October 23, 2025 • 47 mins
Before 20-year-old Sam Raimi could make The Evil Dead, he had to convince investors that three friends from Michigan could pull off a horror masterpiece. Enter "Within the Woods," a short film that became the ultimate pitch; screened across Detroit until enough people bought in. The result? An initial $85,000 and a one-way ticket to a freezing, abandoned cabin in Tennessee with no heat, no plumbing, and 12 weeks of pure filmmaking chaos.
Bruce Campbell's on-screen suffering was real—those bruises, cuts, and exhausted reactions weren't acting. The crew ended up living in the dilapidated cabin, inventing techniques and visual effects out of creativity and desperation. It was the epitome of low budget, inexperienced but passionate filmmaking.
The Evil Dead could have easily disappeared into low budget horror movie obscurity, though. They struggled to find domestic distribution until Stephen King saw it at Cannes and called it "the most ferociously original film of the year." That single endorsement transformed everything.
When it was released in the UK, it became the best selling VHS of the year in 1983. It was subsequently banned as the "number one video nasty" in the UK, and called too extreme for mainstream distribution. Thanks, Mary Whitehouse.
The Evil Dead rewrote the rules. It proved indie horror could be artful, that gore could be kinetic poetry, and that a cabin in the woods could become the most terrifying place on Earth. It showed a generation of filmmakers that you don't need studio money to make something revolutionary; you just need vision, determination, and friends willing to suffer for the cause.
I would love to hear your thoughts on The Evil Dead (1981) !
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:43):
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal Diorama, episode
318, The Evil Dead. This isthe podcast that's all about the
history and legacy of moviesyou know, and movies you don't. That's
creating this episode in acabin in the woods. And nothing bad
is happening. Nothing at all.The evil forces aren't making me
(02:04):
do this. As always, a huge hiand welcome to Verbal Diorama. Whether
you're a regular returninglistener, whether you're a brand
new listener to this podcast,thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for choosing tolisten to this podcast. I'm so happy
(02:26):
to have you here for thehistory and legacy of the Evil Dead.
If you are a regular returninglistener, thank you so much for continuing
to come back to this podcastto continue to support this podcast.
This podcast has been goingnow almost seven years, so again,
it always blows my mind justthe fact that people keep coming
back to this podcast. Itreally does genuinely mean the world.
(02:50):
Thank you so much for yoursupport. And the traditional spooky
season launched with Candyman,the original Candyman, and then Wes
Craven's new Nightmare. Andlast week, something a bit more family
friendly with Hocus Pocus. Butnow for something that is not family
friendly. And it was actuallyconsidered a dreaded video nasty
(03:10):
here in the UK. But reallyit's just a showcase for the hard
work of the young creativeteam that is Sam Raimi and Bruce
Campbell. Here's the trailerfor the Evil Dead. Ash. Cheryl, Scott,
(05:16):
Linda, and Shelley are fivecollege students who take time off
to spend a peaceful vacationin a remote cabin. They start to
encounter strange occurrencesand noises almost from the moment
they arrive, and in thebasement they find a strange book
found in human skin and taperecordings. They play the tapes for
fun with the voice tellingthem there have been strange occurrences
(05:38):
in the house, and once theincantations are read out loud, they
unwittingly release an ancientevil force. The friends find themselves
helpless to stop the evil asit takes them one by one with only
one survivor left with theEvil Dead who desperately tries to
fight to live until morning.Let's run through the cast. We have
(05:58):
Bruce Campbell as AshWilliams, Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl
Williams, Richard De Manincoras Scott. He's credited as Hal Delrich
due to union reasons. BetsyBaker as Linda, Theresa Tilly as
Shelley. She is credited asSarah York due to union reasons.
The Evil Dead was written anddirected by Sam Raimi now the Evil
(06:23):
Dead is remarkable for manythings. Its influence on the horror
genre is well known, butreally this movie was made by a plucky
group of inexperienced kidswith big dreams. Sam Raimi, Bruce
Campbell and producer RobertTapert all grew up in Michigan. Raimi
and Campbell were friends inhigh school and Tapert was roommates
with Raimi's brother Ivan incollege. Raimi and Campbell spend
(06:47):
their high school daysshooting super low budget flicks
on Super 8 movies likeclockwork and It's Murder, filmed
while dreaming of mountingtheir own feature length movie productions.
Inspired by a suspensefulscene in It's Murder, they decided
to make an horror film anddecided to create a horror prototype
short film that they couldshow to investors to encourage them
(07:10):
to finance a full lengthfeature. That short film was within
the woods and Raimi cast hisfriend Campbell as the main protagonist
along with his other friendEllen Sandweiss. The plot is quite
similar to what wouldeventually come in the Evil Dead
with four friends in a cabinin the woods with an unseen force
stalking them, with each ofthem dying one by one as they each
(07:33):
become possessed by an evilentity. Within the woods was shot
in 1978 for $1,600 and thecast and crew were exclusively friends
and family. In a starkcontrast to the Evil Dead within
the woods main protagonist wasa woman played by Ellen Sandweiss.
Because you have to have yourfinal girl, Bruce Campbell's character,
(07:55):
then simply called Bruce, diedfirst and obviously then came back
from the dead possessed byevil spirits. The film was primarily
shot at a farmhouse belongingto One of Raimi's friends located
in Marshall, Michigan. Raimigot in contact with a manager at
a movie theater in Detroit,and to his surprise, the manager
agreed to scream within thewoods right before a midnight showing
(08:18):
of the Rocky Horror PictureShow. The premiere of the film received
a positive reception by theaudience, and the cast and crew were
paid just over $10 each, allof which they donated to the American
Cancer Society. Within thewoods was never commercially released,
but the idea was to produce afollow up film, a follow up that
(08:38):
could cost a little bit morethan $1,600. That script was originally
titled Book of the Dead andwent through numerous rewrites inspired
by the plot of within thewoods, but also elements from Texas
Chainsaw Massacre. Thefinished script was 66 pages long,
and after the numbers werecrunched, it was agreed they would
(08:59):
need to find at least $90,000to fund the movie. Robert Tapert's
father contacted Detroitlawyer Philip A. Gillis, his friend
and attorney since 1949, toask for legal advice on raising the
amount of money needed.Guinness and Charlie Bosler, a certified
public accountant, advisedRamey, Campbell and Tapert to form
(09:21):
Renaissance Pictures as alimited partnership and drew up a
legal offering which basicallyset out what an investor in the picture
owned on a given investmentand the risks, rights and responsibilities
between the partners andinvestors. They plan to sell 15 shares
in the movie at $10,000 each.The money went into an escrow account
(09:42):
which couldn't be accesseduntil they had sold at least 9 of
the shares with within theWoods. As proof of their abilities
as filmmakers, Raimi, Campbelland Tapert started asking family
and friends to invest and coldcalling potential investors who would
be financially capable oflosing their entire investment. Even
their lawyer, Philip Gillis,bought an additional share and a
(10:05):
half out of his own pocket. Acouple of months later, Nearing their
summer 1979 investmentdeadline, they still only had $85,000
in their escrow account, noteven reaching the $90,000 minimum
budget. They planned to startfilming in the winter of 1979, and
winter was coming. Luckily,they were allowed to start filming
(10:28):
with the $85,000 that they hadoriginally. They wanted to film Book
of the dead in Super 8 andthen enlarge it to 35 millimetremillimetre.
Shootinginaformattheywerealreadyfamiliarwithwasthe cheapest
option for the test run. Theydid and then blew up to 35 millimetretheatre.Toscreen
localtheatremillimetrelookedhorrendous,sotheideaofusingSuper 8wasshelved.
(10:50):
It was Robert Tapert whoconvinced Them they could switch
to 16 millimeter and stillmake it work. It made sense to have
Bruce Campbell and EllenSandweiss return, this time as siblings.
