Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

VyleKyle Let me start off by saying that the version I saw of this looked and sounded horrible, but even despite that, I loved every second of it. So much of what we would see in the shoestring-budget "Evil Dead" (and it's not-as-shoestring first sequel) is on display here in micro form, and after over a decade of being a fan of the series, I sat in amazement and marveled at this 8mm prototype. It was also surprising to see that that "force POV" cam was there from the get-go, madly sweeping through the woods in its evil pursuits. This is a must-see for the fans, so if any Deadite can get their hands on this, it's likely you'll be as spellbound as I was.

Paul Andrews Within the Woods starts as Ellen (Ellen Sandweiss) & her boyfriend Bruce (Bruce Campbell) take a walk in the woods near the cottage that they & two of their friends Scott (Scott Speigel) & Shelly (Mary Valenti) have hired for a weekend. They plan on having a picnic & Bruce warns Ellen about the ancient Indian burial ground nearby & not to disturb it, however Bruce takes a sacred knife buried in the ground & ends up possessed by an evil spirit who wants to take revenge on the rest of his friends...Written & directed by Sam Raimi Within the Woods is a curious little film, it was made for the bargain basement sum of $1,600 specifically by Raimi to show to potential investors who might put up some cash so the full length Book of the Dead later renamed The Evil Dead (1982) could be made & I guess it worked. Many scenes in Within the Woods are mirrored & perfected in The Evil Dead, from the spirits point-of-view shots to the general story to the same actor's although here Campbell plays the bad guy where as in The Evil dead he became the hero. It is also different in some respects in particular instead of an ancient Book of the Dead the reason behind the evil spirits is an ancient Indian burial ground being violated. It lasts for a few seconds over 30 minutes & to be honest isn't a bad little horror flick with some understandably rough edges. Even though this is fairly impressive everything considered if Raimi had shown me this I still wouldn't have given him any money but then again I'm a tight git...Director Raimi is already showing a panache for style & visual flair even on a none existent budget, Within the Woods is technically more impressive & stylish than many legally released horror flicks! Within the Woods was never meant to be released anywhere & it never has, legally that is so it's hard to rate it as it was never meant to be seen by the public. To be honest I wouldn't say it's even finished, there are obviously sound effects & music cues missing, some of the editing is choppy & it's a touch dark at times but when all said & done it does look pretty good & is watchable. There's some gore here, a man is stabbed in the stomach, someone is stabbed in the neck, someone is stabbed in the back, someone is dismembered with an axe & have their hand sliced off. The special effects are alright actually & again put some legit horror films to shame!Within the Woods is really only of interest to fans of The Evil Dead & want to see a virtual carbon copy of it, since it was never meant to be released to the public I can't say it was even a finished film but it ain't too bad. Considered to be pretty rare which I doubt taking into account the number of comments on the IMDb, it has more reviews than say Carry On Columbus (1992)!

MartinHafer Before director Sam Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell would team together for their Evil Dead films (thus generating a strong cult following for this series of "funny" zombie films), they wanted to create a mini movie using a Super 8mm camera to demonstrate their artistic vision. This film was shown in theaters only once due to copyright issues and was also shown to potential investors. It must have worked because only a short time later they had enough to make the low-budget classic, THE EVIL DEAD--a film that went on to make millions and led to sequels, of sorts, such as EVIL DEAD II and ARMY OF DARKNESS (and even an off-Broadway musical). This review is for that cheapie short, WITHIN THE WOODS.So what's the film like? Well, it's cheap, crappy but also amazingly scary for film with minimal production values, an annoyingly dark and fuzzy print and a cast with no training or skill. The problem is that YES it is scary and well-made in some ways, but unlike the EVIL DEAD films which bear a strong similarity to this film, it lacks the sense of humor that made the Evil Dead franchise work so well. An amazing film in many ways, but probably only of interest to HUGE fans of the genre.

lonchaney20 This is a great effort for an amateur horror film, and I think a film like this could inspire many amateur filmmakers to fulfill their dreams of making a great film. The low quality got in the way, but I still enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The similarities between this and Evil Dead/II are obvious, and I think Evil Dead II especially because one of the stars of this film (Scott Speigel) co-wrote ED2. I love this movie, and I think that in a few ways it is superior to ED. Anyone who likes Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2(-Dead By Dawn) will probably enjoy this effort of Rob Tapert (who is credited as Rip Tapert), Sam Raimi, and Bruce Campbell. If you can get this movie, I suggest you do it as soon as possible.