Who
Sam Raimi, director
Bruce Campbell, star
Ted Raimi and others, Fake Shemps
What
Five college students go to an old, abandoned cabin in Tennessee and instead raise up some nasty presences. Actually, the former occupants of the cabin, an archaeologist and his wife, raised the evil spirits; the students are just new fodder.
(Evil Dead 2 is not really a sequel, but a remake as a slapstick comedy. Both movies have the same plot, though the second devotes more time to the archaeologist. I prefer to think that it takes place in an parallel universe. Indeed, in all universes, Ash will be drawn to this lonely cabin and have to dismember his girlfriend.)
Why
Overlooked by the much funnier Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, the first film in that series deserves another viewing. First, it is truly scary. The rape sequence near the beginning justifies its moniker as “the ultimate experience in grueling horror.” Second, its low budget does not hide its joy of filmmaking . The only thing I have against it is slightly misogynist, in that the first victims are the women.
Heather's Abode 