Ash and Cheryl. Campbell, as aproducer on the movie, was actually
the only actor who stayed forthe whole filming. The other roles
were cast in open auditionswhere they found Betsy Baker, Richard
(11:14):
de Manincor and Teresa Tilly.The Evil Dead would be a non union
production, meaning the SAGmembers Richard de Manincor and Theresa
Tilly, then going by her birthname Theresa Seyferth, technically
weren't allowed toparticipate, but they did under the
pseudonyms Hal Delrich andSarah York respectively. When the
(11:34):
Screen Actors Guild found outthey had done this after they finished
filming the movie, both weresuspended for a year and fined. Rayner's
plan was originally to film inhis native Michigan, but Michigan
was known for its harshwinters. So they decided to travel
south for a milder winter andchose the remote town of Morristown,
Tennessee. Spoiler alert. Thewinter of 1979 in Tennessee was actually
(12:00):
the coldest in decades. Thecaster crew for this movie on location
was around 13 people. That'sone three, 13. That's how scrappy
and amateur this was. But itnever feels scrappy and amateur.
Many of the crew came fromwithin the woods, including special
makeup effects artist TomSullivan, cinematographer Tim Phino,
(12:21):
Scott Spiegel and Josh Becker.In Tennessee, they moved into a six
bedroom house two miles awayfrom the cabin in November 1979,
which served as combinedliving and production quarters. The
first cabin they found fellthrough, but a couple of days later
a new cabin was found bylocation manager Gary Holt. The cabin
(12:42):
was built in the late 1960s byT.L. Shockley and his father Ridley
Shockley, and it was plannedto be used as a hunting cabin. It
was originally smaller thanwas shown on screen, just being two
rooms with no rear extension.Gary Holt arranged the lease of the
cabin to Renaissance Picturesin November of 1979. The only stipulation
(13:03):
being they had to leave thecabin in the same condition they
found it. The cabin wasremote. It had no running water,
no electricity, no telephoneand was covered in manure. It was
perfect. Basically. It had nocellar, so they cut a trapdoor in
the floor and dug a six foothole. The actual cellar scenes would
be filmed at a farmhouse inMarshall, Michigan. The crew all
(13:27):
worked together and installeda telephone, connected the electricity,
built a porch swing andreconfigured the layout the cabin.
The only thing they couldn'tdo was connect the water. During
pre production, some of thecrew stayed in the cabin rather than
the house six miles away. Andlet's just say it was not a particularly
pleasant experience. They'dplanned six weeks shooting over November
(13:50):
and December, but theproblems, injuries and general inexperience
led to it being amended toeight weeks, then to 12. The overrunning
production meant a number ofthe cast and crew had to leave at
various points. Scenes had tobe rewritten and fake shemps were
used. Fake shemps were namedafter Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges,
(14:11):
of which Raimi was a huge fan.Shemp Howard's sudden death in 1955
meant body doubles were usedto finish the films he'd already
started. Screen Actors Guildcontracts now ban reproducing an
actor's likeness and unlessthe original actor gave permission
to do so. And this was largelybecause of a lawsuit filed by Crispin
(14:33):
Glover, and that was followinghis replacement by Jeffrey Weissman
in Back to the Future Part 2.But as the actors left the Evil Dead's
production with only BruceCampbell there for the whole shoot,
they had to use crew members,including Campbell himself, Sam Raimi's
brother Ted Raimi, andproducer Robert Tapert, along with
many others, as fake shemps.They're credited as such at the end
(14:56):
of the movie. Without the fakeshemps, the movie could not have
been finished. Filming for theEvil Dead started on 14th November
1979 and it was done mostly atnight from 6.30pm till dawn, and
then people would retire backto the production house to sleep
during the day. They were alsogiven permission by the Tennessee
(15:17):
Road Department to do whateverthey wanted with a disused bridge
15 miles from the cabin. Theyfilmed various driving shots as well
as dismantled the bridge forthe scene where the bridge is destroyed
by the evil spirits. And whilethis was the sort of movie where
everyone helped everyone elseand worked together, it was also
literal hell. It was freezingcold even in the cabin with a fire
(15:41):
and space heaters tempestfrayed and there was no money. Everyone
was more or less learning onthe job, which meant a lot of trial
and error. Special makeupeffects artist Tom Sullivan had a
six week contract to work onthe special effects and the makeup
on Book of the Dead and onlyhad about three weeks to prepare.
He made facial castings ofEllen Sandweiss, Theresa Tilly, Betsy
(16:06):
Baker and Richard de Manincorusing plaster of Paris on a Vaseline
base. The process would end upremoving Betsy Baker's eyelashes
and made her skin red raw dueto the heat of the plaster of Paris.
Any actors that needed makeupor facial appliances were Woken up
three to five hours before themorning call. And as there was no
(16:28):
time for making prostheticsbeforehand, most of the masks were
created on the actors as theycontinued to sleep. To save time,
makeup and appliances werereused from the previous day wherever
possible. They also had towear white spherical contact lenses
which were incrediblyuncomfortable and made each actor
blind while using them. Anycontact lens wearer knows you have
(16:52):
to be mindful of the oxygenlevels getting into your eye. And
these specific lenses couldonly be worn for 15 minutes at a
time, up to five times a day.Bruce Campbell was the one responsible
for fitting and removing thelenses. There is a lot of blood on
this movie as well. Anincredible amount of blood. The blood
(17:12):
recipe was one large bottle ofKaro corn syrup, one bottle of red
foodcolocolouringring,onedropof blue
foodcolouring,halfacupofinstant coffee and water mixed to
a creamy paste and thenstirred into the syrup to make the
blood opaque. The mixture wasincredibly sticky aluminiumand it
stucktoeverything.Thefloors,clothes,skin,hair.It was
(17:37):
really hard to get out and isprobably the reason why the blood
continuity is probably not thebest on this film. The movie was
about the Book of the Dead andthe actual book itself was also created
by Tom Sullivan. Made fromfacial casts and pouring liquid latex
into the casts, gluing theskins onto corrugated cardboard and
(17:58):
store bought parchment paper.And then during his downtime, he
would illustrate and completethe book pages at the kitchen table.
Not by using real human blood,though. He also made the Kandarian
dagger with 1 inch widealuminiumremodelledsurroundedahiltmade ofpapiermacheandimpressionsfromchickenbonesanda12inchmodelskeletonkit.Aholewasdrilledintothemouthsotheycouldinsertatubeforbloodtoflowout.TheKandariandaggerintheEvilDeadwouldberecycledandremodeled
(18:30):
forEvilDead2.AmouldwasmadeofBetsyBaker'sfootandlowerlegfortheshotwherethepossessedCherylstabsapencilintoherankle.Ithadadowelroddownthecentreofthemouldandcontainedfoamrubbertomakethefakelegmorerigid.Andthenafteritwasbakedhard,itwasfilledwithabloodballoonwhichdidn'tburstthefirsttime,soTeresaTillinghadtogrinditinevenmore,whichjust makesthatsceneeversomoreuncomfortablethanitalready
(19:01):
the first time, so TheresaTilling had to grind it in even more,
which just makes that sceneever so more uncomfortable than it
already is. Expensive camerarigs were not something that this
production had access to andso they had to work around the various
(19:22):
camerafixedinthemiddle.Itcouldbeheldateitherend A
promised Steadicam nevermaterialized, so cinematographer
Tim Philo came Up with theshaky cam, a 2 by 6 inch 3 foot long
piece of wood with a camerafixed in the middle. It could be
held at either end by twopeople who could run with it and
(19:44):
it would show going overbushes and vaselinepiece.Theyalso
usedawheelchairwith4by8footplywoodsheetswheresomeonewouldsitsidewaysinthewheelchairtoshootintothewoodswhilebeingpushed.Andpushedwasalsowhatwashappeningtoeveryone'slimits.SamRaimi'sfilmingmethodscreatedalotoftensionbetweenthecastandcrew.Hisshotswerelengthyandcomplicatedandheadmittedtoenjoyingtorturinghisactors.Andherarelystucktothestickfigurestoryboardshepostedontheproductionhousefridge.Themuddyroadtothecabinfrozeover,makingitimpossibletoreach bycar.Theyhadtocarryalltheirequipmentonfootaquarter
(20:26):
ofamile.ThatyearwasthecoldestTennesseewinter experiencedindecades.Thecoldweatherwastakingitstollonthefilmingaswellinthecabin.Thecabinwasslowlyfallingapart,mostlyduetoalltheKarosyrupblood.Thelackofrunningwatermeantalack
ofhandwashingfacilities,withtheonly sourceofhotwateraninstantcoffeemachine.TheonlybreaktheywouldhavewasduringThanksgivingonthe22ndofNovember1979whenallthecastandcrewwereinvitedtotheBrockfamilyhome
(21:00):
onDoverRoad,Morristown,whichwasGaryHolt'smotherinlaw'shouse.By23December,onlyfivepeopleremainedworkingonthemovie.SamRaimi,BruceCampbell,RobTapert,JoshBeckerandDavidGoodman.Theirleaseexpiredontheirfairlycomfortablesixbedroomproductionhouseandsoallfivemovedintothecabin.18to20hourdayswerethenormandtheystartedburningfurnituretokeepwarm.Theywouldfinishthecabinshootbyfilmingfor62hoursstraightto gettheshotstheyneeded.They
(21:34):
leftthecabin,destroyedasmanypropsastheycouldandfilledinthetrapdoorhole.Theyputatimecapsuleinitandreturnedto Detroiton27January1980withsomefinalitemstofinish
theshoot.Butfirsttheyneededtoraisemoremoney.Theytookoutadditionalloansandhadtogobacktotheinvestorsfor anotherroundofcash.
