The Evil Dead 1 & 2 (1979)

THE EVIL DEAD, director Sam Raimi's first film, has achieved legendary status since its 1982 release--and for good reason. Though perhaps not as widely seen as its two sequels, EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS, THE EVIL DEAD is arguably the best of the three. It is the story of five college-age friends who travel to a cabin in rural Tennessee where they stumble upon the Book of the Dead, an ancient tome bound in human flesh and written in blood. After unwittingly awakening the unspeakable terrors described in the book, the friends, one by one, are transformed into the evil dead, except for Ash (Bruce Campbell). Left with no other way to survive than to dismember the living corpses of his sister, his girlfriend, and two friends, Ash resorts to desperate measures to get out alive. Shot on a shoestring budget, the film boasts some impressive camera work and extremely over-the-top gore effects as well as a sense of humor much more subtle than the tongue-in-cheek aesthetic of the two sequels. In THE EVIL DEAD 2, a slightly higher-budget sequel-remake of the original EVIL DEAD, a group of people (again headed by Ash) are trapped in a cabin while ancient evil lurks outside and threatens a fate worse than death. While fans often disagree on which of the two films ranks higher, it is safe to say that both have played large roles in shaping the horror genre.