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!
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!