(21:57):
Thiswasallmadesomewhateasierbecauseprincipalphotographyhadfinished,sotherewaslessriskof failure.Theoriginalactorswererehiredandthey
spentaweekinGladwin,MichiganattheCampbellfamilysummercabin.TwoweeksintheTapert familyfriend'sfarmhouseinMarshall,Michiganforthebasementscenes,aswellasalltheshotsaroundthefireplacewhichhadbeenreplicatedthereafewdays
(22:21):
inHartland,MichiganonsomelandownedbyJoshBecker'sfather,wheretheopeningfourthPOVswampsequencewasshot.AndtherestoftheshootingwasdoneinthelocalDetroitarea,includingSamRaimi'sparentshouseintheirgardenandtheirgarage.FortheeffectshotsofShelley'sdismembermentscene,whichalsodoubledforpartsofthecabinbasement.TheyalsohirededitorEdnaRuthPawn.AndbetweenherSamRaimiandJoelCohen,theydraftedarough117minuteworkprint.WhileTomSullivanandBartPierceworkedon themeltingeffectssequencewhichtookthreeandahalfmonthstocomplete.They
(23:01):
disagreedoverwhethertheyshouldusestopmotionanimationorlivemechanicaleffects.SullivanwasabigfanofRayHarryhausen,butPiercewasmoreinfavourofrealtimemechanicalandfluideffects.Theyagreedacombinationofbothwouldcreatethebestresult.Themoviewasediteddowntoamoremarketable85minutesandtheycutafourminutetrailertotryandraisemoremoney.Buttheyalsoneededtopayforthe16milto35 milenlargement.BruceCampbell'sfatherwouldputapropertyheownedascollateralon
(23:35):
anewloantopayfor of Shelly'sdismemberment scene, offilmingdidn'tmeantheendofthestoryforthecabinthough.The
also hired editor Edna RuthPaul. And between her Sam Raimi and
Joel Cohen, they drafted arough 117 minute work print. fullofwildanimaltrapsandhefearedafangettinghertotryandfindthecabin.Hewouldcatchpeopleonthe
(24:00):
propertyandescortthemoffwithanunloadedshotgun.Thecabinburneddowninthespringof1982anditwastheownerswhoburneditdownwithoutpermissionfromthelocalcounty.Becausethereweresomanypeoplecomingontothelandjusttoseethe EvilDeadcabin,thepolicewroteitofftokids
(24:21):
anditwasjustforgottenabout.Theylatertoredowntherestofthehouse,butlefttheoldbrickfireplaceinthehopesofrebuildingitorusingitasanoutdoorfireplaceduringcamping.Theoldbrickchimneystackis acommonsightoffanstakingbricksasmementos.Andthestackasof2021isaboutathirdofitsoldheight.Sowhileit'sunfortunatethatyoucannolongervisittheEvilDeadcabin,fortunatelywecan
(24:50):
millimetremillimetreenlargement.Theendoffilmingdidn'tmeantheendof the
story for the cabin though.The owner, T.L. Shockley, could I'mfeaturingwithKeanuReevesbecauseKeanuReevesisgreat.AndinaninterviewwithEsquire,KeanurevealedthathisMatrixcostarCarrieAnneMosshadaskedhimtorecommendhisfavoritemoviesforhertowatch
(25:15):
andthatlistof20moviesincludesclassicslikeSevenSamurai,RaisingArizonaandMontyPythonandtheHolyGrailanditalsoincludestheEvil Dead.TheEvilDeadisoneofKeanuReevesfavoriteevermovies
andI'msohappytohearthat,mostlybecausehehasexcellentchoicebutalsoIwassoworriedhowIwasgoingtoconnecthimto thismovieandthepoweroftheInternetjustfounditforme.So
(25:43):
finallytheteambehindtheEvilDeadhadacompletedfilmandaworldpremierewasheldattheRedfordTheatre house,
but left the old brickfireplace in the hopes of rebuilding
it or using it as an outdoorfireplace during camping. The old
brick chimney stack is acommon sight of fans taking bricks
(26:07):
as mementos. And the stack asof 2021 is about a third of its old
height. So while it'sunfortunate that you can no longer
visit the Evil Dead cabin,fortunately we can now segue into
the obligatory Keanu favouritereferenceofthisepisode.Andifyou'renewhereand you
(26:31):
don't know 10th that is, it'swhy I try and link every movie that
I'm featuring with KeanuReeves because Keanu Reeves is great.
And in an interview withEsquire, Keanu revealed that his
Matrix co star Carrie AnneMoss had asked him to recommend his
(26:53):
favouritefavouritemoviesforherto watchand that listof20moviesincludesclassics
like Seven Samurai, RaisingArizona and Monty Python and the
Holy Grail and it alsoincludes the Evil Dead. The Evil
Dead is one of Keanu Reevesfavoriteevermoviesand I'm sohappytohearthat,mostlybecausehe
(27:17):
hasexcellentchoicebutalsoIwasso worriedhow
Iwasgoingtoconnect himtothismovieandthepower of theInternetjustfounditforme.Sofinallythe
team behindtheEvilDeadhadacompletedfilmandaworld premiere
(27:38):
washeldattheRedfordTheatreinMichiganonthe15thofOctober1981 and
itwasas theatricalasitcouldhavebeenwithwindtracks,customticketsandambulancesparked outside.
ThemoviewasthenalsoscreenedforapayingcrowdatMichiganStateUniversity,buttheystruggledtofindadomesticdistributor anditwas
(28:05):
turneddownbyeveryone,despiteRaimi,TapertandCampbellvisitingHollywoodStudiospersonally inMay1981,
theytouredthemoviearoundtobuild hypeandshowed ittoanyonewillingtowatchit.They
thenmet IrvingShapiro,whomadea deal foraforeignreleaseon10thDecember
(28:27):
1981.Healsosuggestedtheychangethenameof watch
it. They then metIrvinlabelling Shapiro, whomadeadeal
foraforeignreleaseon10thDecember1981. He also suggested
they change the name of thefilm from Book of the Dead to the
(28:49):
Evil Dead and fronted themoney to create the elements needed
to sell the film to foreignmarkets, including things like translations
and the infamous chainsaw overthe head and woman reaching out at
the grave photos that wereused for posters. Shapiro was one
(29:11):
of the founders of the CannesFilm Festival and allowed Sam Raimi
to screen the film at the 1982Cannes Film Festival out of competition.
Present at that screening wasone Stephen King and he loved the
movie, saying that whilewatching the film at Cannes he was
(29:35):
registering things he'd neverseen in a movie before. He became
one of the film's largestsupporters during the early efforts
to find a distributor,eventually describing it as the most
ferociously original film ofthe year, a quote used in the film's
(29:56):
promotional material. Thesupport of Stephen King would lead
to magazines like Fangoriacovering the movie in 1982, and it
was gradually building moreand more interest. It led to New
Line Cinema negotiating anagreement to distribute it domestically
in the US Audience Receptionat sneak preview screenings in Detroit
(30:21):
and New York were wildlyenthusiastic, and interest was building
for the film to such an extentthat wider distribution was planned.
