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Raimi, who later went on to work with one of the biggest-budgets of all-time directing the Spider-Man franchise, was forced to be crafty for his first feature. He took a DIY-approach from everything to the monster make-up to the camera rigs. Even lacking a budget, Raimi’s creativity never seems hindered. For example, the classic and original shaky-cam shot of the demon’s zooming point of view was achieved by pulling a camera on wheels with a string. The marathon filming produced a mountain of footage that turned into a year and a half editing process.

Trilogy hero Bruce Campbell, who has turned into a cult legend himself outside of his character Ash, is the only actor to continue with a serious film career alongside his friend Raimi.

Given how much the film still works today, it is hard to see what the remake can necessarily “improve” upon besides the addition of special effects using today’s technology. Audiences still debate if the ’87-released Evil Dead II is a sequel or an undercover remake with a budget.

Standing at an astronomically high 98% on Rottentomatoes.com, even at the time of its release, Dead was welcomed to positive reviews. While the acting was never mentioned as a pro, the deft mix of horror, camp, and humor, all drowned in an Olympic-sized swimming pool worth of gore, won over critics with the stomach to bear it. Raimi’s ability to create an atmosphere of dread with his camerawork on such a small budget was probably one of the many reasons Sony eventually gave him the keys to the Spider-Man kingdom.

After months of knocking on doors to find a distributor, New Line finally bit. Released in 1983, The Evil Dead at least let Raimi and friends and family keep their possessions, raking in $2.4 million domestically, but wouldn’t be considered a breakout. That would have to wait until the film hit VHS and became a popular rental. Banned in several countries, and heavily edited in others, The Evil Dead gained a status as being the scariest movie to see, giving the film a long life on video. The cult status it gained helped spur DVD sales with multiple special editions and trilogy packages being released (a quick scroll through Amazon will show you a variety of options so vast that they don’t even all fit on one page).

I find it funny that it took about three years for Hollywood to remake the Spider-Man franchise, yet it took them 30 years to remake The Evil Dead. I’m not sure what that says, but maybe the fact is that Sam Raimi’s true legacy isn’t with the big-budget superhero flick, but with his no-budget horror film that fans still watch. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally watch The Evil Dead, but now I am all prepared to see how much this remake brings to the table rather than reanimates.

Verdict: With Us
7 out of 10

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