Blyss's Movie Review for:
Main Cast of Characters:
Bruce Campbell.........Ash
Ellen Sandweiss..........Cheryl
Betsy Baker.........Linda
Hal Delrich..........Scotty
Sarah York...........Shelly
1979. Rated: R. Genre: Horror; 90 minutes
Evil never stays dead!
That saying is actually true in most horror films. It always seems that there is at least one stupid human willing to revive something evil and dead! Again, this is the case in this film. 5 teens, Ash, Scotty, Linda, Shelly and Cheryl, go to the woods to an old cabin for the weekend. Once they get there, they see that it is really run down really creepy. As they get settled in their rooms, Cheryl goes into her room and starts to draw. Then something takes over her hand and she hears an evil voice speak. During supper, the cellar door bumps. Scotty goes down to check it out and after a few minutes, Ash goes after him when he will not answer their calls. Ash and Scotty find a sword with a skull at the end and a tape recorder. They bring their findings upstairs and they listen to the tapes. The man on the tapes is a professor that speaks of a kind of "Book of the Dead" of Sumerian burial practices, rituals, and spells. If certain incantations are read, he says that certain creatures that usually lie dormant can come alive. Unfortunately. just the incantations being read from the tape, brings the spirits alive and the nightmares begin! The spirits have the power to possess and to kill and they go for Cheryl first because she seems to be more by herself than anyone else in the house and it had already went after her before. First Cheryl, then Shelly, then Linda, then Scotty. As they get bit, scratched, or injured by one of the possessed zombies, they each become one. Soon, all that is left is Ash. How will he survive?
This was a great film and seemed really ahead of its time when it came to terror. It has a lot of the elements that make a great thriller horror film. To start with, there seemed to be a certain lack of music. In some modern horror films, we hear intense music before something is going to happen and that is not always the case in this film. There is complete silence. You can hear water dripping from a pipe, footsteps in the woods, and the demonic voices as they whisper or scream. Secondly, there is always at least one stupid person in a horror film that goes outside when they hear a suspicious voice and they call out, "Is anybody there?". They heard a noise. Why do they have to ask such a stupid question and commit an act that ultimately leads to their demise? That person in this film is Cheryl. Thirdly and lastly, there is almost always a scene where a guy and girl are trying to get away from a monster or a place where a monster is and the car will never start. This happens when Ash tries to take Cheryl into town after she demands to leave the house.
The gore and intensity in this film definitely rates a 10. However, there were a few problems I had with the continuity in this film. First of all, everyone in the film that either got scratched, bit, or injured from the possessed zombies in the house became zombies themselves, except for Ash. How did Ash get ripped to shreds and get blood from the other zombies thrown in his face and he never became one himself? What made him so different? Another was just a nitpicky detail and that was that when Ash chops Linda's head off, it is a clean cut and it does not bleed. Only does it start squirting blood after the body falls on top of Ash. It was also funny how frame to frame, Ash had less blood on him from the frame before. However, these are small details that honestly did not take away from the entirety of the film. If you are a true horror fan with a strong stomach, this film is for you!
I rate this film: 8
Blyss