Raimi was paid enough by NewLine to pay off all his investors,
and New Line made the unusualdecision to release the Evil Dead
(30:44):
simultaneously into bothcinemas and onto VHS with substantial
domestic promotion on 1January 1981. It had a successful
British cinema release on 16January 1983, which came after the
British Board of film censors,the BBFC, passed it with an X certificate
(31:06):
and 49 seconds of cuts. It wasembraced by British audiences where
it topped the VHS charts amonth after its cinema release, becoming
the best selling videotape ofthe year in 1983. And this was when
videotapes sold at £40 to £50each. It took about £100,000 at British
(31:31):
cinemas, including more than£50,000 at the Prince Charles Cinema
in London alone. But not allwas rosy here in the UKfuelled.ConservativepressuregroupcampaignerMaryWhitehouse
famously scapegoated the EvilDead, labelingitthenumberonenasty,andlaterin
(31:52):
1983,chosesegmentsoftheEvilDead tobescreenedintheHouseofCommons
asoneofseveralattemptstolobbythegovernmentintoactionagainstthevideoindustry. TheEvilDead,alongwithothervideonasties,wasthenput
onalistoffilmsdeemedtobeobscene.Thefollowingyear,theVideoRecordingsactclampeddownfurtheronthedistribution oftheseso
(32:24):
calledvideonasties.Thepressfueledthefears,claimingchildrenwerebeingpossessedbyvideonasties.CopiesoftheEvilDeadwereevenhiddeninchurchestostopthembeingconfiscatedinpoliceraids.TheEvilDead,whichhad Dead
(32:44):
were even hidden in churchesto stop them being confiscated in
police raids. The Evil Dead,which had already been passed by
the BBFC for its VHS release,had to be resubmitted to the BBFC
for VHS classification again,and they refused to give it classification
(33:05):
because they were stillpotentially threatened with further
local prosecution. And so theEvil Dead was withdrawn from sale
and didn't appear again until1990. The video recordings act caused
many independent horrordistributors to close due to the
extreme costs ofrecertification to the BBFC. After
(33:27):
several attempts throughoutthe following decade to get the Evil
Dead released uncut in March2001, the BBFC conceded that tastes
had changed in the interveningyears and the Evil Dead was finally
released uncut with an 18certificate. It was shown for the
first time on British TV on 25November 2001 as part of Film4's
(33:53):
Extreme Cinema season. TheEvil Dead performed above expectations
at the box office, grossing$2.4 million domestically on its
$375,000 budget worldwide.Numbers vary by source. Some say
it earned $261,000 overseas,others say it earned $27 million
overseas. But Sam Raimi hasalways said the movie did very well
(34:16):
overseas and poorlydomestically. But either way, the
movie made a huge profit andits investors earned a return of
about five times theiroriginal investment. Bob Martin,
the editor of Fangoria, one ofthe first magazines to feature the
Evil Dead, reviewed the filmbefore its formal premiere and proclaimed
(34:39):
that it, quote, might be theexception to the usual run of low
budget horror films, unquote.He followed up on this praise after
the film's premiere, stating,quote, since I started editing this
magazine, I have not seen anynew film that I could recommend to
(35:01):
our readers with moreconfidence that it would be loved,
embraced and hailed as a newmilestone in graphic horror, unquote.
Critics at the time werepositive about the movie, hailing
its low budget, gore and shockvalue as well as its quality. Despite
(35:21):
being low budget and made by ateam of inexperienced filmmakers.
Critics compared the film tothe surrealistic work of Georges
Franjfavouruand JeanCocteau,anditwasalsocompared to the Omen
and the Exorcist as a keysupernatural thriller. Contemporary
reviews are also positive withan 86% of rotten tomatoes, with a
(35:46):
critical consensus of soscrappy that it feels as illicit
as a book found in the woods.The Evil Dead is a stomach churning
achievement in bad taste thatmarks a startling debut for wunderkind
Sam Raimi that it deserves itscult reputation despite the best
(36:07):
efforts of the censors. Thebox office success of the Evil Dead
would lead to Campbell andRaimi, along with the Cullen brothers,
to collaborate on their nextmovie, Crime Wave, which was a box
office failure. Butfortunately for Raimi, despite Crime
(36:27):
Wave's misstep, he had thestudio support to make an Evil Dead
sequel, which he did, and wegot Evil Dead 2 in 1987 followed
by army of Darkness in 1992.Raimi would return to horror comedy
in a similar vein with Drag Meto hell in 2009, which is great by
(36:51):
the way. I do love Drag Me tohell. The TV series Ash vs Evil Dead
ran from 2015 to 2018. Itreceived critical acclaim, won several
awards, but was cancelled in2018. A third sequel to the Evil
Dead, Evil Dead 4 was talkedabout for years and sat in development
(37:15):
hell all that time until asupernatural horror soft reboot slash
legacy sequel titled Evil Deadwas released in 2013 which features
a cameo from Bruce Campbell. Afurther installment also sat in development
hell for years Until Evil deadrise in 2023. What were you doing
(37:36):
when you were 20? Maybe youwere smoking cigarettes behind a
bike shed or if you're in theUS pretending you were 21 so you
could buy a beer. Sam Raimicouldn't legally buy a beer, but
he could write, produce anddirect one of the classic supernatural
(37:58):
horror films of all time.Hopefully he bought himself a beer
to celebrate once the moviepremiered at the Redford Theatre.
He was definitely 21 by thatpoint. When I was 20. I wish I'd
had the gusto to make a movieat that age and have the smarts to
(38:21):
be able to get financialbacking. Honestly, 20 year old me
was a bit of a moron. I'vegrown so much in the last five years.
Stop your laughing. But these20 year old kids, they got a lot
right, but they didn't geteverything right. The sexual assault
(38:44):
scene on Cheryl in particularis tough to watch and is often cited
as the main reason the filmwas so heavily censored and banned
outright in several countries.Raimi has since expressed regret
on the scene, saying it wasunnecessarily gratuitous and a little
(39:04):
too brutal. I've not seen the2013 remake, but apparently it also
contains a similar scene. Onehas to question why, when you can
become possessed without anassault occurring, why would you
include such an assault inyour movie? But apart from that one
(39:25):
issue, the Evil Dead is suchan achievement. Its jump scares are
some of the best, and I'm nota fan of jump scares, but I love
them here. It's first person.Or should that be first spirit? Perspective
shots are so accomplished thatwhen you realize it's literally just
(39:48):
a camera on a plank of woodkinda makes it even more impressive.
The visual effects feelprofessional, but also handmade and
quirky. The production wasabsolute hell for all involved and
you can see that on screen.But more so the supernatural hell
(40:08):
than the real lived experienceof hell. And to be honest, I can
absolutely believe it was anawful production. The cold alone
would be enough for me to belike star in a movie? Nah. Give me
a warm duvet and a cat,please. When any young up and coming
(40:31):
filmmaker comes to the table,this is what they want to replicate.
A movie that pays homage tothe horrors that came before. The
hanging boards and bones. Atribute to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
as well as a poster for WesCraven's the Hills have Eyes. Craven
(40:54):
would return thefavourtitbitswiththe EvilDead,seenplayingontelevision
in onElmStreet.Buttohaveamoviethat's universallybeloved, seenasastapleforitsgenre,
as wellascreatingacultclassicinitsownright,as wellas acultcharacter
(41:17):
inAshWilliams,whosemiddlenameisJoanna. Ilovethatlittletidbitofinformation.Ashbecomes
I love that littletitbitclichéofinformation.Ashbecomesthe franchise's
final girl, and hischaracterization was made more comical
as the franchise continued.But the original movie was never
(41:41):
alittletoodumb.Butsincewhenarepeopleinhorrormovieseversmart?Themovie startswithanevil
pointofview,sothere'snoambiguityastotheintenthere.Andjustonasidenote,BruceCampbellshouldhavebeenahugestar.Idon'tknowwhyheneverwas,becausehe'ssohandsomeandcharismaticinallof thesemovies.Moreso,Iwouldsay,inEvilDead2andarmyofDarkness.ButhehasthegoodstobeagenuineHollywoodsuperstarandI
(42:23):
havenoideawhyitneverhappenedforhim.TheEvil these
movies. More so, I would say,in Evil Dead 2 and army of Darkness.
