Within the Woods (1978)

There are some films we are so familiar with that it seems pointless even writing about them in any way at all. It's why I seldom cover bigger, well-loved genre films here, and tend to focus on the less championed entries. The likes of The Evil Dead has been spoken about so often on blogs, websites and books that you'd be hard pressed to say anything fresh about it, and if you can't do that, why bother? We know how influential it has been, and how great the sequels are, and how much fun Bruce Campbell is. But what we don't hear about too often is the film made to secure the funding for The Evil Dead, called Within the Woods.

Four teenagers head out to a remote cabin in the woods for the weekend. Ellen (Ellen Sandweiss) and Bruce (Bruce Campbell) head out for a picnic among the trees, while Scott (Scott Spiegel) and Shelly remain in the cabin playing a board game. Out in the woods, Bruce tells Ellen that where they are staying is on an ancient Indian burial ground, but that they should be fine if they don't disturb the graves. While making a fire pit, Bruce digs up an old dagger from the ground. When Ellen wakes from her nap, she finds Bruce missing, and sets off to find him. She discovers his blood-drenched body and heads back terrified to the cabin. Scott doesn't believe anything has happened at all, and heads off to find Bruce. Shelly ventures outside after awhile, and is suddenly attacked by a seemingly possessed Bruce, who kills her with the dagger. Will Scott make it back to save Ellen?  Just who will survive this night of bloody terror?

Anyone who has read the excellent The Evil Dead Companion by Bill Warren, or who has listened to the countless audio commentaries by Raimi and co on the DVD releases will know the details on this one. After deciding to make a horror picture, Raimi, producer Rob Tapert and Campbell felt they needed to make a short film to use to raise the funds needed for a feature project. The result was Within the Woods, and the rest is history after that. What is unfortunate though is what has happened to the original short. Due to the lack of rights on the music tracks used (this was made to be screened locally, remember, and never intended for wide distribution) the film has lingered in the 'unreleased' files, despite several attempts to get it onto the DVD special editions of The Evil Dead over the years.

It's a pity, as all we have now are some truly terrible 5th or 6th generation VHS bootlegs, copies so murky and noisy that it's almost impossible to see what is happening in some scenes, never mind the tape jumps and warbles. What we can make out is great though; there is tension, seemingly decent Super 8 cinematography, great editing and some excellent jump scares and gore. Essentially it's a 30 minute 'quickie' version of the first Evil Dead film, with several moments making it over to the finished feature film, such as the hand being chewed off, or the great moment when Scott sits up in the foreground, delivering a polished scare. Also on display is one or two finely done comedic moments, and though they are light, they work well, and the rare chance to see Bruce Campbell playing the bad guy.

It's also interesting to see how it developed from 'Indian burial ground' to the Lovecraftian 'Book of the Dead', which was much more effective. Despite the age of Raimi, the film looks and feels more accomplished than the likes of The Equinox, which must have played a part in the inspiration for these films. Sure, it's only 30 minutes, and not something that horror fans would line up to hand over cash for, but I think it's an excellent entry in the Evil Dead saga, and must have been great to see it when it originally screened. I'm not sure how most people feel, but I for one would love to have this to go with my annual Evil Dead screening, as I think we are sorely lacking in any other material from Raimi that matches that bleak, no-nonsense, hardcore horror of the first film. It's unlikely that it'll see the light of day on any official release soon, but if you can find it, it's worth watching, just if it's even to see where the whole Deadite cult sprang from.