Within the Woods (1978) User Reviews

S10 Reviews: Within the Woods (1978)

[suspiria10 · 7/10 · 10 July 2005]

Two couples are vacationing in a rickety shack deep "Within the Woods". When Bruce and Ellen decide to venture out to have a picnic, they find the worst possible place to roast their weenies. They soon learn that disturbing an ancient Indian burial ground has its price…and they will pay in blood.

Hey, hey you can't really fault the filmmakers for the production. This Super 8 short was put to round up some funding for what would later become "The Evil Dead" (1982). The film itself is actually pretty good with a good atmosphere and music score that punctuate an already creepy cabin and woods. You'll see many a gag and shot that will later be replicated in the official version and let's face it any "Dead" fan has got to see "Within the Woods" for the sheer fun. Word of warning though the short has never gotten an official release (due to music rights issues) it only exists in bootleg form. If you pay for it good luck because you'll get suckered. Downloading is your best bet (it is plenty available on most P2P's) because it always seems to be an 87th generation copy of a 10th generation VHS dupe. Not worth a bloody dime but priceless any other way.

Decent Super 8 precursor to Raimi's cult horror series.

[capkronos · 5/10 · 4 May 2008]

Before THE EVIL DEAD (1981) came this "concept" movie which is nearly the same exact plot aside from the fact it's missing the "Book of the Dead" stuff and drops one of the characters. It runs only 30 minutes and since the budget is virtually nonexistent, it's naturally not nearly as polished as the later films and has that "home movie" feel to it. Some slight changes were made here and there, but elements from this, as well as whole scenes, ended up making their way into the first two Dead films, so it's certainly a worthy watch for fans of the series. Unfortunately, the copy I viewed was in terrible shape. It looked like it has been copied about 50 times, was too dark and had a bunch of picture rolls. I'm not sure if all the available prints are in the same condition or not. Maybe I just got a bad one.

Two couples are staying at a little white house in the country (as opposed to the rustic looking cabin used later). Bruce (Bruce Campbell) and Linda (Ellen Sandweiss) decide to go outside and roast hot dogs. He explains that the property rests on an ancient Indian burial ground that's rumored to be cursed. While digging around in the dirt, Bruce uncovers a few ancient artifacts, including an Indian dagger. Linda goes to sleep on a blanket. When she wakes up, Bruce has disappeared. On the way back to the house she finds a mutilated corpse of what's presumed to be Bruce and is stalked by floating spirits. These shots are basically the same ones utilized in the later movies, complete with similar sounding music. After Linda arrives at the house, Scotty (Scott Spiegel) decides to go out looking for Bruce. While he's gone a demon possessed Bruce attacks. He grabs the other female and stabs her in the neck, then comes after Linda.

The parts I remember the director reusing aside from the same style of camera-work and music include a demon hand mashed in a door, one of the characters accidentally getting stabbed and then blocking the doorway as someone frantically tries to shut it, a presumed dead corpse suddenly rising into frame from the floor, a demon getting hacked to a bloody pulp on a couch and, of course, the legendary line "Join us." Some aspects near the beginning clearly seem influenced by the original Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, such as use of tinny music and when Linda trips, falls down and then looks up to see a mangled corpse. The makeup effects from Tom Sullivan are fairly good, the acting isn't bad and there's enough imagination going around to see how Raimi was able to get investors involved in helping back the feature length version a few years later.

Not sure what to make of it.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 5 July 2007]

Within the Woods starts as Ellen (Ellen Sandweiss) & her boyfriend Bruce (Bruce Campbell) take a walk in the woods near the cottage that they & two of their friends Scott (Scott Speigel) & Shelly (Mary Valenti) have hired for a weekend. They plan on having a picnic & Bruce warns Ellen about the ancient Indian burial ground nearby & not to disturb it, however Bruce takes a sacred knife buried in the ground & ends up possessed by an evil spirit who wants to take revenge on the rest of his friends...