But he has the goods to be agenuine Hollywood superstar and I
have no idea why it neverhappened for him. The Evil Dead is
(42:50):
a love letter to genre cinema,embodying the friends lost in the
woods clichéhumour,butalsoalovelettertoinexperience to
the people who start out, totheir ideas, and to what you can
achieve without big studiosdemonicentitystarts makingyoudrawabookwithaface,getout.Getoutthereandthendon'twait.Don'tbeanothercabininthewoodsstatistic.Thankyouforlistening.Asalways,IwouldlovetohearyourthoughtsontheEvilDead.Andthankyouforyourcontinuedsupportofthispodcast.Justbylisteningyouaresupportingthispodcast.However,ifyouwouldliketodomoretosupportthispodcastandtointroduceotherpeopleandhelpthispodcastgrow,youcouldtellyourfriendsandfamilyaboutthispodcast.Youcanleavearatingorreviewwhereveryoufoundthispodcast.Oryoucanfindmeandfollowmeonsocialmedia.I'm@VerbalDioramaacrosssocialmediaandyoucanlikepost,share,post,commentonposts.Everythinghelpstog
gunderBye.X
Hi, everyone. I'm Em, andwelcome to Verbal Diorama, episode
318, The Evil Dead. This isthe podcast that's all about the
history and legacy of moviesyou know, and movies you don't. That's
creating this episode in acabin in the woods. And nothing bad
is happening. Nothing at all.The evil forces aren't making me
(02:04):
do this. As always, a huge hiand welcome to Verbal Diorama. Whether
you're a regular returninglistener, whether you're a brand
new listener to this podcast,thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for choosing tolisten to this podcast. I'm so happy
(02:26):
to have you here for thehistory and legacy of the Evil Dead.
If you are a regular returninglistener, thank you so much for continuing
to come back to this podcastto continue to support this podcast.
This podcast has been goingnow almost seven years, so again,
it always blows my mind justthe fact that people keep coming
back to this podcast. Itreally does genuinely mean the world.
(02:50):
Thank you so much for yoursupport. And the traditional spooky
season launched with Candyman,the original Candyman, and then Wes
Craven's new Nightmare. Andlast week, something a bit more family
friendly with Hocus Pocus. Butnow for something that is not family
friendly. And it was actuallyconsidered a dreaded video nasty
(03:10):
here in the UK. But reallyit's just a showcase for the hard
work of the young creativeteam that is Sam Raimi and Bruce
Campbell. Here's the trailerfor the Evil Dead. Ash. Cheryl, Scott,
(05:16):
Linda, and Shelley are fivecollege students who take time off
to spend a peaceful vacationin a remote cabin. They start to
encounter strange occurrencesand noises almost from the moment
they arrive, and in thebasement they find a strange book
found in human skin and taperecordings. They play the tapes for
fun with the voice tellingthem there have been strange occurrences
(05:38):
in the house, and once theincantations are read out loud, they
unwittingly release an ancientevil force. The friends find themselves
helpless to stop the evil asit takes them one by one with only
one survivor left with theEvil Dead who desperately tries to
fight to live until morning.Let's run through the cast. We have
(05:58):
Bruce Campbell as AshWilliams, Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl
Williams, Richard De Manincoras Scott. He's credited as Hal Delrich
due to union reasons. BetsyBaker as Linda, Theresa Tilly as
Shelley. She is credited asSarah York due to union reasons.
The Evil Dead was written anddirected by Sam Raimi now the Evil
(06:23):
Dead is remarkable for manythings. Its influence on the horror
genre is well known, butreally this movie was made by a plucky
group of inexperienced kidswith big dreams. Sam Raimi, Bruce
Campbell and producer RobertTapert all grew up in Michigan. Raimi
and Campbell were friends inhigh school and Tapert was roommates
with Raimi's brother Ivan incollege. Raimi and Campbell spend
(06:47):
their high school daysshooting super low budget flicks
on Super 8 movies likeclockwork and It's Murder, filmed
while dreaming of mountingtheir own feature length movie productions.
Inspired by a suspensefulscene in It's Murder, they decided
to make an horror film anddecided to create a horror prototype
short film that they couldshow to investors to encourage them
(07:10):
to finance a full lengthfeature. That short film was within
the woods and Raimi cast hisfriend Campbell as the main protagonist
along with his other friendEllen Sandweiss. The plot is quite
similar to what wouldeventually come in the Evil Dead
with four friends in a cabinin the woods with an unseen force
stalking them, with each ofthem dying one by one as they each
(07:33):
become possessed by an evilentity. Within the woods was shot
in 1978 for $1,600 and thecast and crew were exclusively friends
and family. In a starkcontrast to the Evil Dead within
the woods main protagonist wasa woman played by Ellen Sandweiss.
Because you have to have yourfinal girl, Bruce Campbell's character,
(07:55):
then simply called Bruce, diedfirst and obviously then came back
from the dead possessed byevil spirits. The film was primarily
shot at a farmhouse belongingto One of Raimi's friends located
in Marshall, Michigan. Raimigot in contact with a manager at
a movie theater in Detroit,and to his surprise, the manager
agreed to scream within thewoods right before a midnight showing
(08:18):
of the Rocky Horror PictureShow. The premiere of the film received
a positive reception by theaudience, and the cast and crew were
paid just over $10 each, allof which they donated to the American
Cancer Society. Within thewoods was never commercially released,
but the idea was to produce afollow up film, a follow up that
(08:38):
could cost a little bit morethan $1,600. That script was originally
titled Book of the Dead andwent through numerous rewrites inspired
by the plot of within thewoods, but also elements from Texas
Chainsaw Massacre. Thefinished script was 66 pages long,
and after the numbers werecrunched, it was agreed they would
(08:59):
need to find at least $90,000to fund the movie. Robert Tapert's
father contacted Detroitlawyer Philip A. Gillis, his friend
and attorney since 1949, toask for legal advice on raising the
amount of money needed.Guinness and Charlie Bosler, a certified
public accountant, advisedRamey, Campbell and Tapert to form
(09:21):
Renaissance Pictures as alimited partnership and drew up a
legal offering which basicallyset out what an investor in the picture
owned on a given investmentand the risks, rights and responsibilities
between the partners andinvestors. They plan to sell 15 shares
in the movie at $10,000 each.The money went into an escrow account
(09:42):
which couldn't be accesseduntil they had sold at least 9 of
the shares with within theWoods. As proof of their abilities
as filmmakers, Raimi, Campbelland Tapert started asking family
and friends to invest and coldcalling potential investors who would
be financially capable oflosing their entire investment. Even
their lawyer, Philip Gillis,bought an additional share and a
(10:05):
half out of his own pocket. Acouple of months later, Nearing their
summer 1979 investmentdeadline, they still only had $85,000
in their escrow account, noteven reaching the $90,000 minimum
budget. They planned to startfilming in the winter of 1979, and
winter was coming. Luckily,they were allowed to start filming
(10:28):
with the $85,000 that they hadoriginally. They wanted to film Book
of the dead in Super 8 andthen enlarge it to 35 millimetremillimetre.
Shootinginaformattheywerealreadyfamiliarwithwasthe cheapest
option for the test run. Theydid and then blew up to 35 millimetretheatre.Toscreen
localtheatremillimetrelookedhorrendous,sotheideaofusingSuper 8wasshelved.
(10:50):
It was Robert Tapert whoconvinced Them they could switch
to 16 millimeter and stillmake it work. It made sense to have
Bruce Campbell and EllenSandweiss return, this time as siblings.
Ash and Cheryl. Campbell, as aproducer on the movie, was actually
the only actor who stayed forthe whole filming. The other roles
were cast in open auditionswhere they found Betsy Baker, Richard
(11:14):
de Manincor and Teresa Tilly.The Evil Dead would be a non union
production, meaning the SAGmembers Richard de Manincor and Theresa
Tilly, then going by her birthname Theresa Seyferth, technically
weren't allowed toparticipate, but they did under the
pseudonyms Hal Delrich andSarah York respectively. When the
(11:34):
Screen Actors Guild found outthey had done this after they finished
filming the movie, both weresuspended for a year and fined. Rayner's
plan was originally to film inhis native Michigan, but Michigan
was known for its harshwinters. So they decided to travel
south for a milder winter andchose the remote town of Morristown,
Tennessee. Spoiler alert. Thewinter of 1979 in Tennessee was actually
(12:00):
the coldest in decades. Thecaster crew for this movie on location
was around 13 people. That'sone three, 13. That's how scrappy
and amateur this was. But itnever feels scrappy and amateur.
