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"Evil Dead: The Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror" begins with five friends on a trip to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of merry-making.  The cabin is a spooky run down thing crouching in the woods with a tool shack behind it.  Ash (Ashley), Linda, Cheryl, Scott and Shelley unpack their stuff and settle into the cabin which looks better on the inside.  Cheryl, Ash's sister, is the first to feel the presence of something in the area.  From there things run downhill for the five friends.  Possession, bodily dismemberment, gripping terror and gore like nobody's business...

Evil Dead is the landmark cult-horror classic of master director Sam Raimi.  In it he skilfully and sometimes playfully oversteps the bounds of the rest of the horror film genre to produce a film that is tense and deeply disturbing.  It pushes the envelope until breaking and is almost as gruelling for the viewer as it is for the star as they sit ramrod straight waiting for the next jolt of fear or roiling of the stomach.

This movie is extremely well done.  The audience is provoked into fear on many levels even across multiple viewings.  The events are truly terrifying.  The depictions of violence are varied and range from the slapstick to the vulgar.  The special effects are arguably top rate (argument stems from the year of release, 1982, to the low budget involved) and stand up relatively well against modern standards.  The acting ranges from mediocre to brilliant.  The script/dialogue is a little rough early on but tightens up beautifully.  The directing is stunning.  The locations are brilliant.  And the soundtrack is spectacular.

There are two problems with the film depending on the audience.  Some of the movie is funny intentionally and some of it is over the top.  This means that some viewers will be laughing even in the terrifying scenes, and comments/heckles may begin to fly.  However even in the face of the tongue in cheek bits there is some truly graphic things going on in the film which leads to the second issue.  This film is graphic and intense.  There is massive amounts of gore, violence that is pornographic both in a sexual and non-sexual sense, and some of it is downright rude.  Some viewers may be terribly offended.  This film has been heavily edited in some countries and entirely banned in others.