Within the Woods (1978) Reviews

• If you like Evil Dead, see it, if you can find it

  stemage2002-01-23

  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.

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• Great little horror film by a pre-Evil Dead Sam Raimi.

  dogg012002-04-12

  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

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• Sweet little short.

  HumanoidOfFlesh2003-11-25

  "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.

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• "Join Us" ...

  Teknofobe702003-08-13

  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.

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• Damn good little film.

  Jeromecloutier2004-07-22

  Sypnosis: Two couples go to a farmhouse for the weekend. One couple goes out for a picnic and accidentally wake evil spirits. Will they survive Within the Woods? Within the Woods(1978) was, as mentioned above, a damn good little film. Sam Raimi definitely knew where he was going with this when he directed it. Bruce Campbell, of course, delivers, (he never did make a bad performance, did he? I mean, he's the only reason to watch Herbie the love bug and Congo...) and Ellen Sandweiss is believable as the tormented Ellen. Scott Spiegel and Mary Valenti perform to the extent of their roles. (I.E. cannon fodder...) It was shot with approximatively 1,600$ of budget in a three day weekend in Michigan. It premiered in August 1979 at the Punch and Judy theatre in Detroit double-billed with the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) The good: This movie heralds the birth of the Evil Force, a Raimi horror staple, along with his crazy camera movements. The makeup by Tom Sullivan is great for a first feature and the film has enough gory moments in the latter half. The film was so intense, that even if the super-8 projector filled a 1/4 of the screen, the audience actually reacted to it! The bad: No available copy (excluding of course Raimi's and Campbell's) has high quality or sound and is hard as all hell to find. Let's hope some day Anchor Bay closes the deal to release this little gem. Review: 5/5

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