget and ideally took inspiration from horror films that were doing well at the time such as John Carpenter’s Halloween, yet deviates towards a different type of horror altogether. When I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I talked about how the real terror came from witnessing inept victims get chopped up, devoid of common sense or any means of defending themselves. Though Ash and his friends are certainly more capable and are armed with weapons, they are still inept in the face of these demons which are implied to be unstoppable when awakened. In spite of what he learned, Ash did not understand the demons’ connection with the Book of the Dead. Destroying it proved inconsequential as did waiting it out until the dawn since they managed to get to him by the end of the movie. This force could have very easily killed Ash to begin with; instead, it chooses to toy with him, taunting him with the mocking laughter of his possessed friends, clawing at his body and mind but not to kill. For whatever reason, it wants him to live long enough to see the insignificance of fighting it and drive him to the brink of insanity—to make him willing to “Join us”. This is where the movie separates from previously mentioned horror films. Unlike something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre where insanity is the byproduct of the horror, Evil Dead’s insanity is the horror.
The fear, then, is not within the monsters or the demon itself but rather the unknown. To explore the unknown is a journey to realizing our own insignificance as human beings—to be at the mercy of this vast, alien universe. This movie takes place in the middle of nature, and vast camera shots showing its vastness and quaint presence contrast with the rotting cabin full of rusting weapons and power tools. The demons’ ability to possess the trees, people, machines and inanimate objects connect with nature’s indifference to our own existence. When we are dead and gone, nature will go on and the planets and stars will go on and the demons will also remain. Nothing that we do, then, will ever accomplish anything. The more we try to reach outward to understand this universe and ourselves—to fight this revelation—the more alien it all seems. Those who journey on this edge will usually die—if they’re lucky, that is. We can only imagine the fate that befalls Ash after this journey through the heart of the unknown. This is the true essence of cosmicism.
On another example of this philosophy, I would like to bring up a short story called Rats in the Walls. In this short story, the scion of the De La Poer family inherits the Exham Priory and is plagued by the sounds of rats clawing into the walls. In time, an investigation beneath the home reveals a necropolis of sub-human ranches. At this sudden realization of his true heritage and the legacy of his family, the scion goes insane and begins to eat his friend Captain Norris. During this episode, he had this to say:
“…No, no I tell you I am not that daemon swineherd in the twilit grotto! It was not Edward Norrys’ fat face on that flabby fungous thing! …Curse you, Thornton, I’ll teach you to faint at what my family do!...’Sblood, thou stinkard, I’ll learn ye how to gust…wolde ye swynke my thilke wys?....Magna Mater! Magna Mater! Dia ad aghaidh’s ad aodaun…Atys…ungl…ungll..rllh…chchch…”
–Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft
In spite of the horror and his clear guilt of the crime, the scion pleads his innocence that it was not him who ate his friend but the rats—those daemon rats which continue to plague him. Gnawing, biting, clawing, screeching at his mind and never letting him sleep. Much like this and many other works such as The Call of Cthulu or the Raven, it is not the dead city or the bird that we are afraid of but rather the alien nature of it. In the case of Evil Dead, once again, we speak of the demons themselves and the Book of the Dead.
The connection between the Book of the Dead and Evil Dead is quite clearly a reference to the Necronomicon, another work created by the author of Rats in the Walls, the Call of Cthulu, and the philosophy of cosmicism—H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was a man born in the late nineteeth century and died at the age of 47. During this period he wrote a long list of short stories which were, at the time, dubbed science fiction. Many of his works did not become popular until after his death, but it was the establishment of the “Cthulu Mythos” which brought him to fame—accounts of beings of unchecked power and incomprehensible form from other dimensions and other worlds. Once, they ruled the earth but were usurped by other forces. But they do not ever die; in fact, some are merely imprisoned. Worse still, their influence can be felt among cultists, both archaic and civilized, all of whom are bent to see the return of these Old Ones. The Necronomicon itself—a grimoire said to be bound of human skin—is a key item that can provide these aberrations untold power if they get their hands on them but can also spell their defeat. Is this not the core principles of Evil Dead’s monsters?
This argument does not merely extend to Evil Dead, however. H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos has been one of the most influential of literature elements if not the most. It has spawned various games, comics, films and imitators who draw from inspiration from these monsters. Evil Dead is one such mainstream example which has enjoyed a strong cult following around it and the sequels which came out later, in spite of the drastic shift of tone with each movie. What could possibly drive a cult following so powerful that it would enjoy a trilogy of films? After all, this was a widely successful film that is rather normal by cult film standards.
