Within the Woods

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

"Within the Woods" is largely known as the prequel to "The Evil Dead".This 30-minutes film was created to sell investors on the idea of "The Evil Dead".The film is extremely low-budget and the story is minimal.Still there is plenty of gore to satisfy fans of American horror.Bruce Cambell plays Bruce,who gets zombified.Ellen Sandweiss plays his girlfriend,Ellen.However she doesn't get raped by a tree in this film,though.The cinematography is grainy and the moving steady/shaky camera-a Raimi trademark-probably made it's debut here."Within the Woods" is rather tough to find,but if you get a chance watch it.Highly recommended.

Two couples are vacationing in a rickety shack deep "Within the Woods". When Bruce and Ellen decide to venture out to have a picnic, they find the worst possible place to roast their weenies. They soon learn that disturbing an ancient Indian burial ground has its price…and they will pay in blood.

Hey, hey you can't really fault the filmmakers for the production. This Super 8 short was put to round up some funding for what would later become "The Evil Dead" (1982). The film itself is actually pretty good with a good atmosphere and music score that punctuate an already creepy cabin and woods. You'll see many a gag and shot that will later be replicated in the official version and let's face it any "Dead" fan has got to see "Within the Woods" for the sheer fun. Word of warning though the short has never gotten an official release (due to music rights issues) it only exists in bootleg form. If you pay for it good luck because you'll get suckered. Downloading is your best bet (it is plenty available on most P2P's) because it always seems to be an 87th generation copy of a 10th generation VHS dupe. Not worth a bloody dime but priceless any other way.

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.

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.