Happy 35th Birthday to THE EVIL DEAD!

This very day, 35 years ago, the Michigan Mafia premiered their debut feature, Book of the Dead at the Redford Theater in Detroit. This little horror movie would, of course, later be known as The Evil Dead, one of the most revered and infamous films of all time.

That night at the Redford, the cast was in attendance along with crew members and friends such as Josh Becker, Ted Raimi, Tom Sullivan, and even Ethan Coen, who actually delivered the final reel to the screening. His brother Joel was an assistant editor on the film. Of course the three main amigos were there too - director/writer Sam Raimi, producer Rob Tapert, and star Bruce Campbell (all featured above) - arriving in a limousine decked out in their tuxedos. According to Becker, the limo would drive around the block and individually drop each of the three men off to make it appear as if they each had a limo. If that isn't so perfectly Raimi-esque, I don't know what is.

Campbell had suggested the Redford Theater because he grew up watching films there. Sam wanted the premiere to be as theatrical as possible, using custom tickets and wind tracks set in the theater. He ordered big searchlights and ambulances to be waiting outside the theater to build hype. Raimi was inspired by filmmaker William Castle who was best known for his theatrical gimmicks with films like The Tingler and Macabre. The Redford also had the largest pipe organ in the Midwest so of course they used it open the film with Bach's haunting Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

Sam Raimi and Josh Becker

According to "The Evil Dead Companion" by Bill Warren, the movie shown that night is the movie we see today with two exceptions:

1) The title (obviously)

2) Sam had composed the film for a 1:1.66 aspect ratio, which the Redford Theater was able to accommodate, and it has never been shown that way again since.

The 1100-seat Redford Theater ended up being packed with a thousand guests, far exceeding the expectations of the filmmakers. They deliberately filled the balcony with hundreds of high school kids who provided exactly the uproarious reactions they wanted. The screening was by all accounts a big success, after which Raimi & co. went on to "tour" the film to build hype and secure distribution. The rest, of course, is horror history.

Sam Raimi and Ethan Coen

Fun Fact: It Follows (2014) had a particularly effective scene in a movie theater where the protagonist goes on a date. That scene was filmed in the Redford Theater!

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