A Cabin in the Tennessee Woods

The place where horror films become classics are often as or almost as iconic as what happens there. I think that's never more true than in "The Evil Dead" (1981). The film opens with a pleasant enough ride to the cabin, friends in a beat up Olds just readying for a fun stay over a few days. When the film arrives to the cabin, after Scott nearly hits a truck and two fishermen wave at them, there's a presence in the woods, and the swing bops the side of the building. Join us!

Soon the rickety cabin, clearly a disregarded place left to rot in its isolation, becomes an unsafe location. No safety indoors or out, the bridge upended, retreating through the wilderness or a trail not an option. This film gives us quite a misbegotten refuge for the evil to congregate. They are called by an incantation, a former visitor to the cabin, his voice on tape reading from the Book of the Dead. The cool knife with the skull handle doing some damage, as severed hands come off and stabbed backs result in agonizing cries. Basements and tool sheds, severed body parts hacked to pieces, windows and doors not able to keep the evil from eventually engaging Ashley. The back story, the miserable conditions, seasonal chill and cold, working with little crew, living at this cabin during the shoot despite less than desirable room available, and wrecking the joint as the film continues; this location is quite responsible for why "The Evil Dead" endures. It does seem like the greats often derive from those having to suffer for it.