I remember seeing Sam Raimi’s original 1981 The Evil Dead in the lecture theatre at university and I found it very scary and gruesome at the time.

The movie was (unusually for its era) released both in theatres and on VHS, and it generated a lot of controversy as a so-called ‘video nasty’. It has subsequently been recognised as a hugely influential cult horror movie. Raimi works wonders on a microscopic budget, using fast kinetic camera moves to ramp up the sense of evil around the movie’s single cabin in the woods setting.

The sequels veered into black comedy as the unfortunate put-upon sole survivor hero Ash (played with an admirably straight face by Raimi favourite Bruce Campbell) battles various incarnations of the living dead (not least his own possessed hand, which he promptly lops off). The original however IS authentically nasty (not least the very notorious ‘rape by a tree’ scene). The movie also begat a 2013 remake, which also managed to be authentically unpleasant too!

The UK quad poster is very much a product of the video nasty era. It has recently become rather collectible and valuable. I am in the process of selling this at auction, as from a design perspective it does absolutely nothing for me.

I much prefer the French grande design, which is simpler and to me much more dramatic and aesthetically pleasing. This one I have for sale here.