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 ****
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 ****