The Evil Dead (Book Of The Dead Limited Edition)

The Evil Dead (Book Of The Dead Limited Edition)

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DVD Reviews of The Evil Dead (Book Of The Dead Limited Edition)

DVD Review: "Her eyes... for God's sake, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER EYES!?"
Summary: 5 Stars

These young film students that pieced this monstrosity (an' I mean that in a good way) together back in the late '70s clearly had the biggest an' brightest imaginations an' a true love for the magic of the movies. Is it cheesy? Sure. Is it violent? Hell yeah, it is, probably the most violent of the whole trilogy. But, is it a ball to watch? By all means. The establishing shot alone heavily influenced a lotta lesser horror movies in the '80s. Is' a long tracking shot across a dirty, swampy lake, an' through the backwoods toward the main road as our unknowing group of college kids drive toward an isolated cabin in the country where they plan to spend a weekend.

When they arrive, once they've done a quick run-through of the broken-down shack, they discover some strange findings in the cellar; a shotgun, a few medeival-looking knives, and, most importantly, a tape recorder and a rubbery-looking old book, that turns out to be what the whole movie revolves around. As the friends sit up at night an' listen to the unknown doctor on the tape recorder reciting some strange demonic chants, as they flip through the chilling book whose pages are covered in strange lettering an' drawings of devils an' spirits... okay, I know what you're wondering; are these kids really stupid an' careless enough to unlock some otherwordly spirit an' awaken the dead to wreak havoc on the five of them. who are hopelessly stuck in the middle of nowhere? Well, to put it bluntly, YES. What follows is one of the most relentlessly bloody an' violent films I believe I've ever seen. It's like the filmmakers went to painstaking lengths to find out where the most awful an' horrific spot would be to stab people (The acchiles tendon, as Bruce Campbell's commentary points out). I mean, there is some really raw an' shrill moments of gore that actually put even the 'Evil Dead' sequels to shame, including a truly sick an' disturbing sequence involving one'a the girls an' some lively trees, with some very, uhhh, BUSY branches. To make a long story short, one by one each of the kids end up bein' possessed by the demons an' turned into bloodthirsty zombies, except for Bruce Campbell's character, Ash, who'll end up being the lone warrior in the sequels.

I had this movie in its original special edition for a while, but when this limited edition "Book of the Dead" came out, there was no way around it, I hadda have it. The rubbery binding of "human flesh", the unreadable lettering an' demonic drawings of ancient myths an' devilish spirits, ohhhh man, any fan'a this movie'll eat this up. There's no real making-of featurette, but there is a retrospective with all the producers, as well as some old behind-the-scenes footage on the set, including outtakes. This footage looks like it was dug outta some crates that it'd been in for the past twenty years or so. I was also surprised to see TV spots, not only because it was such a low-budget movie, but also because of the limited release it received, cause'a the graphic nature an' the fact that it was unrated. The two commentaries are fun to listen to, mostly 'cause these guys're so snide an' sarcastic about their movie, especially Bruce Campbell ("I'll be quiet, cause, uhh, we wanna hear this dialogue").

To be honest with you, these aren't the kind of movies that are a whole lotta fun to watch by yourself, so here's what you do, or at least here's what I do: First I getta bunch'a my homeboys to come over some night, then I throw a few fine females into the mix too, preferrably some trill ones so maybe they'd enjoy the flick too, I try an' plan it around some dark an' rainy weather, then I break out the liquor, sit back, an' jus' enjoy the weird satanic chants, demonic zombies, and the gallons an' gallons'a blood that's shed. Thas' all there is to it, y'all.

Description of The Evil Dead (Book Of The Dead Limited Edition)