The Evil Dead(1983)

New Line Cinema

1h 25m
- Horror

Release Date: Jan 1, 1983 | Limited

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Releases

Original Release | Jan 1, 1983

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(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Sam Raimi
Director

Bruce Campbell
Ashley 'Ash' J. Williams

Ellen Sandweiss
Cheryl

Richard DeManincor
Scott

Betsy Baker
Linda

Theresa Tilly
Shelly

Philip A. Gillis

Fake Shemp

Dorothy Tapert

Fake Shemp

Cheryl Guttridge

Fake Shemp

Barbara Carey

Fake Shemp

David Horton

Fake Shemp

Wendall Thomas

Fake Shemp

Don Long

Fake Shemp

Stu Smith

Fake Shemp

Kurt Rauf

Fake Shemp

Ted Raimi

Fake Shemp

Ivan Raimi

Fake Shemp

Bill Vincent

Fake Shemp

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Mono

Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Five Michigan State University students venture into the hills to spend a weekend in an isolated cabin. There they find the Book of the Dead (a Babylonian and Sumerian text, unrelated to the Egyptian Book of the Dead), otherwise known as the Morturom Demonto.While searching the basement of the cabin, the students find and play a tape recording of demonic incantations from the book, unwittingly resurrecting slumbering demons that thirst for revenge. The professor also mentions that his wife was possessed by the risen demons and that the only way to insure possessed individuals are stopped is to dismember their corpses. The characters are gradually possessed one by one, beginning with Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) after she is brutally raped by the evil force (using the nearby trees) in sequences of intense, bloody violence and horrifying voice-overs.Cheryl makes it home to the cabin but nobody believes her ordeal. Her brother Ash (Bruce Campbell) then decides to drive her into town where she can stay the night. They discover that the only road bridge is completely destroyed and the supports are bent into the shape of a hand. Soon after, Cheryl becomes a demon and stabs Linda (Betsy Baker) in the ankle with a pencil. They lock her in the cellar, but soon after Shelly (Theresa Tilly) becomes possessed and attacks Scotty (Richard DeManincor) who dismembers her with an axe. They wrap the dismembered body-parts in a blanket and bury them, after which Scotty leaves to find a trail out of the woods.Ash goes to check on Linda, but finds her to be possessed also. Scotty returns, but is mutilated by trees. Before losing consciousness he tells Ash there is a trail in the woods. After Linda tricks Ash by returning to (seemingly) normal, Ash drags her outside. He goes back to check on Scotty, who dies. Linda later returns and tries to stab Ash, but she falls on the dagger. Ash drags her outside to cut her up with a chainsaw, but he simply buries her instead. She rises from the grave and Ash beheads her with a shovel. The head soon comes back to life and taunts him, and the body arises and chases Ash back to the cabin.He returns to find the cellar door open. Cheryl jumps at the window and tries to break in. Ash shoots her, but she doesn't die. Ash barricades both the front and back doors. He runs back into the cellar to find a box of shotgun shells and experiences a strange series of events including the cellar filling with blood and hearing things in his mind.Cheryl tries to attack Ash through the door, but he shoots her and then slides a bookshelf in front of the door. Scotty's dead body suddenly animates and he and Cheryl come at Ash again. Suddenly they begin to scream, and smoke starts to rise from their bodies. Ash notices that The Book of the Dead has fallen into the fireplace. He puts it directly into the flames and the demons stop and begin to rot away as dawn breaks. Ash is the only survivor. He heads outside and stands there for a while, thinking he has survived the ordeal; but the evil "force" runs him down. The screen goes black as Ash turns around with a look of terror on his face as the Evil catches him.

Storyline

Five college students take time off to spend a peaceful vacation in a remote cabin. A book and audio tape are discovered, and its evil is found to be powerful once the incantations are read out loud. The friends find themselves helpless to stop the evil as it takes them one by one, with only one survivor left with the evil dead who desperately tries to fight to live until morning. — Miss Murder Ash Williams, his girlfriend Linda and three other friends head off to a cabin deep in the Tennessee woods. They rented the cabin for a song - sight unseen - and find the place to be in good shape, though they encounter strange occurrences and noises almost from the moment they arrive. In the basement, they find a strange book and tape recordings with a translation of the text. In playing the tapes they release an evil force bent on killing them. One by one, they become possessed and attack the others. in the end, only one will survive. — garykmcd What better way to blow off steam than to go on a brief weekend vacation? However, as Michigan State University student Ash Williams and his companions--his girlfriend Linda, his sister Cheryl, their friend Scott, and his girlfriend Shelly--arrive at a cheap, weather-beaten cabin in the tangled woods of rural Tennessee, nothing can prepare them for what's to come. Before long, strange findings in the basement and cryptic, unintelligible incantations lead to a night of pure terror as dormant malevolent forces creep into our world. Now, a parasitic power corrupts and mutates the human flesh, and thick, bright-red blood stains the solitude of the encircling mountains. Is there an escape from the demonic madness and the plague of the Evil Dead? — Nick Riganas A group of friends travels to a remote cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway. While there, they discover an ancient book bound in human skin, which unleashes demonic forces. One by one, they are possessed or attacked by supernatural entities, forcing the survivors to confront the evil and attempt to escape the cabin. As night falls, the group fights to survive against relentless and horrifying threats. — chera_khalid 2 more See all