Written & directed by Sam Raimi Within the Woods is a curious little film, it was made for the bargain basement sum of $1,600 specifically by Raimi to show to potential investors who might put up some cash so the full length Book of the Dead later renamed The Evil Dead (1982) could be made & I guess it worked. Many scenes in Within the Woods are mirrored & perfected in The Evil Dead, from the spirits point-of-view shots to the general story to the same actor's although here Campbell plays the bad guy where as in The Evil dead he became the hero. It is also different in some respects in particular instead of an ancient Book of the Dead the reason behind the evil spirits is an ancient Indian burial ground being violated. It lasts for a few seconds over 30 minutes & to be honest isn't a bad little horror flick with some understandably rough edges. Even though this is fairly impressive everything considered if Raimi had shown me this I still wouldn't have given him any money but then again I'm a tight git...

Director Raimi is already showing a panache for style & visual flair even on a none existent budget, Within the Woods is technically more impressive & stylish than many legally released horror flicks! Within the Woods was never meant to be released anywhere & it never has, legally that is so it's hard to rate it as it was never meant to be seen by the public. To be honest I wouldn't say it's even finished, there are obviously sound effects & music cues missing, some of the editing is choppy & it's a touch dark at times but when all said & done it does look pretty good & is watchable. There's some gore here, a man is stabbed in the stomach, someone is stabbed in the neck, someone is stabbed in the back, someone is dismembered with an axe & have their hand sliced off. The special effects are alright actually & again put some legit horror films to shame!

Within the Woods is really only of interest to fans of The Evil Dead & want to see a virtual carbon copy of it, since it was never meant to be released to the public I can't say it was even a finished film but it ain't too bad. Considered to be pretty rare which I doubt taking into account the number of comments on the IMDb, it has more reviews than say Carry On Columbus (1992)!

If you like Evil Dead, see it, if you can find it

[stemage · 23 January 2002]

I got my hands on a 30th generation dub of this short. The same plot as Evil Dead, but really really old and simple compared to the first full-length production of Sam Raimi. It's nice and campy, with some really cool camera shots, and it's the perfect length for a short. I enjoyed it, but if you didn't know anything about Evil Dead or Sam Raimi, you would just blow it off. I recommend FINDING A COPY, if you are a fan.

low budget crap that glistens like a jewel

[hungerartist · 7/10 · 17 January 2010]

given the budget, and terrible quality in which i viewed this, i gave it a generous 7. either way, sam raimi already showed great skill with a very minimal approach at creating suspense, and terror in this short.. the camera moving through the woods towards the character, ala evil dead, and the minimal soundtrack enhance it all. not giving a long detailed review here, but if you are a big fan of the evil dead, and horror in general, this is WELL worth a look.. for all its "amateurness" this really shows some fantastic promise, which is obviously why raimi is where he is today. it goes to show how even with a minimal approach in both plot, and dialogue, through effective use of music, and incredibly inventive camera work, you can create the atmosphere you are going for. really an inspiring piece for anyone who likes the idea of going into the horror genre.. fun stuff.

Sam Raimi's practise run for The Evil Dead.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 14 September 2016]

While spending the weekend with friends at a remote house in the country, Bruce (Bruce Campbell) unwittingly violates an Indian burial ground, thereby unleashing a vengeful spirit that possesses his body and proceeds to attack his pals one by one.

Within the Woods is director Sam Raimi's practise run for The Evil Dead, an extremely low budget thirty minute horror that lays down many of the ideas and film-making techniques that Sam and his team of enthusiastic friends would use in the making of their infamous 1981 video nasty.

Although the film is extremely rough around the edges, it will undoubtedly provide half an hour of fun for fans of all things 'deadite' thanks to the the involvement of many familiar Evil Dead names and faces, the familiarity of the material, and, of course, a fair smattering of gore.