I believe that it was Stephen King who said in his Danse Macabre that the element of horror is to break us out of the “tunnel vision” of adulthood and allow us to imagine once more in a cathartic, magical dream. Much like Ash and company’s entrance through the narrow pathway of trees, we are entering a tunnel that shrouds the true vastness of nature and its wondrous horrors. Only by Ash’s quest to find answers are we rewarded with the beautifully dark moment of the bleeding walls that asphyxiate, the endless voices that confuse, and the penetration of the watery barrier behind the mirror which expands our minds. Evil Dead II continues this trip of insanity but takes on more fantasy and the iconic chainsaw for a hand that lingers on into the Army of Darkness. The fear fades away, but the wonders of the macabre and its dark nature still exist, enticing us like children asking for more candy. For the fans of horror and the film series, Ash is our doppleganger—the character who represents us by an extreme polar opposite. We idolize and cheer for him, though we often wonder ourselves if we would ever be like him or want to. The chainsaw for a hand is as beautiful a fantasy as being sent in time to fight armies of evil undead.
Whether we are terrified or struck in awe, Evil Dead and its descendants all bring us in a safe place for everything that is negative to be unleashed and enjoyed. On its own merit, however, Evil Dead is a film that terrifies us so far deep, that it keeps us coming back to it. Unable to comprehend what it is that makes us come back, we watch it repeatedly trying to see why it scares us so. The more we try to understand the film, the more it and our minds unravel; nothing really seems real. It is a celebration of madness and the unknown that grows stronger over time, not weaken. That, in itself, is a cultist mindset. To end this essay with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, “Deep into that darkness peering, I stood there, Wondering…Fearing…Doubting…”
Bibliography
1. Bloch, Robert and Lovecraft, HP. The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. New York: Del Rey Books, 1982
2. PaulKuko. Incredibly Strange Film Show – Sam Raimi – Part 1. Youtube, April 19, 2009. March 29, 2:12 AM, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onMLQEJDQEE.
3. PaulKuko. Incredibly Strange Film Show – Sam Raimi – Part 2. Youtube, April 19, 2009. March 29, 2:32 AM, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyiWwVwqDK0.
4. King, Stephen. Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. New York: Berkley Books, 1981. p. 394-409.
The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film directed by Sam Raimi and starring his childhood friend, Bruce Campbell. Ash is accompanied by his girlfriend, Linda, his sister Shelly, and his best friend Scotty accompanied by Cheryl. To celebrate their spring break, the five of them journey out into the hill country of Tennessee and rent out an old cabin out in the middle of the woods. Unbeknownst to them, there is a great evil that lurks in those woods. All it takes is the opening of the “Book of the Dead” and death is unleashed upon them. Every single one of them becomes subjected to possession by ancient demons except for Ash, who manages to destroy the Book of the Dead and outlast the others until first light. Though he seems victorious, the demons manage to take him anyway.
Definitely reflecting the atmosphere of many old B-Horror movies, Evil Dead was a film that had been developed for about four years in various experimental films. Raimi and Campbell worked together on many shorts in the early days such Six Months to Live(1977) and It’s Murder!(1977). It was during the filming of a suspense scene that Raimi had a revelation like how Doc Brown hit his head on the toilet and got the idea for the flux capacitor. Raimi became inspired to create true horror and this soon spawned the idea of their film short Within the Woods. Essentially a miniature version of Evil Dead produced for a measly $1,600, it’s purpose was to attract interest by financial backers to produce a more complete version. The cost for Evil Dead(At the time titled under the working title Book of the Dead) was estimated to be over $100,000. It was rejected by every mainstream American film distributor and was instead independently funded by a pool of dentists, family members and interested investors. After a screening at a film festival, the film was picked up by Palace Pictures.
Raimi certainly got creative with his low budget and ideally took inspiration from horror films that were doing well at the time such as John Carpenter’s Halloween, yet deviates towards a different type of horror altogether. When I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I talked about how the real terror came from witnessing inept victims get chopped up, devoid of common sense or any means of defending themselves. Though Ash and his friends are certainly more capable and are armed with weapons, they are still inept in the face of these demons which are implied to be unstoppable when awakened. In spite of what he learned, Ash did not understand the demons’ connection with the Book of the Dead. Destroying it proved inconsequential as did waiting it out until the dawn since they managed to get to him by the end of the movie. This force could have very easily killed Ash to begin with; instead, it chooses to toy with him, taunting him with the mocking laughter of his possessed friends, clawing at his body and mind but not to kill. For whatever reason, it wants him to live long enough to see the insignificance of fighting it and drive him to the brink of insanity—to make him willing to “Join us”. This is where the movie separates from previously mentioned horror films. Unlike something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre where insanity is the byproduct of the horror, Evil Dead’s insanity is the horror.
The fear, then, is not within the monsters or the demon itself but rather the unknown. To explore the unknown is a journey to realizing our own insignificance as human beings—to be at the mercy of this vast, alien universe. This movie takes place in the middle of nature, and vast camera shots showing its vastness and quaint presence contrast with the rotting cabin full of rusting weapons and power tools. The demons’ ability to possess the trees, people, machines and inanimate objects connect with nature’s indifference to our own existence. When we are dead and gone, nature will go on and the planets and stars will go on and the demons will also remain. Nothing that we do, then, will ever accomplish anything. The more we try to reach outward to understand this universe and ourselves—to fight this revelation—the more alien it all seems. Those who journey on this edge will usually die—if they’re lucky, that is. We can only imagine the fate that befalls Ash after this journey through the heart of the unknown. This is the true essence of cosmicism.
