MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 92 this week

The Evil Dead (1981)

NC-17  |   |  Horror  |  24 April 1983 (USA)
7.6
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 128,462 users   Metascore: 70/100
Reviews: 723 user | 286 critic | 10 from Metacritic.com

Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

Director:

Writer:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $4.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

The 25 Most Immersive Worlds in Cinema

Highly immersive cinematic worlds can carry a movie, and we've rounded up the best of the best.

See the full list

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 24 titles
created 24 Oct 2011
 
a list of 46 titles
created 02 Dec 2011
 
a list of 25 titles
created 30 Oct 2012
 
a list of 22 titles
created 25 Apr 2013
 
a list of 41 titles
created 7 months ago
 

Related Items

Search for "The Evil Dead" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Evil Dead (1981)

The Evil Dead (1981) on IMDb 7.6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Evil Dead.

User Polls

3 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Evil Dead II (1987)
Comedy | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holds up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.

Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Comedy | Fantasy | Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A man is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

Director: Sam Raimi
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert
Evil Dead (2013)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods. The evil presence possesses them until only one is left to fight for survival.

Director: Fede Alvarez
Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Five friends visiting their grandfather's house in the country are hunted and terrorized by a chain-saw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.

Director: Tobe Hooper
Stars: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia S.W.A.T. team members, a traffic reporter, and his television executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. When the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won't lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep.

Director: Wes Craven
Stars: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse.

Director: George A. Romero
Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman
Halloween (1978)
Horror | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

On Halloween night of 1963, 6-year old Michael Myers stabbed his sister to death. After sitting in a mental hospital for 15 years, Myers escapes and returns to Haddonfield to kill.

Director: John Carpenter
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
The Exorcist (1973)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

Director: William Friedkin
Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
Braindead (1992)
Comedy | Horror | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.

Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody
Carrie (1976)
Horror
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.4/10 X  

Carrie White is shy and outcast 17-year old girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, and unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates for the last time at her senior prom.

Director: Brian De Palma
Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Horror | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A group of camp counselors is stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer camp which, years before, was the site of a child's drowning.

Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Richard DeManincor ...
Scott (as Hal Delrich)
...
...
Shelly (as Sarah York)
Philip A. Gillis ...
Fake Shemp (as Phil Gillis)
Dorothy Tapert ...
Cheryl Guttridge ...
Barbara Carey ...
David Horton ...
Wendall Thomas ...
Don Long ...
Stu Smith ...
Kurt Rauf ...
...
Edit

Storyline

As a vacation, five friends travel to a small cabin in a deserted jungle. When their first target has been to reach peace, they should fight restlessly as they find themselves surrounded by an evil force that turns its victims into heartless monsters. Written by J. S. Golden

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Can They Be Stopped? See more »

Genres:

Horror

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated NC-17 for substantial graphic horror violence and gore | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

24 April 1983 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Book of the Dead  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$375,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (FSK 16) | (Extended Version)

Sound Mix:

| (re-mastered version)

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

When there wasn't any filming, Bruce Campbell would actually help out with the crew in prepping shots and props around the set. See more »

Goofs

When Scott and Ash go to the cellar and find the random objects, Ash starts to examine the Book of the Dead. When you look the book pages all the time in the different shots, they change even though Ash doesn't turn the pages. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Scotty: Hey, Ash, where are we?
Ash: Well we just crossed the Tennessee border...
See more »

Crazy Credits

The Evil Dead, the ultimate experience in gruelling horror, was filmed in Morristown, Tennessee, and in Detroit, U.S.A. See more »

Connections

Referenced in ROT: Reunion of Terror (2008) See more »

Soundtracks

Old Baby Moses And The Thrillers Song
(uncredited)
Written by 'Baby Moses and the Thrillers'
Performed by Theresa Tilly and Richard DeManincor
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
The scariest piece of horror ever!
29 October 2002 | by (Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden) – See all my reviews

Until about 3 years ago, my favorite movie was Halloween 2. There was no doubt, whatsoever that THAT was the greatest horror flick ever.

Then, in the fall of 1999, I found The Evil Dead on a sale at a shopping center in Stockholm for a great price. The previous missing 12 minutes of blood and gore (that the Swedish censorship had cut) were back, in the full uncut Swedish version.

I bought it with another film, 'cause there was an offer to buy 2 movies and only pay 100 crowns (about $11/£7 today).

I saw it, and I was scared beyond recognition! The music, the low budget camera, the camera work! Everything. It had everything!

It was scary, it was dark, the music was scary, it was made during the golden age of horror (early 80's) with a low budget and no huge stars in it

  • everything I look for in a horror movie.




It still is my favourite - no doubt about it. I can't imagine any movie being better than Raimi's masterpiece, I definitely can't.

The greatest piece of horror ever!


78 of 120 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
This movie is terrible !!! georgenevs
I prefer this over Evil Dead 2 BarrettIMDB
Wayyyy overhyped?! dudeacockus
Evil Dead TV Series kngtmat
SCARY film, but the tree scene is hilarious! connor-fieldsend95
Cabin in the woods! petergc6
Discuss The Evil Dead (1981) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page