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The Evil Dead (1981): The Birth of DIY Carnage

29 Wednesday Oct 2025

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There’s something unholy about watching The Evil Dead in 2025 — not because of its gore (though the film still bleeds like a fresh wound), but because it reminds us how much horror has changed… and how much it owes to Sam Raimi’s twisted weekend in the woods.

Before franchises, before multiverses, before horror was a business plan — there was a group of friends in Tennessee, gallons of fake blood, and a Super 8 camera that barely held together. Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and producer Robert Tapert didn’t just make a film; they conjured one from sheer madness and duct tape. Every camera move, every shriek, every ash-smeared close-up feels like it was carved from the flesh of invention itself.

The Evil Dead isn’t just about possession — it’s about obsession. You can feel Raimi’s fever in every frame, the urge to push the medium past breaking point. Long before the word “indie” became shorthand for Sundance polish, this film was truly independent: reckless, raw, and glorious in its imperfection. Its claustrophobic energy turns the forest into a sentient entity, the cabin into a cursed organism. You can smell the wood rot, the sweat, the 16mm stock tearing in the projector.

What keeps it alive isn’t nostalgia — it’s rhythm. Raimi’s kinetic camera was punk cinema incarnate, years before digital tools democratised motion. That manic momentum, that willingness to risk everything for a shot, became the DNA of countless filmmakers who came after — from Peter Jackson’s Braindead to modern found-footage auteurs chasing the same fever dream.

Yet for all its brutality, there’s an innocence to The Evil Dead. It’s a film made by people who loved horror so much, they wanted to crawl inside it. Raimi’s signature blend of cruelty and comedy — later refined in Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness — starts here as an unfiltered scream. It’s clumsy, beautiful, and unforgettable.

In a cinematic age obsessed with IP and polish, The Evil Dead stands as a reminder that horror thrives on imperfection. It’s about spirit, not studio notes. It’s about throwing your friends into the mud and making something that feels like it might actually hurt you to watch.

The Prognosis:

Horror cinema has evolved in scale and sophistication, but few films still pulse with the same unhinged energy. Raimi’s debut is a masterclass in fearless filmmaking — a symphony of shrieks, sweat, and splintered wood that reminds us why terror should never feel safe.

  • Saul Muerte

THE EVIL DEAD – BUY OR RENT NOW

Movie review – Evil Dead Rise (2023)

19 Wednesday Apr 2023

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It’s been 10 years since Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe) spun a new tale in the Evil Dead franchise, with arguably one of the greater reboots in recent years. 

S3 Ep 7: The Evil Dead franchise: The Evil Dead (2013)

And with Bruce Campbell hanging up his chainsaw following the equally entertaining Ash vs Evil Dead series, it was hard to see where the franchise would go next, despite the success of both these enterprises. Thankfully writer, director Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground) came up with a bold new vision that looked to the heavens to unearth the deadites before a new audience waiting for some further demonic happenings. This one small glimmer of inspiration transports the evil from out of the cabin in the woods and sinking headfirst into a high-rise apartment is a brave move, but one that works in the isolated trappings of a struggling family, stuck in their apartment building when the words of the necronomicon are spoken.That’s not before first tantalising the audience with all-too-familiar stomping ground with usual twisted anarchy.

When the narrative picks up from the prologue, we’re introduced to Beth (Lily Sullivan – Picnic at Hanging Rock limited series), who has been living the life on the road, evidently running away from all her problems, or relying on her sister, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland – Blood Vessel) to solve them for her. Faced with another potential ‘problem’, Beth heads to Ellie’s apartment only to be confronted with an entirely different issue; one that would raise hell and force her to stand on her own two feet, and battle for her life whilst saving as many of her families’ lives as possible.

Ellie meanwhile has her own demons to confront, with her husband bailing on her with three children to raise and barely any means to do so. It is after an earthquake hits, that the eldest sibling, Danny (Morgan Davies – The Hunter) uncovers a vault beneath the basement which holds the dreaded book of the dead, and a number of vinyl recordings. These recordings are of a hidden sect and the voices of priests (one of whom is Bruce Campbell) incantations and then things really start to dial up a notch.

