Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda find a log cabin in the woods with a voice recording from an archeologist who had recorded himself reciting ancient chants from “The Book of the Dead.” As they play the recording an evil power is unleashed taking over Linda’s body.
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Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Ashley ‘Ash’ J. Williams: Bruce Campbell
• Annie Knowby: Sarah Berry
• Jake: Dan Hicks
• Bobby Joe: Kassie DePaiva
• Possessed Henrietta: Ted Raimi
• Linda: Denise Bixler
• Ed Getley: Richard Domeier
• Professor Raymond Knowby: John Peakes
• Henrietta Knowby: Lou Hancock
• Dancer: Snowy Winters
• Fake Shemp (as Sid Abrams): Sol Abrams
• Fake Shemp: Josh Becker
• Fake Shemp: Scott Spiegel
• Fake Shemp: Thomas Kidd
• Fake Shemp: Mitch Cantor
• Fake Shemp: Jenny Griffith
• The Hand / The Dark Spirit / The Deer Head / The Enchanted Objects (voice): William Preston Robertson
• Luggage Monkey (uncredited): Tony Elwood
• Airport Worker (uncredited): David Goodman
• The Hand (uncredited): Gary Jones
• The Hand / Evil Ed’s Hand / Henrietta’s Long Neck Pee-Wee Head (uncredited): Gregory Nicotero
• Medieval Soldier / Possessed Rocking Chair (uncredited): Sam Raimi
• Baggage Handler (uncredited): Tom Sullivan
• Airport Worker (uncredited): Robert Tapert
• The Hand / Evil Ed’s Hand (uncredited): John W. Walter

Film Crew:

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Director of Photography: Peter Deming
• Makeup Effects: Robert Kurtzman
• Producer: Robert Tapert
• Original Music Composer: Joseph LoDuca
• Screenplay: Scott Spiegel
• Executive Producer: Alex De Benedetti
• Executive Producer: Irvin Shapiro
• Editor: Kaye Davis
• Art Direction: Randy Bennett
• Art Direction: Philip Duffin
• Set Decoration: Elizabeth Moore
• Makeup Artist: Wendy Bell
• Makeup Effects: Gregory Nicotero
• Makeup Effects: Mark Shostrom
• Makeup Effects: Howard Berger
• Makeup Effects: Aaron Sims
• Makeup Effects: Shannon Shea
• Makeup Artist: Mike Trcic
• Makeup Effects: Bryant Tausek

Movie Reviews:

• John Chard: The Flaming Groovy!

  Yes indeed, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell are back to shake some action with this remake of their own The Evil Dead (1981), only this time with more money and more overt humour. A quick prologue sets things up nicely, then BAM! Ash (Campbell) and his squeeze are in the cabin of doom and about to be part of a night of unholy demonic terror.

  It’s a nightmare of the black comedy kind, where Raimi and Campbell invite us to a party and then gleefully pummel us into submission – and we sado-masochistically enjoy it! Ash has grown a pair of cojones and decides to fight back against the demonic forces, cue mucho action with chainsaw and shotgun. There’s a quip on the tongue for our hero as well, even as he is battered from pillar to post to make the action work.

  Raimi isn’t interested in extraneous scenes or exposition, he strips it bare as the pic hurtles along, all while he brings his technical skills with camera and sound design to the fore. The humour is often outrageous, dementedly so, while it’s nice to find a group of film makers who don’t feel the need to now throw blood and guts at the screen every other scene just to make a formulaic impact.

  Bonkers, chilling and devilishly funny. 8/10

• Wuchak: RELEASED IN 1987 and written & directed by Sam Raimi, “The Evil Dead” chronicles events when two Michigan State students (Bruce Campbell & Denise Bixler) travel to a remote cabin in western Tennessee for spring break wherein they discover a copy of the Book of the Dead and an audiotape whose incantations resurrect demons in the woods. The daughter of the archeologist who made the tape (Sarah Berry) also visits the cabin with her beau (Richard Domeier) and a couple of dubious locals (Dan Hicks & Kassie Wesley DePaiva).

  The first film was low-budget, cartoony and extreme, but it was serious horror. This sequel is also cartoony and extreme, but it’s decidedly comedy horror. It’s entertaining for what it is, but it’s hindered by a confusing opening “recap” that doesn’t match the previous film. Raimi stated that he didn’t have the rights to use material from the original movie so he did a 7-minute recap with only two people instead of five (with Denise Bixler taking over the role of Linda). But there are other inconsistencies: The Book of the Dead and audiotape is found in a room rather than the basement and Ash (Campbell) later “rediscovers” that the bridge is out, which he already knew via events in the first film.

  Once you get past the awkward and perplexing set-up, the movie settles into an entertaining over-the-top gory horror comedy, which is so creative it’s as if it was made by a lunatic. Bixler is a great replacement in the role of Linda, but her part is too brief and you only catch glimpses of her stunning beauty. It took me a while to warm up to Annie (Berry), but I eventually did and she’s a worthy secondary protagonist. There are several amusing and thrilling sequences, like the demonic hand scenes.

  THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 24 minutes and was shot in Wadesboro and (studio) Wilmington, North Carolina, with supplementary work done in Detroit. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Scott Spiegel.

  GRADE: B-/C+

• tmdb40011370: Not really much of a fan of slasher/gore films, but friends suggested I give this a try purely because the film does not try to take itself too seriously, and despite the fact there is lots of gore here, none of it looked particularly realistic and only adds to the extremely black humour of the whole affair.

  But what attracted me to this film was the charisma of the lead actor Ash, played by Bruce Campbell. He is not a great actor by any stretch, but he does have a rather boyish charm that moves the film along, even if the script is as creaky as the rocking chair in his cabin!

  Definitely made on a shoestring budget, and the sfx (no cgi here!) are not all that great, but it doesn’t matter because you’re just there for the ride; and to be fair there are some very good fx splashed around throughout, and the first person camera-eye of the Evil Spirit in the Wood, is also well done.

  Groovy!