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Evil Dead (1982)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Army of Darkness (1992)
Fans of "camp" TV may recognize Sam Raimi as the producer of many of the networks' most successful fantasy/adventure series, including American Gothic, Young Hercules, and Xena: Warrior Princess. Mainstream movie-watchers may know Raimi as the moderately successful Hollywood director of such films as For the Love of the Game (1999), A Simple Plan (1998), and The Quick and The Dead (1995). But longtime fans know writer/director (and sometimes actor) Sam Raimi as something else entirely. To them, Raimi is the gifted, twisted, and at times revolutionary force behind arguably the hippest and most entertaining horror trilogy ever captured on celluloid, the Evil Dead. Horror writer Stephen King dubbed Evil Dead the "most ferociously original horror film I have ever seen" at 1983's Cannes film festival. King's comments were high praise for Raimi's debut feature length film, shot on a relatively shoestring budget with chiefly non-actors (most notably among them fellow Michigan State drop-out Bruce Campbell). The film's plot is standard horror fare: two couples are trapped in a wooden cabin and terrorized by various, non-manifested forces of evil. That said, Raimi's direction is anything but ordinary. The key to Raimi's vision is his ability to utilize all the elements at his directorial disposal: notably sight, sound, and mood. Evil Dead doesn't look like any other horror film because it isn't shot like any other horror film. Scenes flash before the audience in frenzied, rapid fire sequences. (A technique that would eventually be brought to the mainstream by director Joel Coen, who helped edit the film.) Raimi's camera work is shaky and rarely stationary, an effect that encourages viewers to imagine they are riding a roller-coaster rather than watching a motion picture. And clearly that is the point. Raimi's movie aims to offer audiences the ultimate filmic sensory experience. But it wasn't until five years later that he had the financial resources and directorial know-how to finally pull it off. Love it or hate it, Evil Dead II offers viewers a chance to witness a truly unique (and disturbing) vision. Rarely has a director created a film so deliberately chaotic and bizarre. Albeit a remake of Raimi's original film, ED II rises well above the standards set by its predecessor. This time, Raimi holds nothing back. Like a mad scientist, he gleefully experiments with innovative camera angles, an unnerving musical score, and atypical cinematography to deliver an unparalleled sensory assault. Boarded windows hide hidden faces, creaking rafters scream in agony; even an ordinarily mundane table lamp is capable in erupting in hysterical fits of laughter. Stunned viewers will observe a man laugh jubilantly as he severs his hand with a chainsaw, witness a forest of flesh-eating, female-groping trees, and watch breathlessly as the film's "hero" saws through the vice-lodged head of his girlfriend. Depraved? Maybe. Insane? Positively! Evil Dead II is not a film for mainstream audiences; yet this is precisely why it succeeds. Not bound by any Hollywood chains (Raimi wrote, directed, and produced the film.), Raimi has free reign to make a film as unconventional as it is entertaining, and by doing so, pushes the boundaries of experimental cinema. Go To Page: 1 2
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