Feature: Cult, Hard to Please and Unlikable Trees; Part 1 – How and Why The Evil Dead is a Cult-Horror Classic.

Now I know I cannot vouch for every Evil Dead fan out there and their reasoning for loving the trilogy. Of course it is an entirely subjective matter, deduced from personal preferences and experiences. But we can still discuss and make assertions, hell that’s half the fun of film and television after all. So for part 1 of this Evil Dead season, I will share some wise words on how and why The Evil Dead (Raimi, 1981) is a cult-horror classic. In doing so, picking out some super cool bits from the film which we know and love.

I guess before I start, it’s worthwhile attempting to define what we actually mean by cult film. In a very broad and over-arching way, it is a text that is situated ideologically outside of the mainstream. This is true of many horror films as they exist on the boundaries of taste. Be it excessive gore or rapey trees – horror is not for everyone. But as Umberto Eco accurately questions, ‘What are the requirements for transforming a book or a movie into a cult object? The work must be loved, obviously, but this is not enough’ (1987, pp. 197-198). Part 2 of this Evil Dead season will be about our love for the text and how such appropriation elicits a cult sensibility. Also why, therefore, our initial reaction to its remake was less than favourable – how dare they touch our beloved! Until then however, this part will consider Evil Dead as a cult text visually.

Referring back to Eco, he believes that a cult film is a completely furnished world so it is quotable, so audiences can ‘break, dislocate, unhinge it’ (1987, p. 198), into a ‘series of images, of peaks, of visual icebergs’ (p. 198). In other words, pin-point favourite bits creating “magic frames” – frames that, when they appear in the movie, can be separated from the whole, transforming it into a cult object (p. 200). He calls them visual icebergs; we call them Ash-isms, blimey-that-tree-is-brutal or yes-I-love-this-bit! Regardless, these stand-alone moments within the film are what make it loveable, memorable...cult. 

Whilst there is plenty to choose from, here is a somewhat encompassing list of the films visual icebergs; the most brilliant and notorious moments...

Camera technique

Raimi uses a distinctive camera-run, chasing our trouserless protagonist through the woods...

...obscure camera angles...

...and 180 degree pans....

...as an effective mechanism to heighten tension, suspense and just generally allude to the surreal sense of bat-shittery that goes on in this cabin.

An unlikable tree

One of the films most notorious sequences and perhaps for the horror genre in general, is an encounter with a rather horny tree. Still a bit of a shock to this day.

Forever changing the way you look at pencils...

The first bit of relentless gore that the film has to offer. Memorable and effective - can't help but wince. 

HFX

The horror FX in The Evil Dead are brilliantly over the top...

Whether it is to fashion a Deadite ...

Or destroy one...

... blood and ooze appear to spill out of every orifice - affirmation of the films existence in the margins of taste. Ludicrously enjoyable.

Quotable Dialogue

For me, Evil Dead II provides the most quotable and memorable lines but there are still a fair few in The Evil Dead, some of which are in this video...Enjoy!

That's it for Part 1. Hopefully in a roundabout way I've demonstrated how The Evil Dead is a cult text visually, through visual icebergs of stand-alone sequences, visual excess and effective camerawork. Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2: Evil Dead Fandom - the perils of a remake and why us fans are so hard to please.
References: Eco, U. (1987). Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage. In W. Weaver (trans.), Faith in Fakes: Essays (pp. 197-212). London: Secker & Warburg