Many of the crew came fromwithin the woods, including special
makeup effects artist TomSullivan, cinematographer Tim Phino,
(12:21):
Scott Spiegel and Josh Becker.In Tennessee, they moved into a six
bedroom house two miles awayfrom the cabin in November 1979,
which served as combinedliving and production quarters. The
first cabin they found fellthrough, but a couple of days later
a new cabin was found bylocation manager Gary Holt. The cabin
(12:42):
was built in the late 1960s byT.L. Shockley and his father Ridley
Shockley, and it was plannedto be used as a hunting cabin. It
was originally smaller thanwas shown on screen, just being two
rooms with no rear extension.Gary Holt arranged the lease of the
cabin to Renaissance Picturesin November of 1979. The only stipulation
(13:03):
being they had to leave thecabin in the same condition they
found it. The cabin wasremote. It had no running water,
no electricity, no telephoneand was covered in manure. It was
perfect. Basically. It had nocellar, so they cut a trapdoor in
the floor and dug a six foothole. The actual cellar scenes would
be filmed at a farmhouse inMarshall, Michigan. The crew all
(13:27):
worked together and installeda telephone, connected the electricity,
built a porch swing andreconfigured the layout the cabin.
The only thing they couldn'tdo was connect the water. During
pre production, some of thecrew stayed in the cabin rather than
the house six miles away. Andlet's just say it was not a particularly
pleasant experience. They'dplanned six weeks shooting over November
(13:50):
and December, but theproblems, injuries and general inexperience
led to it being amended toeight weeks, then to 12. The overrunning
production meant a number ofthe cast and crew had to leave at
various points. Scenes had tobe rewritten and fake shemps were
used. Fake shemps were namedafter Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges,
(14:11):
of which Raimi was a huge fan.Shemp Howard's sudden death in 1955
meant body doubles were usedto finish the films he'd already
started. Screen Actors Guildcontracts now ban reproducing an
actor's likeness and unlessthe original actor gave permission
to do so. And this was largelybecause of a lawsuit filed by Crispin
(14:33):
Glover, and that was followinghis replacement by Jeffrey Weissman
in Back to the Future Part 2.But as the actors left the Evil Dead's
production with only BruceCampbell there for the whole shoot,
they had to use crew members,including Campbell himself, Sam Raimi's
brother Ted Raimi, andproducer Robert Tapert, along with
many others, as fake shemps.They're credited as such at the end
(14:56):
of the movie. Without the fakeshemps, the movie could not have
been finished. Filming for theEvil Dead started on 14th November
1979 and it was done mostly atnight from 6.30pm till dawn, and
then people would retire backto the production house to sleep
during the day. They were alsogiven permission by the Tennessee
(15:17):
Road Department to do whateverthey wanted with a disused bridge
15 miles from the cabin. Theyfilmed various driving shots as well
as dismantled the bridge forthe scene where the bridge is destroyed
by the evil spirits. And whilethis was the sort of movie where
everyone helped everyone elseand worked together, it was also
literal hell. It was freezingcold even in the cabin with a fire
(15:41):
and space heaters tempestfrayed and there was no money. Everyone
was more or less learning onthe job, which meant a lot of trial
and error. Special makeupeffects artist Tom Sullivan had a
six week contract to work onthe special effects and the makeup
on Book of the Dead and onlyhad about three weeks to prepare.
He made facial castings ofEllen Sandweiss, Theresa Tilly, Betsy
(16:06):
Baker and Richard de Manincorusing plaster of Paris on a Vaseline
base. The process would end upremoving Betsy Baker's eyelashes
and made her skin red raw dueto the heat of the plaster of Paris.
Any actors that needed makeupor facial appliances were Woken up
three to five hours before themorning call. And as there was no
(16:28):
time for making prostheticsbeforehand, most of the masks were
created on the actors as theycontinued to sleep. To save time,
makeup and appliances werereused from the previous day wherever
possible. They also had towear white spherical contact lenses
which were incrediblyuncomfortable and made each actor
blind while using them. Anycontact lens wearer knows you have
(16:52):
to be mindful of the oxygenlevels getting into your eye. And
these specific lenses couldonly be worn for 15 minutes at a
time, up to five times a day.Bruce Campbell was the one responsible
for fitting and removing thelenses. There is a lot of blood on
this movie as well. Anincredible amount of blood. The blood
(17:12):
recipe was one large bottle ofKaro corn syrup, one bottle of red
foodcolocolouringring,onedropof blue
foodcolouring,halfacupofinstant coffee and water mixed to
a creamy paste and thenstirred into the syrup to make the
blood opaque. The mixture wasincredibly sticky aluminiumand it
stucktoeverything.Thefloors,clothes,skin,hair.It was
(17:37):
really hard to get out and isprobably the reason why the blood
continuity is probably not thebest on this film. The movie was
about the Book of the Dead andthe actual book itself was also created
by Tom Sullivan. Made fromfacial casts and pouring liquid latex
into the casts, gluing theskins onto corrugated cardboard and
(17:58):
store bought parchment paper.And then during his downtime, he
would illustrate and completethe book pages at the kitchen table.
Not by using real human blood,though. He also made the Kandarian
dagger with 1 inch widealuminiumremodelledsurroundedahiltmade ofpapiermacheandimpressionsfromchickenbonesanda12inchmodelskeletonkit.Aholewasdrilledintothemouthsotheycouldinsertatubeforbloodtoflowout.TheKandariandaggerintheEvilDeadwouldberecycledandremodeled
(18:30):
forEvilDead2.AmouldwasmadeofBetsyBaker'sfootandlowerlegfortheshotwherethepossessedCherylstabsapencilintoherankle.Ithadadowelroddownthecentreofthemouldandcontainedfoamrubbertomakethefakelegmorerigid.Andthenafteritwasbakedhard,itwasfilledwithabloodballoonwhichdidn'tburstthefirsttime,soTeresaTillinghadtogrinditinevenmore,whichjust makesthatsceneeversomoreuncomfortablethanitalready
(19:01):
the first time, so TheresaTilling had to grind it in even more,
which just makes that sceneever so more uncomfortable than it
already is. Expensive camerarigs were not something that this
production had access to andso they had to work around the various
(19:22):
camerafixedinthemiddle.Itcouldbeheldateitherend A
promised Steadicam nevermaterialized, so cinematographer
Tim Philo came Up with theshaky cam, a 2 by 6 inch 3 foot long
piece of wood with a camerafixed in the middle. It could be
held at either end by twopeople who could run with it and
(19:44):
it would show going overbushes and vaselinepiece.Theyalso
usedawheelchairwith4by8footplywoodsheetswheresomeonewouldsitsidewaysinthewheelchairtoshootintothewoodswhilebeingpushed.Andpushedwasalsowhatwashappeningtoeveryone'slimits.SamRaimi'sfilmingmethodscreatedalotoftensionbetweenthecastandcrew.Hisshotswerelengthyandcomplicatedandheadmittedtoenjoyingtorturinghisactors.Andherarelystucktothestickfigurestoryboardshepostedontheproductionhousefridge.Themuddyroadtothecabinfrozeover,makingitimpossibletoreach bycar.Theyhadtocarryalltheirequipmentonfootaquarter
(20:26):
ofamile.ThatyearwasthecoldestTennesseewinter experiencedindecades.Thecoldweatherwastakingitstollonthefilmingaswellinthecabin.Thecabinwasslowlyfallingapart,mostlyduetoalltheKarosyrupblood.Thelackofrunningwatermeantalack
ofhandwashingfacilities,withtheonly sourceofhotwateraninstantcoffeemachine.TheonlybreaktheywouldhavewasduringThanksgivingonthe22ndofNovember1979whenallthecastandcrewwereinvitedtotheBrockfamilyhome
(21:00):
onDoverRoad,Morristown,whichwasGaryHolt'smotherinlaw'shouse.By23December,onlyfivepeopleremainedworkingonthemovie.SamRaimi,BruceCampbell,RobTapert,JoshBeckerandDavidGoodman.Theirleaseexpiredontheirfairlycomfortablesixbedroomproductionhouseandsoallfivemovedintothecabin.18to20hourdayswerethenormandtheystartedburningfurnituretokeepwarm.Theywouldfinishthecabinshootbyfilmingfor62hoursstraightto gettheshotstheyneeded.They
(21:34):
leftthecabin,destroyedasmanypropsastheycouldandfilledinthetrapdoorhole.Theyputatimecapsuleinitandreturnedto Detroiton27January1980withsomefinalitemstofinish
theshoot.Butfirsttheyneededtoraisemoremoney.Theytookoutadditionalloansandhadtogobacktotheinvestorsfor anotherroundofcash.
