film

It took six years for Sam Raimi to follow-up 1981's Evil Dead, but it was time well spent: few films stand up better among the crowded field of the 1980s horror boom. Raimi, who had managed to secure a great deal more money to make Evil Dead 2 than he had for the original, but Evil Dead 2 still feels like a transmission from a deliciously lo-fi alternate universe despite Raimi no longer having to fashion various pieces of equipment out of wood.

Showing admirable commitment to the bit, Bruce Campbell returned for more creative punishment as the reluctant hero Ash, despite having spent much of the 18 months it took to film Evil Dead covered in fake blood. Ash and his girlfriend go on vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, where he discovers an audio tape of recitations from a book of ancient texts. When it is played, it unleashes demons which possess and torment him.