Ah Sam Raimi how do I love thee? He has made 4 of my favorite horror movies (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and Drag Me to Hell), one of my favorite westerns (The Quick and the Dead), and three of my favorite superhero movies (Darkman, Spider-Man, and Spider-Man 2). All of these films are deliriously over the top and you would think from them that Sam Raimi is incapable of restraint yet his adaptation of A Simple Plan is a complex and heartfelt drama with fabulous performances and very little of his trademark camera trickery and no special effects. I always look forward to any movie he directs. Currently The Quick and the Dead and The Evil Dead are available on instant play.

WATCH: The Evil Dead (1981) – “After all his teen pals have become possessed, flesh-eating zombies while vacationing at a cabin in the Tennessee woodlands, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) tries to overpower the spirits of the evil dead and save his own life. Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Grudge) writes and directs this special effects-laden low-budget thriller that co-stars Theresa Tilly, Betsy Baker, Ellen Sandweiss and Richard DeManincor”

Sam Raimi’s first feature film as director is a low-budget masterpiece. When you hear ”…the only way to stop those possessed by the spirit of the book is by the act of bodily dismemberment.”, you know you are going to be in for a gorefest and Raimi does not disappoint. While using non-blood blood (here milk) to try and get the film past the censors is an old trick, it was new when this was filmed. Raimi himself used it again most recently in Drag Me to Hell presumably to help him get the teen-friendly PG-13 rating. The Evil Dead couldn’t get less than an R especially with the genre’s first rape-by-tree scene. Raimi’s wonderful camerawork and skewed angles add a lot of atmosphere to the film while his sense of humor and whimsy help keep it fun.

People watchers: note that Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert play the two strangers passed on the road and Ted Raimi has a role as one of the fake shemps.