Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This half hour is an 1978 horror movie written and directed by Sam Raimi. You will find quite a few parallels to the filmmaker's "Evil Dead" movies which came out shortly later. The most astonishing thing about this short film is probably that Raimi was only 18 or 19 when he made it. A really good effort for that age. Today, he is mostly known for the "Spider Man" trilogy, but there is a lot more to his body of work and it looks like he is going to stay faithful to his early works with a new "Evil Dead" television serious about to be released. Anyway, back to this short movie. Many of the actors in here also appeared in the "Evil Dead" series and Campbell is going to be in Raimi's new series as well. But it's not just brainless horror. There is actually a feeling of loss when the girl in here in the last scene fights against the evil zombie who once was somebody very close to her. I quite enjoyed watching this one and recommend it and this is even higher to acknowledge as I am usually not too big on horror films. Thumbs up for "Within the Woods".

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)!

Noel (Teknofobe70) Or more accurately, "Invest In Us...", as that's exactly what this short 30-minute movie was trying to say. This 30-minute concept movie was intended to convince people to loan Raimi and his crew money to make the first "Evil Dead" movie. We all the know the story by now surely : a bunch of teenagers are staying in a cabin and they awaken an evil curse that tries to kill them all off one by one blah blah blah ... only THIS time, rather than the "Book of the Dead", it is an ancient Indian curse that's causing all the carnage. Fun, huh?First off, I can't believe that Raimi actually had the nerve to use the words "Ancient Indian Burial Ground" in a horror movie. But that and the vacuum cleaner sound effects aside, this is a great concept movie that showed exactly what it needed to - that Raimi even at that age was a competent director capable of making a successful movie. There are aspects of this short movie that are present in the later ones, and it is interesting to note these ideas (the follow cam, the banging swing, "Join Us!") and exact sequences such as Linda trying to open the cabin door and the whole three minute "Zombie At The Door" sequence that appear literally shot-for-shot in Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2.Serious Evil Dead fans should definitely take a look if you ever get the chance.

EvilToman This is great film, and also EVIL DEAD is continuation of Within The Woods. Quality of this film isn't good. But idea, and everything is making that this film is very good... I think many peoples should try to show their ideas. It would be very very interesting.