The shape of things to come

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 11 September 2015]

This half hour is an 1978 horror movie written and directed by Sam Raimi. You will find quite a few parallels to the filmmaker's "Evil Dead" movies which came out shortly later. The most astonishing thing about this short film is probably that Raimi was only 18 or 19 when he made it. A really good effort for that age. Today, he is mostly known for the "Spider Man" trilogy, but there is a lot more to his body of work and it looks like he is going to stay faithful to his early works with a new "Evil Dead" television serious about to be released. Anyway, back to this short movie. Many of the actors in here also appeared in the "Evil Dead" series and Campbell is going to be in Raimi's new series as well. But it's not just brainless horror. There is actually a feeling of loss when the girl in here in the last scene fights against the evil zombie who once was somebody very close to her. I quite enjoyed watching this one and recommend it and this is even higher to acknowledge as I am usually not too big on horror films. Thumbs up for "Within the Woods".

Not So Impressive

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 19 May 2015]

The Plot.

A group of friends spend a weekend at a remote cabin, and one of them accidentally desecrates an Indian burial ground.

This causes him to turn into a zombie, and kill off his friends. They must band together to try and survive being massacred.

Welllll...it's not really a cabin...it's a house. A big house.

It's hard to review this film because the available prints are horrible! They look like they were pulled off a TV! The were definitely transferred of a video tape.

So it's really dark and hard to know what's happening.

BTW some people have said this is hard to find!!! well it's all over you tube.

Is it good? Not really. It's rather dull. You can see some good Rami touches, but it is no way the caliber of Evil Dead.

Sweet little short.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 25 November 2003]

"Within the Woods" is largely known as the prequel to "The Evil Dead".This 30-minutes film was created to sell investors on the idea of "The Evil Dead".The film is extremely low-budget and the story is minimal.Still there is plenty of gore to satisfy fans of American horror.Bruce Cambell plays Bruce,who gets zombified.Ellen Sandweiss plays his girlfriend,Ellen.However she doesn't get raped by a tree in this film,though.The cinematography is grainy and the moving steady/shaky camera-a Raimi trademark-probably made it's debut here."Within the Woods" is rather tough to find,but if you get a chance watch it.Highly recommended.

From small acorns, great oaks grow!

[The_Void · 7/10 · 27 June 2005]

Despite it's obvious low budget, un-professionalism and complete lack of intelligence: Within the Woods may well be the most important horror short ever filmed. For, if it were not for this little movie; the student team of Sam Raimi, Roger Tapert, Bruce Campbell et al may never have gone on to make the finest film in horror movie history; The Evil Dead. It's well documented by now that this film was the one that the team made in order to get funding for their first feature length movie, but funding wasn't all they would get from it. If you've seen this film, then it's a good bet that you've seen The Evil Dead too; and if you have, you wont be able to get away from the similarities of the techniques used and the sequences shown. Much of what happens in this film made it into the final cut, with things such as the conclusion to Ellen Sandweiss' chase sequence, the zombie at the door and the final monologue of the main character being lifted wholesale from this movie into The Evil Dead.

It's not surprising why Sam Raimi and co ended up getting funded for this short. While, as mentioned, it's not great on the whole; we are shown quite clearly the prowess of the director. Raimi has implemented his trademark camera angles, along with the 'Raimi-cam', brilliantly and this is matched by the post-production, which sees the film being well edited and scored. As you might expect for this sort of film, the acting and script are, frankly, rubbish; but it hardly matters when the rest of the it is so inventive and well done. And 'Indian burial ground' aside; that's what the film is. The basic premise of the film wasn't changed for The Evil Dead, except that the actors have been swapped around. This time, we get to see the great Bruce Campbell as the main monster, and Ellen Sandweiss as the protagonist. While this works because Bruce's charisma allows him to excellently portray a possessed human; he makes for a better hero really, and Raimi and co ended up getting this right for the final cut. If you're not an Evil Dead fan (unlikely), you wont like Within the Woods...but if you are - make sure you track it down!