On another example of this philosophy, I would like to bring up a short story called Rats in the Walls. In this short story, the scion of the De La Poer family inherits the Exham Priory and is plagued by the sounds of rats clawing into the walls. In time, an investigation beneath the home reveals a necropolis of sub-human ranches. At this sudden realization of his true heritage and the legacy of his family, the scion goes insane and begins to eat his friend Captain Norris. During this episode, he had this to say:
“…No, no I tell you I am not that daemon swineherd in the twilit grotto! It was not Edward Norrys’ fat face on that flabby fungous thing! …Curse you, Thornton, I’ll teach you to faint at what my family do!...’Sblood, thou stinkard, I’ll learn ye how to gust…wolde ye swynke my thilke wys?....Magna Mater! Magna Mater! Dia ad aghaidh’s ad aodaun…Atys…ungl…ungll..rllh…chchch…”
–Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft
In spite of the horror and his clear guilt of the crime, the scion pleads his innocence that it was not him who ate his friend but the rats—those daemon rats which continue to plague him. Gnawing, biting, clawing, screeching at his mind and never letting him sleep. Much like this and many other works such as The Call of Cthulu or the Raven, it is not the dead city or the bird that we are afraid of but rather the alien nature of it. In the case of Evil Dead, once again, we speak of the demons themselves and the Book of the Dead.
The connection between the Book of the Dead and Evil Dead is quite clearly a reference to the Necronomicon, another work created by the author of Rats in the Walls, the Call of Cthulu, and the philosophy of cosmicism—H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft was a man born in the late nineteeth century and died at the age of 47. During this period he wrote a long list of short stories which were, at the time, dubbed science fiction. Many of his works did not become popular until after his death, but it was the establishment of the “Cthulu Mythos” which brought him to fame—accounts of beings of unchecked power and incomprehensible form from other dimensions and other worlds. Once, they ruled the earth but were usurped by other forces. But they do not ever die; in fact, some are merely imprisoned. Worse still, their influence can be felt among cultists, both archaic and civilized, all of whom are bent to see the return of these Old Ones. The Necronomicon itself—a grimoire said to be bound of human skin—is a key item that can provide these aberrations untold power if they get their hands on them but can also spell their defeat. Is this not the core principles of Evil Dead’s monsters?
This argument does not merely extend to Evil Dead, however. H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos has been one of the most influential of literature elements if not the most. It has spawned various games, comics, films and imitators who draw from inspiration from these monsters. Evil Dead is one such mainstream example which has enjoyed a strong cult following around it and the sequels which came out later, in spite of the drastic shift of tone with each movie. What could possibly drive a cult following so powerful that it would enjoy a trilogy of films? After all, this was a widely successful film that is rather normal by cult film standards.
I believe that it was Stephen King who said in his Danse Macabre that the element of horror is to break us out of the “tunnel vision” of adulthood and allow us to imagine once more in a cathartic, magical dream. Much like Ash and company’s entrance through the narrow pathway of trees, we are entering a tunnel that shrouds the true vastness of nature and its wondrous horrors. Only by Ash’s quest to find answers are we rewarded with the beautifully dark moment of the bleeding walls that asphyxiate, the endless voices that confuse, and the penetration of the watery barrier behind the mirror which expands our minds. Evil Dead II continues this trip of insanity but takes on more fantasy and the iconic chainsaw for a hand that lingers on into the Army of Darkness. The fear fades away, but the wonders of the macabre and its dark nature still exist, enticing us like children asking for more candy. For the fans of horror and the film series, Ash is our doppleganger—the character who represents us by an extreme polar opposite. We idolize and cheer for him, though we often wonder ourselves if we would ever be like him or want to. The chainsaw for a hand is as beautiful a fantasy as being sent in time to fight armies of evil undead.
Whether we are terrified or struck in awe, Evil Dead and its descendants all bring us in a safe place for everything that is negative to be unleashed and enjoyed. On its own merit, however, Evil Dead is a film that terrifies us so far deep, that it keeps us coming back to it. Unable to comprehend what it is that makes us come back, we watch it repeatedly trying to see why it scares us so. The more we try to understand the film, the more it and our minds unravel; nothing really seems real. It is a celebration of madness and the unknown that grows stronger over time, not weaken. That, in itself, is a cultist mindset. To end this essay with a quote from Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, “Deep into that darkness peering, I stood there, Wondering…Fearing…Doubting…”
Bibliography
1. Bloch, Robert and Lovecraft, HP. The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre. New York: Del Rey Books, 1982
2. PaulKuko. Incredibly Strange Film Show – Sam Raimi – Part 1. Youtube, April 19, 2009. March 29, 2:12 AM, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onMLQEJDQEE.
3. PaulKuko. Incredibly Strange Film Show – Sam Raimi – Part 2. Youtube, April 19, 2009. March 29, 2:32 AM, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyiWwVwqDK0.
4. King, Stephen. Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. New York: Berkley Books, 1981. p. 394-409.
zidders
~zidders
Wow this was awesome I loved it!
