Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss and Richard DeManincor in the Sam Raimi movie ‘The Evil Dead’

We queue a film we’ll review here having earned the rating NC-17 from the Motion Picture Association of America. Directed and written by Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead (1981) offers the supernatural horror of five college students vacationing at a cabin in isolated woods when seemingly innocuous actions go madly wrong.

(Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams in the Sam Raimi movie The Evil Dead).

Five college students from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan come upon a cabin in the woods of Tennessee opens the story of The Evil Dead. Things feel strange quickly with the inexplicable movement of porch swings, the drawing of objects around the cabin that affect their operation, and the hearing of voices by members of the group that create fear.

(From left, Betsy Baker as Linda, Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl Williams and Theresa Tilly as Shelly in the Sam Raimi movie The Evil Dead).

When a trapdoor opens of its own accord during dinner, the group splits up to investigate. Ash Williams and Scott, as portrayed by Bruce Campbell and Richard DeManincor, respectively, investigate the cellar as Cheryl Williams, Linda and Shelly, as portrayed by Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly, respectively, remain upstairs.

(Richard DeManincor as Scott in the Sam Raimi movie The Evil Dead).

The finding of the so-called Naturom Demonto, supposedly a Sumerian version of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, along with the tape recorder of Raymond Knowby, animate much of the storyline that follows. Bob Dorian portrayed the voice of Raymond Knowby as recorded on tape recorder. The introduction of supernatural components through the rest of the horrific experiences of the vacationers are shown to satisfactory effect. The influence of the George A. Romero movie Night of the Living Dead (1968) upon The Evil Dead is clear.

(Director Sam Raimi in support of the Sam Raimi movie The Evil Dead).

The low budget quality of the original The Evil Dead movie is clear from the product. The inclusion of gore and some semblance of black humor initiates some stylistic choices replicated with moderate success later on. As captured by Rotten Tomatoes reviews here, the movie performed better for critics than it did for the audience that has seen the film in theatres or elsewhere. My rating for The Evil Dead as written and directed by Sam Raimi is 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston and the film ‘For Love of the Game’

First there was Bull Durham (1988). Second there was Field of Dreams (1989). Third there was For Love of the Game (1999). At the time of this review, Kevin Costner has since narrated a baseball piece and played a former baseball player in another film. The movies Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and For Love of the Game reflect the stellar stable of baseball movies starring Kevin Costner.

(John C. Reilly as Gus Sinski, left, and Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel in For Love of the Game).

Michael Shaara wrote the book For Love of the Game, which became the 1999 film of the same name. In the film, we are introduced to battery mates Gus Sinski and Billy Chapel of the Detroit Tigers heading to New York City to play the New York Yankees. John C. Reilly and Kevin Costner play Sinski and Chapel, respectively. The audience learns early that the Tigers have had a losing season, are getting sold, and Chapel as the star of the Tigers is likely to be traded following the season. Add to this that the Yankees need a win to make the playoffs.

 

(J.K. Simmons as Detroit Tigers manager Frank Perry in For Love of the Game).

Chapel is called onto pitch. Being loyal to his friend, Chapel makes the demand to Tigers manager Frank Perry that Gus Sinski, who hasn’t hit well all season, will continue to catch him that day if Perry wants Chapel to start. As an ending to the season and possibly a career, Perry was not going to deny the demand. J.K. Simmons portrayed manager Frank Perry.

(Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel, left, and Kelly Preston as Jane Aubrey in For Love of the Game).

It is among all this that Billy Chapel’s love interest, Jane Aubrey, has declared to the veteran pitcher that she, Jane, has accepted a job in London and would be leaving the same day Chapel is due to pitch. Being poised in the face of the adversity of losing a loyal owner, his team, his career, and his love interest, we see this story roll out into the telling of a pitcher putting everything on the line in pitching the game of a career as he, Billy Chapel, copes with his feelings of loss through the recollections of a relationship with Jane Aubrey, and as we learn her daughter Heather, between innings and batters. Kelly Preston plays Jane Aubrey as Jena Malone plays Heather Aubrey.

(Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel, left, and Jena Malone as Heather Aubrey in For Love of the Game).

In being a game about baseball and an ethos portrayed in a single game, the central question of the movie really centers on something different. The question becomes what love can Billy Chapel and Jane Aubrey believe in and make after Chapel’s career. The movie spent effort to show the romance and passion between the two as well as that between Chapel and the game of baseball. The mystery of this, combined with the hook of a baseball story, gives the viewer a sports romance film. The movie works at that level, and makes for decent date movie material. I grade the experience at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, March 28, 2020