| Film vitals |
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· Year: 1978
· Director: Sam Raimi
· Writer: Sam Raimi
· Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss
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| Series info |
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Part of the Evil Dead series.
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| Information |
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· Within the Woods is a thirty-two minute short shot to demonstrate to investors what Sam Raimi & Co. were capable of in order to raise money for The Evil Dead.
· Last-minute copyright issues over the music used in Woods kept it from being included in the 2002 DVD edition of The Evil Dead.
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| If you liked this, try |
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| Products |
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Amazon.com
· Book: The Evil Dead Companion |
| Links |
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| Synopsis |
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One of a group of friends vacationing in a remote cabin accidentally desecrates an ancient grave and is turned into a murderous, supernatural thing who tries to put his former friends to gory deaths. Shot by Sam Raimi to raise money for The Evil Dead, and involving several members of that film's cast and crew.
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RATING
Out of 100 |
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74
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| COLD ANALYSIS |
| 3.25 -ATMOSPHERE |
| 3.25 -GORE |
| 1.0 -HUMOR |
| 1.5 -SCARES |
| 2.5 -TENSION |
It's a real shame that this predecessor to The Evil Dead didn't make it to the 2002 DVD release of that infamous film. The copy of Within the Woods I saw is what you might call a distant descendant of the original print--it's a scratched, dark, low-res digital version of a film that was shot in Super-8 to begin with. Of course, to any film nut, that just adds to its appeal; there's something about watching a grainy print of a never-released-on-video movie that sends a shudder of excitement up the spine of a cult cinephile. That's reason enough to watch Woods, if given the opportunity, but, hey--on top of that, it's actually a good little flick. The acting is a couple of notches below the first Evil Dead, but it's still passable, and the dialogue, though corny, is there merely to serve as the perfunctory framework for the action and gore. And there's a goodly amount of both here. In Woods we also see manifestations of the innovations Sam Raimi would later refine: unusual camera angles, horrifying gallows humor, nearly unrelenting tension, and, of course, the Sam-o-cam. Though they still had far to go to perfect their craft, even in a no-budget thirty-two minute short, Raimi and his people capture moments of solitariness, shock, and horror, all wrapped up in a surprisingly involving atmosphere. Definitely of interest for horror fans and those interested in low-budget moviemaking; highly recommended for the Evil Dead fanatic.
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RATING
Out of 100 |
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95
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| COLD ANALYSIS |
| 3.75 -ATMOSPHERE |
| 4.0 -GORE |
| 0.5 -HUMOR |
| 4.0 -SCARES |
| 4.0 -TENSION |
After a long exile from the world I used to know as "gorefest," I happened upon this little nut while looking for a copy of The Evil Dead on the net. I did not know of its existence, and it was a pretty poor video recording, but I sat watching it almost as gripped as I was when I watched Alien for the first time. It suddenly brought back to me how basic and inexpensive it can be to create an emotion in you that you spend your entire life trying to buy.
This is a basic, short, fantastically to-the-point flick that really encompases the entire requirement of a generation of "video nasty." Not much of a story, but hey . . . who needs a story? Let's just set the scene, set the mood, get the buckets of latex and blood ready, start rolling, and nail this sucker! Absolutely raw!
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RATING
Out of 100 |
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90
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| COLD ANALYSIS |
| 2.0 -ATMOSPHERE |
| 3.25 -GORE |
| 0.5 -HUMOR |
| 2.25 -SCARES |
| 3.0 -TENSION |
Though it was filmed with a home video camera, had a budget of $1,600, and had a very small cast and crew, Within the Woods sheds a light as to where the whole Evil Dead idea came about. We see, though, that Within the Woods doesn't really follow much of the same plot, but nonetheless ties in well with E.D. This eerie, scary, gory, and dramatic movie is an excellent collector's item, and a fun one to watch. The story is well explained, and the gore is awsome! A definite pick for anyone who doesn't mind a short film with a few glitchy scenes due to the low budget.
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