WITHIN THE WOODS (Sam Raimi, 1978) **

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 23 January 2010]

Raimi's Super-8 precursor to his cult debut feature THE EVIL DEAD (1983) is an amateurish half-hour piece about a geeky young man (the ubiquitous Bruce Campbell) coming under the influence of an Indian graveyard in the woods. A picnic with his girlfriend turns sour as he goes missing and then reappears as a zombie and attacks the young woman; his onslaught is unrelenting even after she reaches a cabin in the woods. The first half of this is pretty deadly (especially given the poor state of the footage) but the latter scenes involve some decent action and suspense – already showcasing the director's fondness for over-the-top gore effects. All things considered, a definite curio but not really worth more than a cursory viewing.

Damn good little film.

[Jeromecloutier · 10/10 · 22 July 2004]

Sypnosis: Two couples go to a farmhouse for the weekend. One couple goes out for a picnic and accidentally wake evil spirits. Will they survive Within the Woods?

Within the Woods(1978) was, as mentioned above, a damn good little film. Sam Raimi definitely knew where he was going with this when he directed it. Bruce Campbell, of course, delivers, (he never did make a bad performance, did he? I mean, he's the only reason to watch Herbie the love bug and Congo...) and Ellen Sandweiss is believable as the tormented Ellen. Scott Spiegel and Mary Valenti perform to the extent of their roles. (I.E. cannon fodder...) It was shot with approximatively 1,600$ of budget in a three day weekend in Michigan. It premiered in August 1979 at the Punch and Judy theatre in Detroit double-billed with the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

The good: This movie heralds the birth of the Evil Force, a Raimi horror staple, along with his crazy camera movements. The makeup by Tom Sullivan is great for a first feature and the film has enough gory moments in the latter half. The film was so intense, that even if the super-8 projector filled a 1/4 of the screen, the audience actually reacted to it!

The bad: No available copy (excluding of course Raimi's and Campbell's) has high quality or sound and is hard as all hell to find. Let's hope some day Anchor Bay closes the deal to release this little gem.

Review: 5/5

Original Evil Dead

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 14 March 2021]

Back before anyone knew who Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and what Evil Dead was, a bunch of guys went into the woods - along with Ellen Sandweiss, Scott Spiegel, Mary Valenti and $1,600 - and made this proof of concept for the cabin in the woods film that would one day define so much of modern horror.

Raimi and Campbell had been making Super 8 movies since they were kids, so this was just the next evolution of their hobby before it became a career. That said, the budget demanded that nearly every special effect was made with off the shelf make-up.

While never commercially released, the film did play one night in Detroit alongside The Rocky Horror Picture Show where it ended up getting reviewed favorably in The Detroit News. It's never come out even on DVD, as there are royalty issues with the music that was used, such as the Jaws theme.

What this film really served as was a proof of concept, basically a trailer for what Raimi would go on to do later. His friends the Coen Brothers learned the same trick, making a trailer for their movie Blood Simple to show how the movie would work.

A good horror movie.

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 5/10 · 24 May 2018]

This is not Evil Dead. It is similar to Evil Dead bu it is not Evil Dead. It is scary. It has a good story line. It also has good acting. If you want see a really scary movie to see. See this one. It is no 6.7. 6.7 overrating it a little. But is a good movie.

Great little horror film by a pre-Evil Dead Sam Raimi.

[dogg01 · 12 April 2002]

Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss go out for a picnic while Scott Spiegel and Mary Valenti play Monopoly. Ellen is told by Bruce about the whole place being an indian burial ground, before falling asleep. She wakes up to find Bruce missing, and then there's a whole lot of running, stabbing, and POV shots. Sam Raimi made this film for $1,600 on Super-8 over one weekend. This film is a real treat for Evil Dead fans, because, despite lacking Campbell's Ashness (where he was a wimp in Evil Dead, and progressed into an asshole in Army of Darkness), it contains many scenes that would later be seen in Evil Deads 1 and 2, and Sam Raimi's Evil POV shots. It is also atmospheric and quite scary, something that seems almost impossible given the budget. Evil Dead fans will love this, and it is worth searching the net for bootleg copies of the film (as Anchor bay were unable to provide the film on the new Limited Edition Evil Dead DVD), for anyone else, this film would only appeal to aspiring filmakers.

