The Evil Dead (1981)
- The original script for The Evil Dead was written over a decade before production finally began in 1981.
- During the filming of The Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed a hidden easter egg referencing Sam Raimi's previous film in the background of the opening scene.
The Evil Dead is a 1981 American horror film directed by Sam Raimi in his feature debut, one of the most influential independent horror films ever made. Five college friends travel to an isolated cabin in the Tennessee woods for a weekend vacation and discover the Naturom Demonto, a Book of the Dead, and an audiotape on which a professor has recorded incantations that, when played back, awaken an evil force in the surrounding forest. One by one, the group is possessed by demonic entities, and the sole survivor Ash Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, must fight for his life against increasingly horrific manifestations of the dead.
Sam Raimi made The Evil Dead for approximately $350,000, using inventive camera techniques โ the famous "force cam," a camera mounted on a board carried by two running grips through the woods โ to create the perspective of the unseen evil presence. The film's extreme gore and relentless intensity earned it cult status and launched both Raimi and Campbell's careers. The Evil Dead earned over $29 million worldwide.
