Within the Woods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Within the Woods | |
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| Directed by | Sam Raimi |
| Produced by | Sam Raimi Bruce Campbell Robert Tapert |
| Written by | Sam Raimi |
| Starring | Bruce Campbell Ellen Sandweiss Scott Speigel Mary Valenti |
| Distributed by | None |
| Release date(s) | 1979 (USA) |
| Running time | 32 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,600 |
| Followed by | The Evil Dead |
| IMDb profile | |
Within the Woods (1979) is a short horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi.
Raimi, longtime friend Bruce Campbell, and other associates shot this movie on Super 8 mm film in an effort to raise money to produce a feature-length version of it, which would later be released to massive critical acclaim as The Evil Dead.
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[edit] Plot
Within the Woods is very similar to The Evil Dead in terms of plot devices, pacing, and effects. A group of friends, led by Bruce (Bruce Campbell) and Ellen (Ellen Sandweiss), discover a remote home and decide to camp there.
While digging a fire pit nearby, Campbell finds a strange dagger and becomes possessed by a vengeful Native American spirit. Decomposing before their eyes, Bruce violently attacks his friends, killing Shelly (Mary Valenti) and Scotty (Scott Speigel) before being taken down by his girlfriend, Ellen.
The final shot of the film has Bruce quickly sitting up behind Ellen, revealing to the audience that he is not yet defeated.
[edit] Connections to The Evil Dead series
Within the Woods contains many scenes that were later used in The Evil Dead, and even a shot that was eventually used almost a decade later in Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn.
The name of Mary Valenti's character, Shelly, and Scott Speigel's character, Scotty, were re-used for The Evil Dead.
[edit] Release
The film was shown as a double billing with The Rocky Horror Picture Show when a critic saw it and gave it a very good review. This critique was one of the things that Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, and producer Robert Tapert used to prove they could make a quality horror film. They eventually secured their funding for the feature-length version of the film, The Evil Dead, which was released soon after to massive success.
The film is now widely available in a bootleg format, though most copies are very poor and extremely blurry. It has been long-suggested by fans to include it as an "extra" on one of the various DVD releases of The Evil Dead, but due to copyright issues of music used in the film, it has not been possible. In response to a direct question from a preview audience in Austin in July of 2005, Campbell asserted an alternative reason for withholding Woods from DVD; he said that Raimi does not want to "show his pimply ass to the world." According to Campbell's remarks, Raimi considers the film amateurish and unsuitable for release.
[edit] External links
| Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series |
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| Films: The Evil Dead | Evil Dead II | Army of Darkness |
| Videogames: The Evil Dead | Evil Dead: Hail to the King | Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick | Evil Dead: Regeneration |
| Comic books: Army of Darkness: Ashes to Ashes | Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead |
| Other topics: Ash Williams | Within the Woods | Bruce Campbell | Robert Tapert |