6/10 Anyone with a casual interest in film

8/10 Evil Dead fans like myself

It's the granddaddy of all Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell zombie films

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 28 June 2007]

Before director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell would team together for their Evil Dead films (thus generating a strong cult following for this series of "funny" zombie films), they wanted to create a mini movie using a Super 8mm camera to demonstrate their artistic vision. This film was shown in theaters only once due to copyright issues and was also shown to potential investors. It must have worked because only a short time later they had enough to make the low-budget classic, THE EVIL DEAD--a film that went on to make millions and led to sequels, of sorts, such as EVIL DEAD II and ARMY OF DARKNESS (and even an off-Broadway musical). This review is for that cheapie short, WITHIN THE WOODS.

So what's the film like? Well, it's cheap, crappy but also amazingly scary for film with minimal production values, an annoyingly dark and fuzzy print and a cast with no training or skill. The problem is that YES it is scary and well-made in some ways, but unlike the EVIL DEAD films which bear a strong similarity to this film, it lacks the sense of humor that made the Evil Dead franchise work so well. An amazing film in many ways, but probably only of interest to HUGE fans of the genre.

Even on an 8 millimeter, young Sam Raimi is awesome!

[Nightman85 · 10/10 · 6 January 2006]

A short film by director Sam Raimi, he made it in his college days in hopes of raising money to be able to make his masterful horror film The Evil Dead (1981).

Two couples staying at a country house are terrorized when one of them becomes murderously possessed by evil spirits.

Even with its grainy, home-made quality, Within the Woods is perhaps the greatest horror short ever made! There's plenty of effectively eerie and dark atmosphere, well-timed shocks, and some bloody-good makeup FX. It's a gripping little horror picture! Raimi would later spoof scenes from this short in both The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987).

Young Bruce Campbell heads the small cast. Campbell does a good show as a likable teenager turned horrid monster by an evil spirit. Ellen Sandweiss (who would go on to star in The Evil Dead) appears as the films heroine.

A bit of a rare find, but a must-see for Raimi's fans!

*** 1/2 out of ****

The origin of The Evil Dead

[Elvis-Del-Valle · 3/10 · 24 April 2023]

Made as a simple university project, this short film was the seed that would end up starting the Evil Dead saga. Like any project of that type, this is a very low budget film with a young Bruce Campbell before he was Ash and with very few resources. Raimi managed to try to do something and at least made a story that is quite entertaining in its 30 minute length. The bad thing is the terrible video quality that makes it difficult to enjoy the film a bit. It shows that it has aged quite a bit and it is a pity that it could not be retouched or remastered. The special effects are obviously crappy, but at least the blood is something and also the first design of what the Deadites would be. As a movie itself it's pretty bad due to its horrible quality and that makes it the least inferior in the entire Evil Dead saga, but it does have a certain degree of value for being the pilot episode of the saga and that makes it somewhat worthwhile. The love of the fans. Recommended only for fans, not for anyone. My final rating for this movie is 3/10.

A Masterpiece (In Amateur Terms)

[lonchaney20 · 8/10 · 23 April 2004]

This is a great effort for an amateur horror film, and I think a film like this could inspire many amateur filmmakers to fulfill their dreams of making a great film. The low quality got in the way, but I still enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The similarities between this and Evil Dead/II are obvious, and I think Evil Dead II especially because one of the stars of this film (Scott Speigel) co-wrote ED2. I love this movie, and I think that in a few ways it is superior to ED. Anyone who likes Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2(-Dead By Dawn) will probably enjoy this effort of Rob Tapert (who is credited as Rip Tapert), Sam Raimi, and Bruce Campbell. If you can get this movie, I suggest you do it as soon as possible.

