This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Brilliant and touching

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

This short film was mostly made to show the Investors what kind of feature length horror film to what Sam Raimi and his friends are trying to make. it went on to premiere in front of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that was playing in Detroit, most of the audience really loved the short film but, it wasn't a commercially success. Sam Raimi went to Approaching several investors in order to make his feature length horror entitled,"The Evil Dead." The plot of the film is the same as the movies teens hang out in the woods and get pick off by the spirit and demons one by one. The quality of the short film is pretty bad looking, it's kind of hard to see, which it's understandable because, it was shot in a super 8 camera. There are parts in the film that will later be recycle in the other films, that you will recognize. the Necronomicon book is not in this film instead is a dagger. the only actors that appear in "The Evil Dead" are Bruce Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss, the difference in the film is Bruce in the short film is Possess by the spirit and Ellen is the hero but,in the movie Ellen gets Possess by the spirit and Bruce is the hero. Not really a big fan of the music, i just find the music not scary and also, there is one music piece that came from "Jaws." I personally find the short film not scary at all but, i got to give it credit for helping Sam and his friends to Make one of the best horror films ever made.

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.

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" 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.