Guest Author - Andy Boxall

Not only is The Evil Dead one of the most well-known low budget horror movies ever made, it is also one of the most notorious. It also holds a special place in my heart as it was the one movie I wanted to see, but due to the censorship laws in my country, I couldn’t. Even when the VHS video was finally released I couldn’t legally buy it as I was underage!

Anyway, I am way ahead of myself here. Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead was released back in 1981 after an arduous three year pre/post-production and shooting schedule. In fact, I heartily recommend anyone interested in the movie, its star Bruce Campbell or low budget film-making in general to purchase Bruce’s excellent autobiography If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor, as it carries some fascinating information on the making of the movie.

Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and producer Robert Tapert never saw their horror movie doing anything except the rounds on the drive-in or grindhouse circuit, but when prolific horror writer Stephen King gave them one of the best endorsements that money-couldn’t-buy (‘...the most ferociously original horror movie of the year’), it rocketed to international infamy. Of course, they never expected the treatment it got in the UK either.

In 1983, the Evil Dead was submitted to the UK censorship board, the BBFC, for classification. According to Tom Dewe Matthew’s book ‘Censored’, it was close to being passed uncut, however several members of the viewing board objected in strong terms to the comic violence and cartoon gore. They called for the movie to be cut with the intention of toning down the level of violence. This involved trims to scenes such as the pencil-in-the-ankle sequence.

A further issue was the rape of Ellen Sandweiss’ character Cheryl. Anyone who has seen the movie in original UK format and the more recent uncut release will know that this had been ‘cleaned’ and the final branch jab completely removed. The final tally was about 60 seconds of cuts and an 18(X) rating. From this moment on, the movie was legally allowed to be shown in UK theatres.

Britain’s Mrs Clean, Mary Whitehouse, a pseudo-religious, anti-horror activist decided that The Evil Dead was the most despicable film ever put in print. She used the movie as the dubious flagship in her ‘video nasties’ campaign. The Evil Dead was dragged through various courts and at one point had a massive 40 different litigation cases against it. Thankfully all these were eventually dropped (as the movie had actually been approved), but the point was made and when the Video Recordings Act of 1984 came into power, The Evil Dead was removed from distribution.

At the beginning of the 1990s, The Evil Dead resurfaced after owner’s rights and censorship issues were resolved and re-released on VHS, still in its censored state. It wasn’t until 2001 that UK viewers were able to watch The Evil Dead in its entirety, when it was re-released for the first of many times on DVD.

Fans are spoilt for choice today as there are many different DVDs available. Both Region 1 and Region 2 discs should be uncut (provided it is released by either Anchor Bay or Elite) and your decision will come down to which extras you prefer. My personal favourite is the Book of the Dead edition with the Tom Sullivan designed latex casing resembling the book from the film. Be sure you listen to the commentaries though, as they are both superb.

Strangely, although the sequel was essentially a higher budgeted re-working of the original, its late 80s release never attracted anywhere near as much attention as its predecessor. Cut by a barely-worthwhile four seconds, it too was released uncut in 2001.

So, all’s well that ends well and we can rejoice that after 20 years of pointless vindication, censorship and notoriety, The Evil Dead can be enjoyed in the way its director intended. Groovy!