It seems an odd admission, particularly when pertaining to a horror film, but there’s a lot of affection for The Evil Dead. Despite being made on the proverbial shoestring, it caused quite a frenzied stir on its release in 1981. In the UK in particular, it fell in with a bad crowd and was added, rather unfairly, to the notorious list of video nasties on its release and was even banned in several countries.

Of course this controversy only helped to cement its reputation as being one of the bloodiest horror films of its generation. Perhaps it’s the blood-stained tinted glasses, but even when compared to many of the more graphic horror films of today, The Evil Dead can still teach these whipper snappers a thing or two about horror.

Five students decide to get away from it all by venturing to a small cabin in the woods. When they arrive however, they soon realise that it’s not the most idyllic place to hang out, as the cabin has certainly seen better days.

After a nose around they discover not only a funny looking book, but also a hatch in a room that leads underground. It’s there that they discover a large tape device with a recording on it. Their curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to play back the tape. A man is dictating his findings into the machine; he sounds like a man of science, describing a strange series of events. He then begins to talk in a foreign tongue, reciting an incantation. As everyone is spooked by the experience, they switch it off. However, the damage has already been done.

Soon enough, they’re aware that they’re not alone in the cabin; it appears they’ve unleashed several shades of evil, and it’s come out to play – with them.

For God's sake someone help me, Alan Titchmarsh just won't leave me alone!

It’s pretty obvious that the young Sam Raimi, who was making his directorial debut with the film, wasn’t aware at the time of the huge impact that his small horror flick was going to have on the world. As the extras on this Blu-ray reveal, it was merely a group of friends making a fun horror flick in the middle of nowhere. Not only did it turn Raimi into a hot commodity, who went on to helm the recent Spiderman reboot trilogy, but it spawned a new kind of hero in Ash, played by Bruce Campbell.

During the late seventies, early eighties, the unwritten rule in horror was that your main protagonist had to be female. The reasoning behind this logic being that they screamed more convincingly than men and sure looked better naked. Campbell’s Ash certainly starts off as being a sensitive soul, which audiences appeared to relate to. The character goes through a startling transformation for the two subsequent sequels however (Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness), where he almost becomes a parody of the usual hero type, with both killer wit and weaponry at his disposal.

Clearly the film is nowhere near as shocking as it used to be, but you’d be hard pushed to find one as gory. When the blood starts to flow, there’s just no stopping it.

Although this release has been digitally remastered, the quality is nowhere near pin sharp. What needs to be remembered here however is that the film was originally shot in 16 mm, and then was blown up to 35mm for distribution. Its grainy appearance only adds to its charm however, making it feel that little bit more authentic.

This Blu-ray version comes with a couple of hours of extra content, which should keep the most blood-thirsty viewer happy.

The Evil Dead remains a creepy cult classic, still loved to this day the world over for wearing its blood and guts on its sleeve. It’s a true master class in horror, showing that there’s still life in the old zombie yet.