Cabins in the Woods with Demons on a Saturday

 HBO currently has the first two Evil Dead films, so what better time as we approach October than to really build upon that approach than with the Raimi / Campbell horror classic duo infamous for all that blood, demon-possessed human bodies, and rickety cabins way in the wilderness and from civilization?

This could very well be the first time I have actually watched Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987) back to back on a Saturday night. Now I have in my past watched the living hell out of these films on Saturday nights in the past, but, funnily enough, never together. And, for the life of me, I'm not exactly sure why. But HBO has both of the films right now, and I recorded them on DVR despite having both in my physical media library. 

I noticed when I started to watch Evil Dead that it was given the rating of NC-17 just for graphic violence. In today's age, I wouldn't say this film is any worse than the film in 2013 in that regard. I guess that rating does give the film a certain prestige with horror fans...I could see a certain section of diehards throwing up their fists, going, "Hell yeah." I guess the rape of Cheryl might also warrant that, especially considering one of the branches just goes right between her legs. I always forget about that one moment and it is still very unsettling. It left nothing to thought...it is right on the screen. My biggest regret was my daughter was in the room as I was watching it and I wish she hadn't been. I just don't like that scene at all. I think the sequel did that better, never going towards the perverse. Trees with eyes and teeth with "root legs" in the sequel...it is Sam Raimi afforded more budget to play. The first film's raw "this is all we got and let's get creative" budget and style has far less elaborate "possessed woods" special effects...and yet when Cheryl is bombarded and overwhelmed, it has this potency the sequel with Bobby Jo doesn't.

That full moon in both films is always Sam Raimi's go-to. And the moon seems so close to the earth. It takes up a lot of the sky. So Sam wants you to see that moon in all those outside cabin sky shots. My daughter asked me about how certain characters are possessed and others aren't and all I could dredge up in my mind is that the demons just pick and choose on a whim. Because in the sequel, Ash is possessed and eventually vanquishes the demon possessing him. I think I appreciated that fact -- that Ash is possessed in the sequel instead of just being the one survivor having to contend with his possessed friends -- so when he returns to himself, at the very least, there wasn't a repeat of the first film. The callbacks that are present in the sequel, I could see why Sam wanted a change of venue for the future Army of Darkness, just so they could do some different things with Ash.

I was talking with my daughter and I'm sure I might still have this very old recording of Evil Dead from the Sci-Fi Channel was back in the early 90s. I'm trying to pinpoint when that was; I hope I can eventually time stamp that. I was telling her that I think the first one was elusive to me in the 80s rental store days, but I do remember renting the sequel a bunch.  The first film, through Sci-Fi Channel, introduced quite a blood bath to me. The makeup effects of the possessed humans alone hung on my mind far after the film was over. Sure, you can look at the first film and pick its effects apart, but it remains so clear to me all these years later that Sam and Campbell were destined for stardom. That these two films remain such treasures to this day, there is that particular appreciation of the outrageous comical scenes in the sequel and the assault on the senses of the original. And when I go to a cabin, it is certain these films pop up in my mind easily.

Where it was shot in Tennessee, I continue to appreciate that decision. It lands a better effect because it feels like some rural place out in the middle of nowhere. That sort of place way off from immediate help, immediate safety, that off-the-beaten-path setting where a bridge is taken out (a bridge that wasn't all that structurally efficient at this point) and any route towards an exit is quite a travel...and the very alive woods won't just let you get there. The daytime is the elixir...that is where any hope of escape seems to be the best option. Although Ash gets nailed by a demon at the end of the first film. Yes, you might can dissect how the demon seems to still be somewhat active despite the book not being read in the first film...how even the book being burnt to a crisp, somehow another demon is active and attacks Ash as the credits emerge from the fade to black. There is an argument that the films have their rough edges with how the evil dead functions and what exactly gives them life and kills them off. I admittedly have just let that go because of how much these films throw at me. A severed hand breaking plates over a head and a house laughing maniacally as Ash joins it, Ash putting his hand through a "liquid" mirror and another Ash emerging from a mirror to tell cabin Ash he just chopped up his girlfriend...I guess when you see these kinds of sequences, the integrity of the basics of demonic presence and possession seem to take a backseat.