(21:57):
Thiswasallmadesomewhateasierbecauseprincipalphotographyhadfinished,sotherewaslessriskof failure.Theoriginalactorswererehiredandthey
spentaweekinGladwin,MichiganattheCampbellfamilysummercabin.TwoweeksintheTapert familyfriend'sfarmhouseinMarshall,Michiganforthebasementscenes,aswellasalltheshotsaroundthefireplacewhichhadbeenreplicatedthereafewdays
(22:21):
inHartland,MichiganonsomelandownedbyJoshBecker'sfather,wheretheopeningfourthPOVswampsequencewasshot.AndtherestoftheshootingwasdoneinthelocalDetroitarea,includingSamRaimi'sparentshouseintheirgardenandtheirgarage.FortheeffectshotsofShelley'sdismembermentscene,whichalsodoubledforpartsofthecabinbasement.TheyalsohirededitorEdnaRuthPawn.AndbetweenherSamRaimiandJoelCohen,theydraftedarough117minuteworkprint.WhileTomSullivanandBartPierceworkedon themeltingeffectssequencewhichtookthreeandahalfmonthstocomplete.They
(23:01):
disagreedoverwhethertheyshouldusestopmotionanimationorlivemechanicaleffects.SullivanwasabigfanofRayHarryhausen,butPiercewasmoreinfavourofrealtimemechanicalandfluideffects.Theyagreedacombinationofbothwouldcreatethebestresult.Themoviewasediteddowntoamoremarketable85minutesandtheycutafourminutetrailertotryandraisemoremoney.Buttheyalsoneededtopayforthe16milto35 milenlargement.BruceCampbell'sfatherwouldputapropertyheownedascollateralon
(23:35):
anewloantopayfor of Shelly'sdismemberment scene, offilmingdidn'tmeantheendofthestoryforthecabinthough.The
also hired editor Edna RuthPaul. And between her Sam Raimi and
Joel Cohen, they drafted arough 117 minute work print. fullofwildanimaltrapsandhefearedafangettinghertotryandfindthecabin.Hewouldcatchpeopleonthe
(24:00):
propertyandescortthemoffwithanunloadedshotgun.Thecabinburneddowninthespringof1982anditwastheownerswhoburneditdownwithoutpermissionfromthelocalcounty.Becausethereweresomanypeoplecomingontothelandjusttoseethe EvilDeadcabin,thepolicewroteitofftokids
(24:21):
anditwasjustforgottenabout.Theylatertoredowntherestofthehouse,butlefttheoldbrickfireplaceinthehopesofrebuildingitorusingitasanoutdoorfireplaceduringcamping.Theoldbrickchimneystackis acommonsightoffanstakingbricksasmementos.Andthestackasof2021isaboutathirdofitsoldheight.Sowhileit'sunfortunatethatyoucannolongervisittheEvilDeadcabin,fortunatelywecan
(24:50):
millimetremillimetreenlargement.Theendoffilmingdidn'tmeantheendof the
story for the cabin though.The owner, T.L. Shockley, could I'mfeaturingwithKeanuReevesbecauseKeanuReevesisgreat.AndinaninterviewwithEsquire,KeanurevealedthathisMatrixcostarCarrieAnneMosshadaskedhimtorecommendhisfavoritemoviesforhertowatch
(25:15):
andthatlistof20moviesincludesclassicslikeSevenSamurai,RaisingArizonaandMontyPythonandtheHolyGrailanditalsoincludestheEvil Dead.TheEvilDeadisoneofKeanuReevesfavoriteevermovies
andI'msohappytohearthat,mostlybecausehehasexcellentchoicebutalsoIwassoworriedhowIwasgoingtoconnecthimto thismovieandthepoweroftheInternetjustfounditforme.So
(25:43):
finallytheteambehindtheEvilDeadhadacompletedfilmandaworldpremierewasheldattheRedfordTheatre house,
but left the old brickfireplace in the hopes of rebuilding
it or using it as an outdoorfireplace during camping. The old
brick chimney stack is acommon sight of fans taking bricks
(26:07):
as mementos. And the stack asof 2021 is about a third of its old
height. So while it'sunfortunate that you can no longer
visit the Evil Dead cabin,fortunately we can now segue into
the obligatory Keanu favouritereferenceofthisepisode.Andifyou'renewhereand you
(26:31):
don't know 10th that is, it'swhy I try and link every movie that
I'm featuring with KeanuReeves because Keanu Reeves is great.
And in an interview withEsquire, Keanu revealed that his
Matrix co star Carrie AnneMoss had asked him to recommend his
(26:53):
favouritefavouritemoviesforherto watchand that listof20moviesincludesclassics
like Seven Samurai, RaisingArizona and Monty Python and the
Holy Grail and it alsoincludes the Evil Dead. The Evil
Dead is one of Keanu Reevesfavoriteevermoviesand I'm sohappytohearthat,mostlybecausehe
(27:17):
hasexcellentchoicebutalsoIwasso worriedhow
Iwasgoingtoconnect himtothismovieandthepower of theInternetjustfounditforme.Sofinallythe
team behindtheEvilDeadhadacompletedfilmandaworld premiere
(27:38):
washeldattheRedfordTheatreinMichiganonthe15thofOctober1981 and
itwasas theatricalasitcouldhavebeenwithwindtracks,customticketsandambulancesparked outside.
ThemoviewasthenalsoscreenedforapayingcrowdatMichiganStateUniversity,buttheystruggledtofindadomesticdistributor anditwas
(28:05):
turneddownbyeveryone,despiteRaimi,TapertandCampbellvisitingHollywoodStudiospersonally inMay1981,
theytouredthemoviearoundtobuild hypeandshowed ittoanyonewillingtowatchit.They
thenmet IrvingShapiro,whomadea deal foraforeignreleaseon10thDecember
(28:27):
1981.Healsosuggestedtheychangethenameof watch
it. They then metIrvinlabelling Shapiro, whomadeadeal
foraforeignreleaseon10thDecember1981. He also suggested
they change the name of thefilm from Book of the Dead to the
(28:49):
Evil Dead and fronted themoney to create the elements needed
to sell the film to foreignmarkets, including things like translations
and the infamous chainsaw overthe head and woman reaching out at
the grave photos that wereused for posters. Shapiro was one
(29:11):
of the founders of the CannesFilm Festival and allowed Sam Raimi
to screen the film at the 1982Cannes Film Festival out of competition.
Present at that screening wasone Stephen King and he loved the
movie, saying that whilewatching the film at Cannes he was
(29:35):
registering things he'd neverseen in a movie before. He became
one of the film's largestsupporters during the early efforts
to find a distributor,eventually describing it as the most
ferociously original film ofthe year, a quote used in the film's
(29:56):
promotional material. Thesupport of Stephen King would lead
to magazines like Fangoriacovering the movie in 1982, and it
was gradually building moreand more interest. It led to New
Line Cinema negotiating anagreement to distribute it domestically
in the US Audience Receptionat sneak preview screenings in Detroit
(30:21):
and New York were wildlyenthusiastic, and interest was building
for the film to such an extentthat wider distribution was planned.