While some viewers may groan at the slow build up, cinephiles will greatly appreciate the time and dedication poured into character development and subtle clues in set direction and props that dictate the events yet to unfold. When the gloves come off, the blood pours savagely and there’s even time for some zingers in the dialogue to pepper the pace along. Cronin is clearly a fan of the franchise, and not only delivers a powerful punch in the storyline, but does so with a perfect mix of macabre, mayhem and sheer glee at the atrocities that the family must endure, breaking them apart and fusing them back together again with a wonderful climatic finish. The nods throughout are plenty without diluting this new storyline and Lily Sullivan in particular carves out a dynamic performance in Beth to juxtapose Alyssa Sutherland’s unhinged mother deadite, Ellie. The other family members are also strong (Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher) to deliver likeable siblings Danny, Bridget and Kassie. The most dynamic choice comes in packing in laugh out loud, gloriously gory sequences that are in tone of the Evil Dead franchise and make it so great, whilst providing a voice and style of its own. This is one of the benchmarks that the Surgeons team attest to what is essential in making a decent sequel. Here, Cronin truly delivers and it’s safe to say that the chainsaw has been passed onto a new direction. One that breathes new life for the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis to wreak more havoc and further features down the line, be it in the wilderness or the comfort of your own home.

The Prognosis:

So much blood, energy and fun spawns from the latest Evil Dead feature. There are great nods to the original trilogy throughout whilst still creating its own identity. You can tell that director Lee Cronin is a fan and brings that zest to every frame on screen. By taking the evil out of the woods and thrusting it into urban terrain, he has elevated the franchise to new heights.

  • Saul Muerte

Evil Dead Rise will be released nationwide from Thursday 20th April courtesy of Warner Bros. Australia and Universal Pictures Australia.

Movie review: Black Friday (2021)

02 Wednesday Mar 2022

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There was a 21 year absence on the screen for Ash Williams between Army of Darkness and Evil Dead (2013), but the appeal of this character would generate a three season arc in Ash vs the Evil Dead shortly after, such was the hunger for more.
Behind Ash’s charisma though is the actor who portrays him, Bruce Campbell has drawn people into his aura ever since. So it is probably no surprise that Black Friday would be the seventh most pirated movie Stateside at the time of its release last year.

As the name would suggest, this horror comedy feature would be a sweeping, tongue-in-cheek stab at consumerism at its worst.

Our story centres on the storefront workers of a generic All-Mart store ahead of the biggest shopping event of the year across Thanksgiving weekend. There are real-life tales of just how barbaric these days can be, but the horror will take on new means as a mutant, parasitic organism lands at said store, and begins to consume both workers and shoppers alike.

The ragamuffin staff must learn to put aside their differences to not only keep shoppers at bay, but also fight for survival and somehow make their way out of this nightmare.

Campbell’s chops are fairly sedate in this one as the store manager and play-by-the rules kinda guy, Johnathan Wexler. A man that despite his appearance, truly does care about his co-workers. 

To beef up the cast, we have some strong players too, with Devon Sawa (Hunter, Hunter) as Ken, a down-and-out family man who is now separated from his wife and struggling to still be a dad to his two daughters; Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth) as hard-hitting, streetwise Latino, Marnie; bumbling newbie, Chris (Ryan Lee) and takes-no-shit, and guy who gets things done, Archie (Michael Jay-White).

Amongst them, they must learn to vanquish this entity that seems to take over its hosts, and keeps on mutating to eventual epic proportions.

The prognosis:

The effects are pretty decent, and the acting is solid, but the laughs are few and far between and not even The Chin himself can lift this movie beyond mediocre.

This B-Movie inspired film doesn’t disappoint as far as keeping you entertained but neither does it deliver anything new or inspiring to lift its grisly head in order raise the roof, happy to sit in its own comfort zone.

If you’re looking for a bit of entertainment for the night with pizza and whatever your poison may be, then this will satisfy to a degree, but don’t expect anything outside of the box.

  • Saul Muerte