Within the Woods

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.

Or more accurately, "Invest In Us...", as that's exactly what this short 30-minute movie was trying to say. This 30-minute concept movie was intended to convince people to loan Raimi and his crew money to make the first "Evil Dead" movie.

We all the know the story by now surely : a bunch of teenagers are staying in a cabin and they awaken an evil curse that tries to kill them all off one by one blah blah blah ... only THIS time, rather than the "Book of the Dead", it is an ancient Indian curse that's causing all the carnage. Fun, huh?

First off, I can't believe that Raimi actually had the nerve to use the words "Ancient Indian Burial Ground" in a horror movie. But that and the vacuum cleaner sound effects aside, this is a great concept movie that showed exactly what it needed to - that Raimi even at that age was a competent director capable of making a successful movie.

There are aspects of this short movie that are present in the later ones, and it is interesting to note these ideas (the follow cam, the banging swing, "Join Us!") and exact sequences such as Linda trying to open the cabin door and the whole three minute "Zombie At The Door" sequence that appear literally shot-for-shot in Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2.

Serious Evil Dead fans should definitely take a look if you ever get the chance.

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.

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

Within the Woods (1978)

*** (out of 4)

Early Sam Raimi short has Bruce Campbell and three friends going to the woods for the weekend when they disturb an Indian burial ground. When the sun falls demons and other ghouls go on the attack. Does this sound familiar? If you said it sounded like The Evil Dead then you're correct because this is the film Raimi shot to show investors to try and get money for the feature, which would eventually be released three years later. Needless to say, this doesn't hold a candle to the feature but fans will certainly want to check this out just to see how much Raimi kept from this movie and put into the future film and its sequel. I was really surprised to see Raimi using many of the same techniques but many of them, like the point of view shots of the creature going over the ground, work very well here. I think the film gets a little long winded as it runs just over 30-minutes but there's still a lot to enjoy here. Campbell turns in a charming performance as does Scott Spiegel. I've read the film had the budget of $1,600 and with that in mind it's amazing how much they were able to put into the short.