Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead is a masterclass in low-budget horror, but the 2010 Blu-ray release made changes that took away from the movie's charm, repeating the mistakes made by Star Wars creator George Lucas. The Evil Dead was made by a rag-tag group of young filmmakers over the course of 12 weeks and was plagued with every challenge that could possibly face an independent feature. Because of the limitations facing the crew, there are many visible mistakes in the film, including botched special effects and accidental appearances of crew members in certain shots. All of these mistakes, however, add to the movie's allure and solidify it as a great accomplishment of the horror genre.
Sam Raimi went on to become a big-budget Hollywood director, helming prestigious movies like A Simple Plan as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man trilogy, but he has always kept the horror genre close to his heart. He made the mean-spirited horror-comedy Drag Me To Hell and returned to The Evil Dead franchise with his involvement in the Ash Vs. Evil Dead series, showing that he has a soft spot for the genre and the characters he created in 1981. It comes as a surprise, therefore, to learn that Sam Raimi followed the trend of George Lucas' Star Wars re-releases with The Evil Dead.
The 2010 Blu-ray release of The Evil Dead mimics George Lucas' 2010 Star Wars reissue mistake in the way it attempts to digitally fix the visible mistakes of the theatrical cut. Much like the CGI enhancements of Star Wars, The Evil Dead Blu-ray attempts to clean up the film by erasing filmmaking errors that gave the film its charm. One of the major changes in the movie is an early outdoor shot in which Producer Rob Tapert can be seen in frame off to the side in some bushes. He was removed in the Blu-ray version. Another fix is when Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) is shot by Ash (Bruce Campbell), the tube used to spray blood was visible in the theatrical cut but removed from the re-release. Although these alterations make the end product more polished, just as in Star Wars they also compromise the movie's soul. While these changes technically make the film better, they also deprive the film of what made it such a special midnight exploitation movie.
Like Star Wars, the original The Evil Dead is still not available to watch in HD. If the viewer wants to see the original version they must turn to the Anchor Bay DVDs, much like how the highest quality of the theatrical cuts of Star Wars is on 2004 DVDs as a special feature on the second disc. The changes made to The Evil Dead do not completely ruin the film, but it makes little sense not to have the theatrical version available alongside the enhanced version. The fact that this is not readily available, as with Star Wars is undoubtedly disappointing for long-term admirers.
There is a high demand for the theatrical cuts of Star Wars to be available in HD, and the same demand should be made for The Evil Dead. The transfer on the Blu-ray makes the film look better than ever, but it is not presented the same way as it was in 1981. Horror purists will have to hang on to old DVD copies of the film to see it in its unedited glory, warts and all. Raimi had the chance to "remake" The Evil Dead with the beloved Evil Dead II, so these changes just feel extraneous while taking away some of the original movie's grimy appeal. As a result, it's fair to say that Raimi failed to learn the lessons of Lucas when it comes to tampering with something that was already essentially perfect – despite the imperfections.