The Evil Dead

The first half is excellent. With a minimum of resources, Raimi manages to evoke an oppressive atmosphere of fear. The tree rape scene is something that is not easily forgotten. But the second half is terribly jumbled, as if Raimi didn't know what he wanted to do and was paying for his inexperience as a filmmaker. What I mean is that the scenes are poorly sequenced. In one scene there is a brutal death, and in the one that immediately follows, the characters look uninterested, as if not much had actually happened a few minutes before. I consider Evil Dead to be merely a good, not great, precursor to the flawless sequel. (06/27/2002)

I get why this film has cult status, but for me it’s not worthy of a full score. The first half was great, but the second has several dull moments, the plot gets stuck somewhere and all I could do was wait for an ending that was clear. The final disintegration of the demons didn’t have any atmosphere due to the not very good special effects. It needs a remake, those special effects today don’t work as they should. (01/03/2008)

When I saw this legend of B-movie horror films in 1990 for the first time, to this day a functional genre cult, I was perplexed. Now that I have repeated this experience, my doubts are still there. I consider Evil Dead to be an amateur film that fails fatefully in all the aspects that are important to me. Terrible acting performances, a nonexistent script, cheapness, the idiocy of the film characters - should I continue? Even that one star I'm giving it is not for any merits because the film is bad and is taken seriously to the extent that it is somewhat amusing in its twisted way. Nevertheless, Sam Raimi showed here (at least in his camera work) that he has filmmaking in his blood, and when he adds enough perspective (which he already demonstrated in the sequel of the same title) and gains some experience, he can shoot in a grand style. Overall impression: 10%. (07/08/2013)

It takes a pair of balls to make meat like this on a budget of $375k, and for a then !!! twenty-two year old !!! The Evil Dead was a dream come true for Sam Raimi, as he and Bruce Campbell had saved up for it during their high school years and largely financed the entire project themselves. To be honest, I didn't believe it could be that good :))), however, already here, in Raimi's first "major" film, you can see his unmistakable style, some excellent directorial ideas, and an amazing ability to create, in conjunction with the sometimes quite unpleasant music :)), a great atmosphere that will have you gasping from the first minutes. An absolutely stunning work for its time, and one that has given Sam Raimi a reputation as one of the most interesting icons of film directing. (02/09/2010)

Crazy affair, changing from atmospheric horror to slasher to splatter finale, holds together only thanks to occasional crazy idea. Raimi delivers fresh ideas but lacks balance. Campbell has charisma, but others around him only fulfill the role of background. As for the suspense, the best for me was probably laughing Linda between the doors, the thought of which still makes me laugh and scared at the same time. But the highlight remains the last visit to the basement before Raimi unleashes his gallery of disgust. The atmosphere there is palpable. In the final evaluation, it is a weaker horror, where the viewer can fully enjoy grabbing different limbs and later their separation. And even though I enjoy being scared of what I can't see, it's disappointing when I don't find out anything at all. (03/22/2006)