Horror Fest V Day Three: Night of the Living Dead and The Evil Dead

There are a handful of films that the Cap'n promises "will play at Horror Fest this year" but never do: The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman, Let the Right One In, The Evil Dead, The Exorcist, Carnival of Souls, It's Alive, and Night of the Living Dead*. Finally, I can knock two films off of that list, because finally, for the first time ever at a Horror or Summer Fest, we watched Night of the Living Dead** and The Evil Dead.

One of the reasons I hesitated to show them in early Horror Fests was the assumption that everybody attending has already seen both films several times. Instead, I pushed in more random directions, which is how we ended up with films like Terrorvision, Death Bed: The Bed That Eats, Blood Car, and (unfortunately) Matango. When the Cap'n took Horror Fest V on the road, with the knowledge that the final night would coincide with a Halloween party, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to show both films for an audience whose attention would be fleeting at best.

Night of the Living Dead remains a favorite horror film of mine. While pacing would become an issue for people later in the night with The House of the Devil, there's not a shred of idle time in George Romero's claustrophobic, creepy debut. Even the framing of the opening sequence with Johnny and Barbra feels tight, inescapable; their doom is impending, and just because Barbra manages to escape temporarily doesn't mean that she - or anyone else in the film - is ever safe. So much of the film takes place in a boarded up house, with blasts of news reports or radio announcements, that every argument, every scuffle takes on greater meaning. Go outside and you're dead. Stay inside and you're just as doomed.

Years ago, I wrote a paper about Night of the Living Dead that I'll put up for Tuesday's "From the Vaults" that goes into greater detail, but I think its a testament to Night of the Living Dead (which sets up almost every "zombie" rule films abide by to this day) that it remains potent and draws passers-by in and keeps them there until the bleak, nihilistic ending.

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It turns out that most people at the party (and I'm willing to bet in general) have a) only seen Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn / Army of Darkness, or b) have only seen The Evil Dead once that putting it on was like showing them a movie they'd never seen before. It's true that Sam Raimi liberally borrowed sequences for Dead by Dawn, but what really sticks out about The Evil Dead is that the laughter the film generates comes from people not knowing how else to register their discomfort with the film. The set up is relatively benign, but after the first twenty minutes, when The Evil Dead finally pushes into strictly horror territory - starting with the genuinely unsettling "tree rape" sequence - the film is relentless in its assault on the main characters.

Only in retrospect - one benefit that most of us have and audiences in 1981 didn't - is it clear from the beginning of the film that Ashley (which he's alternately referred to with "Ash") will be the "Final Guy." We know that Bruce Campbell is in Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, but if you didn't, it's really hard to guess which character introduced in the beginning is going to make it through to the end. That Raimi chooses to kill off (or "possess") the girls first can be read as turning horror conventions on its ear or as an (un)intentionally misogynistic twist, and it's arguable that no one gets it as bad as Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) does with the whole "tree" thing and subsequent possession (speaking of which, it's reasonably clear in the movie that Cheryl is Ash's sister, which makes the "save me, Ash" trick with Linda and Cheryl that much more cruel).

That being said, it's a pretty rough going for everyone in the film. I'd forgotten how visceral the "pencil in the ankle" scene is, and I've watched The Evil Dead fairly recently. It's worth noting, by the way, that the film looks fantastic on Blu-Ray, something people might not have expected to hear. What always sticks with me about The Evil Dead is how creepy it is, how hard (and effectively) it works to scare you, even if your only release is an uncomfortable chuckle. While I will never speak ill of Evil Dead 2 and feel that Army of Darkness is not a horror movie but still very entertaining, The Evil Dead remains my favorite in the series because it won't let you off with a laugh, from the first roaming camera shot to the final frame.

*Mind you, this year I have to add The City of the Living Dead and Happy Birthday to Me to the list. ** Many of you have pointed out that both remakes of Night of the Living Dead (Tom Savini's 1990 version and the 3-D version from 2008) have appeared at previous fests, but I hold the 1968 original in a totally different regard than I do its "re-imaginings."