Within the Woods

The original half-hour short put together by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, to try to secure funding for their first full-length horror film. Two young couples spend the weekend at a remote farmhouse. As one couple spends an afternoon playing Monopoly, the other (Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss) goes outside for a picnic. During lunch, Bruce tells Ellen (they stick with their real names) that the land they're on used to be AN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND!! But that although the Indians placed a protection curse, they'll be fine as long as they don't disturb any graves. Then, as Ellen gathers firewood, Bruce wanders off and finds an ancient dagger - which he decides to keep. Events soon take a turn for the worse, and a possessed, mutilated Bruce stalks Ellen, determined to kill her, leading her to seek refuge in the farmhouse...

Eventually, of course, Raimi and Campbell found the money, and went on to make their horror movie - The Evil Dead (along with Sandweiss), using several elements from this film. Attempts to release WTW on home media have always fallen through, and Evil Dead fans who want to see where the idea first came from have to make do with scans of bootleg VHS's (that in themselves look like tenth generation copies). Despite dreadful picture quality near the beginning, occasional picture-roll throughout, excessive darkness, and what looks like 'tracking' issues (remember those?), the performances aren't bad, the effects are serviceable for the time, and the direction and camera work show Raimi's obvious talent. Rating it in it's present condition doesn't seem fair - but if you're an Evil Dead fan it's definitely worth a look.

Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss go out for a picnic while Scott Spiegel and Mary Valenti play Monopoly. Ellen is told by Bruce about the whole place being an indian burial ground, before falling asleep. She wakes up to find Bruce missing, and then there's a whole lot of running, stabbing, and POV shots. Sam Raimi made this film for $1,600 on Super-8 over one weekend. This film is a real treat for Evil Dead fans, because, despite lacking Campbell's Ashness (where he was a wimp in Evil Dead, and progressed into an asshole in Army of Darkness), it contains many scenes that would later be seen in Evil Deads 1 and 2, and Sam Raimi's Evil POV shots. It is also atmospheric and quite scary, something that seems almost impossible given the budget. Evil Dead fans will love this, and it is worth searching the net for bootleg copies of the film (as Anchor bay were unable to provide the film on the new Limited Edition Evil Dead DVD), for anyone else, this film would only appeal to aspiring filmakers.

6/10 Anyone with a casual interest in film

8/10 Evil Dead fans like myself

That was the only word that springs to mind when you view this short film it will make you jump out of your seat at the very end. Find a copy and may your Evil Dead collection be complete.

Although most copies available are not very good quality it is definitely worth your time to watch this and see if you can spot some of the scenes that turn up in later Evil Dead movies.

I got my hands on a 30th generation dub of this short. The same plot as Evil Dead, but really really old and simple compared to the first full-length production of Sam Raimi. It's nice and campy, with some really cool camera shots, and it's the perfect length for a short. I enjoyed it, but if you didn't know anything about Evil Dead or Sam Raimi, you would just blow it off. I recommend FINDING A COPY, if you are a fan.

This is the short film from the filmakers that made "The Evil Dead". The film is kind of rough, and it doesn't come in that great, and about the only place to find it, is bootlegged on the internet.

The story involves college students who take a picnic on an indian burial ground. One of them becomes possessed by a spirit and goes on a murder spree.

Very dark and gory.

Contains Strong Violence, no nudity though