3. The Evil Dead (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU92dtYrF9I Billed as the ultimate experience in gruelling horror, The Evil Dead is the Velvet Underground of horror flicks everyone who sees it wants to make their own zombie movie. This makes Sam Raimis picture more influential than Gone With The Wind, Vertigo or The Godfather not bad for a low-budget exploitation film whose cast consists of 5 people. It also has Raimis manic invention, seen here in spades (check out Ashs journey into the cellar), and when it comes to the act of bodily dismemberment, nobody wields an axe quite like Bruce Campbell. Unlike most cheap horror movies, a door opening by itself in the middle of the night does not constitute a major plot point, and the narrative builds and builds until all hells breaks loose. Plus, who can forget that final shot?
Ian Watson
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
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