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.