Raimi was paid enough by NewLine to pay off all his investors,
and New Line made the unusualdecision to release the Evil Dead
(30:44):
simultaneously into bothcinemas and onto VHS with substantial
domestic promotion on 1January 1981. It had a successful
British cinema release on 16January 1983, which came after the
British Board of film censors,the BBFC, passed it with an X certificate
(31:06):
and 49 seconds of cuts. It wasembraced by British audiences where
it topped the VHS charts amonth after its cinema release, becoming
the best selling videotape ofthe year in 1983. And this was when
videotapes sold at £40 to £50each. It took about £100,000 at British
(31:31):
cinemas, including more than£50,000 at the Prince Charles Cinema
in London alone. But not allwas rosy here in the UKfuelled.ConservativepressuregroupcampaignerMaryWhitehouse
famously scapegoated the EvilDead, labelingitthenumberonenasty,andlaterin
(31:52):
1983,chosesegmentsoftheEvilDead tobescreenedintheHouseofCommons
asoneofseveralattemptstolobbythegovernmentintoactionagainstthevideoindustry. TheEvilDead,alongwithothervideonasties,wasthenput
onalistoffilmsdeemedtobeobscene.Thefollowingyear,theVideoRecordingsactclampeddownfurtheronthedistribution oftheseso
(32:24):
calledvideonasties.Thepressfueledthefears,claimingchildrenwerebeingpossessedbyvideonasties.CopiesoftheEvilDeadwereevenhiddeninchurchestostopthembeingconfiscatedinpoliceraids.TheEvilDead,whichhad Dead
(32:44):
were even hidden in churchesto stop them being confiscated in
police raids. The Evil Dead,which had already been passed by
the BBFC for its VHS release,had to be resubmitted to the BBFC
for VHS classification again,and they refused to give it classification
(33:05):
because they were stillpotentially threatened with further
local prosecution. And so theEvil Dead was withdrawn from sale
and didn't appear again until1990. The video recordings act caused
many independent horrordistributors to close due to the
extreme costs ofrecertification to the BBFC. After
(33:27):
several attempts throughoutthe following decade to get the Evil
Dead released uncut in March2001, the BBFC conceded that tastes
had changed in the interveningyears and the Evil Dead was finally
released uncut with an 18certificate. It was shown for the
first time on British TV on 25November 2001 as part of Film4's
(33:53):
Extreme Cinema season. TheEvil Dead performed above expectations
at the box office, grossing$2.4 million domestically on its
$375,000 budget worldwide.Numbers vary by source. Some say
it earned $261,000 overseas,others say it earned $27 million
overseas. But Sam Raimi hasalways said the movie did very well
(34:16):
overseas and poorlydomestically. But either way, the
movie made a huge profit andits investors earned a return of
about five times theiroriginal investment. Bob Martin,
the editor of Fangoria, one ofthe first magazines to feature the
Evil Dead, reviewed the filmbefore its formal premiere and proclaimed
(34:39):
that it, quote, might be theexception to the usual run of low
budget horror films, unquote.He followed up on this praise after
the film's premiere, stating,quote, since I started editing this
magazine, I have not seen anynew film that I could recommend to
(35:01):
our readers with moreconfidence that it would be loved,
embraced and hailed as a newmilestone in graphic horror, unquote.
Critics at the time werepositive about the movie, hailing
its low budget, gore and shockvalue as well as its quality. Despite
(35:21):
being low budget and made by ateam of inexperienced filmmakers.
Critics compared the film tothe surrealistic work of Georges
Franjfavouruand JeanCocteau,anditwasalsocompared to the Omen
and the Exorcist as a keysupernatural thriller. Contemporary
reviews are also positive withan 86% of rotten tomatoes, with a
(35:46):
critical consensus of soscrappy that it feels as illicit
as a book found in the woods.The Evil Dead is a stomach churning
achievement in bad taste thatmarks a startling debut for wunderkind
Sam Raimi that it deserves itscult reputation despite the best
(36:07):
efforts of the censors. Thebox office success of the Evil Dead
would lead to Campbell andRaimi, along with the Cullen brothers,
to collaborate on their nextmovie, Crime Wave, which was a box
office failure. Butfortunately for Raimi, despite Crime
(36:27):
Wave's misstep, he had thestudio support to make an Evil Dead
sequel, which he did, and wegot Evil Dead 2 in 1987 followed
by army of Darkness in 1992.Raimi would return to horror comedy
in a similar vein with Drag Meto hell in 2009, which is great by
(36:51):
the way. I do love Drag Me tohell. The TV series Ash vs Evil Dead
ran from 2015 to 2018. Itreceived critical acclaim, won several
awards, but was cancelled in2018. A third sequel to the Evil
Dead, Evil Dead 4 was talkedabout for years and sat in development
(37:15):
hell all that time until asupernatural horror soft reboot slash
legacy sequel titled Evil Deadwas released in 2013 which features
a cameo from Bruce Campbell. Afurther installment also sat in development
hell for years Until Evil deadrise in 2023. What were you doing
(37:36):
when you were 20? Maybe youwere smoking cigarettes behind a
bike shed or if you're in theUS pretending you were 21 so you
could buy a beer. Sam Raimicouldn't legally buy a beer, but
he could write, produce anddirect one of the classic supernatural
(37:58):
horror films of all time.Hopefully he bought himself a beer
to celebrate once the moviepremiered at the Redford Theatre.
He was definitely 21 by thatpoint. When I was 20. I wish I'd
had the gusto to make a movieat that age and have the smarts to
(38:21):
be able to get financialbacking. Honestly, 20 year old me
was a bit of a moron. I'vegrown so much in the last five years.
Stop your laughing. But these20 year old kids, they got a lot
right, but they didn't geteverything right. The sexual assault
(38:44):
scene on Cheryl in particularis tough to watch and is often cited
as the main reason the filmwas so heavily censored and banned
outright in several countries.Raimi has since expressed regret
on the scene, saying it wasunnecessarily gratuitous and a little
(39:04):
too brutal. I've not seen the2013 remake, but apparently it also
contains a similar scene. Onehas to question why, when you can
become possessed without anassault occurring, why would you
include such an assault inyour movie? But apart from that one
(39:25):
issue, the Evil Dead is suchan achievement. Its jump scares are
some of the best, and I'm nota fan of jump scares, but I love
them here. It's first person.Or should that be first spirit? Perspective
shots are so accomplished thatwhen you realize it's literally just
(39:48):
a camera on a plank of woodkinda makes it even more impressive.
The visual effects feelprofessional, but also handmade and
quirky. The production wasabsolute hell for all involved and
you can see that on screen.But more so the supernatural hell
(40:08):
than the real lived experienceof hell. And to be honest, I can
absolutely believe it was anawful production. The cold alone
would be enough for me to belike star in a movie? Nah. Give me
a warm duvet and a cat,please. When any young up and coming
(40:31):
filmmaker comes to the table,this is what they want to replicate.
A movie that pays homage tothe horrors that came before. The
hanging boards and bones. Atribute to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
as well as a poster for WesCraven's the Hills have Eyes. Craven
(40:54):
would return thefavourtitbitswiththe EvilDead,seenplayingontelevision
in onElmStreet.Buttohaveamoviethat's universallybeloved, seenasastapleforitsgenre,
as wellascreatingacultclassicinitsownright,as wellas acultcharacter
(41:17):
inAshWilliams,whosemiddlenameisJoanna. Ilovethatlittletidbitofinformation.Ashbecomes
I love that littletitbitclichéofinformation.Ashbecomesthe franchise's
final girl, and hischaracterization was made more comical
as the franchise continued.But the original movie was never
(41:41):
alittletoodumb.Butsincewhenarepeopleinhorrormovieseversmart?Themovie startswithanevil
pointofview,sothere'snoambiguityastotheintenthere.Andjustonasidenote,BruceCampbellshouldhavebeenahugestar.Idon'tknowwhyheneverwas,becausehe'ssohandsomeandcharismaticinallof thesemovies.Moreso,Iwouldsay,inEvilDead2andarmyofDarkness.ButhehasthegoodstobeagenuineHollywoodsuperstarandI
(42:23):
havenoideawhyitneverhappenedforhim.TheEvil these
movies. More so, I would say,in Evil Dead 2 and army of Darkness.
But he has the goods to be agenuine Hollywood superstar and I
have no idea why it neverhappened for him. The Evil Dead is
(42:50):
a love letter to genre cinema,embodying the friends lost in the
woods clichéhumour,butalsoalovelettertoinexperience to
the people who start out, totheir ideas, and to what you can
achieve without big studiosdemonicentitystarts makingyoudrawabookwithaface,getout.Getoutthereandthendon'twait.Don'tbeanothercabininthewoodsstatistic.Thankyouforlistening.Asalways,IwouldlovetohearyourthoughtsontheEvilDead.Andthankyouforyourcontinuedsupportofthispodcast.Justbylisteningyouaresupportingthispodcast.However,ifyouwouldliketodomoretosupportthispodcastandtointroduceotherpeopleandhelpthispodcastgrow,youcouldtellyourfriendsandfamilyaboutthispodcast.Youcanleavearatingorreviewwhereveryoufoundthispodcast.Oryoucanfindmeandfollowmeonsocialmedia.I'm@VerbalDioramaacrosssocialmediaandyoucanlikepost,share,post,commentonposts.Everythinghelpstog
gunderBye.X
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