Where it all started..

[Fernando-Rodrigues · 3/10 · 22 August 2021]

The idea is interesting but problematic. The script is cliché, I don't even need to go into details. The execution doesn't have much quality, but you can see the effort that has been put into it. The 1981 film, though flawed, executed the idea much better than this short one.

"Join Us" ...

[Teknofobe70 · 13 August 2003]

Or more accurately, "Invest In Us...", as that's exactly what this short 30-minute movie was trying to say. This 30-minute concept movie was intended to convince people to loan Raimi and his crew money to make the first "Evil Dead" movie.

We all the know the story by now surely : a bunch of teenagers are staying in a cabin and they awaken an evil curse that tries to kill them all off one by one blah blah blah ... only THIS time, rather than the "Book of the Dead", it is an ancient Indian curse that's causing all the carnage. Fun, huh?

First off, I can't believe that Raimi actually had the nerve to use the words "Ancient Indian Burial Ground" in a horror movie. But that and the vacuum cleaner sound effects aside, this is a great concept movie that showed exactly what it needed to - that Raimi even at that age was a competent director capable of making a successful movie.

There are aspects of this short movie that are present in the later ones, and it is interesting to note these ideas (the follow cam, the banging swing, "Join Us!") and exact sequences such as Linda trying to open the cabin door and the whole three minute "Zombie At The Door" sequence that appear literally shot-for-shot in Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2.

Serious Evil Dead fans should definitely take a look if you ever get the chance.

gritty and scary as hell

[dogcow · 10/10 · 2 April 2002]

Sure Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell have gone on to bigger and arguably better things but this short is one of the coolest things they've ever done. With no money and a super 8 camera Raimi, et al. created a gritty, scary professional quality monster movie perfectly played in 30mins. It's a shame this has never been given a legitimate release, I think it would inspire many people to go out and make their own horror films!

Parent to The Evil Dead

[Bleeding_Eye · 10/10 · 20 April 2005]

As an avid fan of The Evil Dead, Sam Raimi and, of course, Bruce Cambpell, it would be no surprise that i give this movie a 10 rating. But let me explain why: Elen Sandweiss and Bruce Campbell appear in this fantastic super-8 movie of a bunch of college kids in a house in the middle of the woods. Bruce's character isn't the chainsaw-toting Ash we all know and love, he is instead, quite simply: Bruce.

Many scenes in this movie are carried through into The Evil Dead, such as the doorstep scene, where Elen frantically tries to open the door to escape from The Force (no, not the Star-Wars Force, the cast and crew of The Evil Dead referred to the evil in the woods as "The Force"). But even for a movie that cost only $1000-odd to make and took a weekend to film this shows outstanding professionalism on everyone's part. The ground-breaking camera-angles are apparent even in this early movie.

The violence (which has become The Evil Dead's trademark) is in no short supply here. Despite the budget there's still lots of blood; screaming, wrist-chewing, knife-happy demons and of course, Indian burial grounds. Why not? All in all, definitely one to watch. It may be of poor quality but i still urge you to look for this and watch it. It will satisfy any horror/Campbell/Raimi/Evil Dead fan.

Great short movie!!

[iscream22 · 12 June 2003]

This is the short film from the filmakers that made "The Evil Dead". The film is kind of rough, and it doesn't come in that great, and about the only place to find it, is bootlegged on the internet.

The story involves college students who take a picnic on an indian burial ground. One of them becomes possessed by a spirit and goes on a murder spree.

Very dark and gory.

Contains Strong Violence, no nudity though

Intresting horror!

[Y-Sly · 10/10 · 26 September 2002]

This movie is the "prequel" of the Evil Dead trilogy. My favourite film maker (Sam Raimi) directed this movie. It is a very short film... approximately 30 mins. It is enjoyable, and good fun to see Bruce (Campbell) as an undead. ;)

Great work: 10/10!