10 Greatest Directorial Debut Horror Movies

In 1981, Sam Raimi and good friend Bruce Campbell collaborated on The Evil Dead after creating several short horror films together. With a plot that has been reused and parodied endlessly since, a group of friends travel to a cabin in the woods where they are terrorized by an unknown supernatural threat.

Upon release, the movie wasn't an instant success with a lukewarm reception from American audiences. However, thanks to European audiences the movie eventually grew a warm following. Sam Raimi utilized inventive techniques to create one of the scariest motion pictures ever released at the time. The film is gruesome and brutal, but is woven together with Raimi's trademark twisted sense of humour brilliantly. With a microbudget of an estimated $350,000, the independent film grossed several million. It spawned a sequel several years later, as well as a spin-off, remake, and most recently a TV series set in the Evil Dead universe.

Sam Raimi paved an impressive career for himself post The Evil Dead, continuing to make movies both within the horror genre and outside it, perhaps his biggest success being the original Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire. After a significant break from the director's chair, Raimi looks poised to return to the Marvel universe, directing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness slated for 2022, which promises to be the scariest Marvel film yet.