Stephen King and Sam Raimi

  • This message board permanently closed on June 30th, 2020 at 4PM EDT and is no longer accepting new members.

Edward John

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2019
4,004
18,785
23
To be fair, the worst Sam Raimi movie is still entertaining, you can't say that about most blockbusters in recent memory.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
Evil Dead doesn't feel King like to me though. There's nothing about the story where I go 'King could have written that'. Maybe because he's seldom done that 'kids going on a vacation' thing. Maybe the closest to that is something like 'The Raft'.
When you first watch Evil Dead and you don't know it's gonna be about people being possessed by a demonic force, it feels most like the beginning of a slasher. You're expecting more a killer to turn up and kill them one by one, than that you're expecting them to get possessed and turn on each other. It just has that slasher-vibe in the way of the setting and the way the characters behave - and King never really does that.
 

Edward John

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2019
4,004
18,785
23
Evil Dead doesn't feel King like to me though. There's nothing about the story where I go 'King could have written that'. Maybe because he's seldom done that 'kids going on a vacation' thing. Maybe the closest to that is something like 'The Raft'.
When you first watch Evil Dead and you don't know it's gonna be about people being possessed by a demonic force, it feels most like the beginning of a slasher. You're expecting more a killer to turn up and kill them one by one, than that you're expecting them to get possessed and turn on each other. It just has that slasher-vibe in the way of the setting and the way the characters behave - and King never really does that.
The thing about the first evil dead is that is was not meant to be a comedy, it turned into that because of weird dialogue and dodgy acting. I don't think it is anything like Stephen King, it is classic Raimi. They actually tried stopping production on the first film many times, but people actually invested too much money into it to just abandon it. So they continued, even though Raimi has said that he would have abandoned it without the investors. The sequel is a classic though, one of the best horror movies of all time.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
The thing about the first evil dead is that is was not meant to be a comedy, it turned into that because of weird dialogue and dodgy acting. I don't think it is anything like Stephen King, it is classic Raimi. They actually tried stopping production on the first film many times, but people actually invested too much money into it to just abandon it. So they continued, even though Raimi has said that he would have abandoned it without the investors. The sequel is a classic though, one of the best horror movies of all time.

I never felt the first one is a comedy. There is a comedic tone to it at times, but it's a bit under the surface. I think Raimi said he loves comedy more than horror, he often puts slapstick elements in his films, inspired by the Three Stooges. So I feel that even though the first Evil Dead was meant to be horror, Raimi still consciously or unconsciously put in stuff that can be interpreted as comedy - simply because he loved it himself.
Of course in the sequels and the tv-series the comedy comes to the foreground much more.

I remember we laughed when we saw the first Evil Dead for the first time, but I still found it disturbing too. The people getting possessed I found scary in a way it is scary in The Exorcist - especially when it first happens with the girl who is looking out the window and then turns around fully possessed. I think the film goes so far over the top in terms of gore, that it seems the only response you can have to it is laughter. It's like a gore version of a pie throwing scene in a slapstick film. But you saw this in a lot of gore films in the eighties, like Re-Animator or Bad Taste - the gore got so outrageous that it played more as comedic.

I know they had a hard time making the film, because of the heat at the location they were. Flies got attracted to the stuff that they used as blood and things like that. So it doesn't surprise me he wanted to abandon it.

I personally slightly prefer the first to the second. The first has a more raw feel to it, the second is slightly more slick feeling.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
Evil Dead has always been one of my true favourites, because it's so inventively filmed. The use of the camera is unique and the sound effects and make-up are great. Also, once it gets going, it really keeps going. You don't have to wait long for something to happen, it's pretty non-stop. Yet the film is very atmospheric too - it has a bit of an autumn feel with lots of leaves on the ground everywhere, there is a lot of smoke used in scenes (interior and exterior) - the whole film has a bit of a 'dusty' feel, the cabin really feels derelict. Actually in the tv-series when they returned to the cabin, those were some of the best episodes. There are also a lot of surreal feeling elements: a clock that stops ticking as if something strange is happening with time itself, a mirror turning into water, blood dripping on a movie projector showing up on a screen. And especially the scene early on where one of the girls gets grabbed by the treebranches and vines and essentially gets raped by the forest itself - I still have seen nothing like that in any other film that I can think of.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT

Edward John

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2019
4,004
18,785
23
I never felt the first one is a comedy. There is a comedic tone to it at times, but it's a bit under the surface. I think Raimi said he loves comedy more than horror, he often puts slapstick elements in his films, inspired by the Three Stooges. So I feel that even though the first Evil Dead was meant to be horror, Raimi still consciously or unconsciously put in stuff that can be interpreted as comedy - simply because he loved it himself.
Of course in the sequels and the tv-series the comedy comes to the foreground much more.

I remember we laughed when we saw the first Evil Dead for the first time, but I still found it disturbing too. The people getting possessed I found scary in a way it is scary in The Exorcist - especially when it first happens with the girl who is looking out the window and then turns around fully possessed. I think the film goes so far over the top in terms of gore, that it seems the only response you can have to it is laughter. It's like a gore version of a pie throwing scene in a slapstick film. But you saw this in a lot of gore films in the eighties, like Re-Animator or Bad Taste - the gore got so outrageous that it played more as comedic.

I know they had a hard time making the film, because of the heat at the location they were. Flies got attracted to the stuff that they used as blood and things like that. So it doesn't surprise me he wanted to abandon it.

I personally slightly prefer the first to the second. The first has a more raw feel to it, the second is slightly more slick feeling.
If you like Raimi then check out A Simple Plan, or a movie he produced, Don't Breathe. I think he had a new production out called Crawl as well.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
If you like Raimi then check out A Simple Plan, or a movie he produced, Don't Breathe. I think he had a new production out called Crawl as well.

Haven't seen Crawl yet. A Simple Plan I haven't seen in ages, but I believe I wasn't too crazy about it at the time. I think The Gift is a very nice film from Raimi - it probably has my favourite role by Cate Blanchett. And the overall mood feels quite like a King story to me.

Don't Breathe was quite nice. Not a true favourite, but very enjoyable. I liked the remakes of The Grudge and Poltergeist a lot that Raimi produced.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GNTLGNT