What follows
is a list of the similarities between 'The
Evil Dead' and it's template 'Within
the Woods'.
The Evil Dead
Within the Woods
At
the front of the cabin there is a swing on the porch,
that keeps on banging against the cabin
Same
thing happens here but the bench is destroyed later
Cheryl
(Ellen Sandweiss) is chased by the force after being raped
by the trees
The
trees come alive around Sandweiss but she isn't raped
When
Cheryl is frantically trying to get the keys to open the
cabin door after the rape scene. Then when she drops the
keys Ash grabs her hand and lets her in
Same
thing here except Ellen's hand is grabbed by Scott Spiegel
Ash
is trying to shut the door before the possessed Cheryl
gets in. When he is about to close the door, Cheryl gets
her hand in the door. Then Ash hits it with the shotgun
Same
here but Ellen accidentally stabs Scott when she tries
to close the door to stop the possessed Bruce Campbell
from entering . She gets it closed on time but Bruce's
hand gets stuck in it. She then stabs it with a knife
After
the possessed Shelly bites her hand off, it has the knife
still in its grasp. Then Scott stabs her in the back with
it
Same
here but when Bruce gets stabbed he doesn't scream
Scott
chops up the possessed Cheryl with an axe
Just
about the same except Ellen chops up Bruce when he's lying
on the ground.
As you can
see from the table above there are a few similarities between
the two but what else was to be expected when WITW was used as,
not only an investment tool, but a starting ground for Raimi's
horror making process. What was kept was basically what worked.
You can see Raimi's youth and inexperience in certain shots but
to be fair the film is played for maximum gore with some, but
very little emphasis, on the stalking terror and suspense that
the monster conveys.
Certain similarities
are purely cosmetic and seem coincidental as they serve almost
no part in advancing the proceedings in 'The
Evil Dead'.
