Editing The Evil Dead (section)

===Critical response===
Upon its release, contemporary critical opinion was largely positive.{{sfn|Konow|2012|p=422–425}} Bob Martin, editor of ''Fangoria'', reviewed the film before its formal premiere and proclaimed that it "might be the exception to the usual run of low-budget horror films".{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=21}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Martin|first=Bob|date=November 1982|title=Evil Dead|url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_023_c2c_1982_Evil_Dead_scan_by_SproutHatesWatermarks_S/page/n19|journal=[[Fangoria]]|issue=23|pages=20–23|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> He followed up on this praise after the film's premiere, stating: "Since I started editing this magazine, I have not seen ''any'' new film that I could recommend to our readers with more confidence that it would be loved, embraced and hailed as a new milestone in graphic horror".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Martin|first=Bob|date=May 1983|title=The FX of Evil Dead|url=https://archive.org/details/Fangoria_027/page/n21|journal=[[Fangoria]]|issue=27|pages=19–22|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film an "instant classic", proclaiming it as "probably the grisliest well-made movie ever."{{sfn|Campbell|2002|p=151–152}}{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} In a 1982 review, staff from ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that the film "emerges as the ''[[ne plus ultra]]'' of low-budget gore and shock effect", commenting that the "powerful" and inventive camerawork was key to creating a sense of dread.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/review/VE1117790757?refcatid=31|title=The Evil Dead|date=December 31, 1982|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104083311/https://variety.com/review/VE1117790757?refcatid=31|archive-date=January 4, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=January 31, 2012}}</ref>

British press for the film was positive; [[Kim Newman]] of ''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'', Richard Cook of ''[[NME]]'' and Julian Petley of ''Film and Filming'' all gave the film good reviews during its early release.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} Petley and Cook compared the film to other contemporary horror films, writing that the film expressed more imagination and "youthful enthusiasm" than an average horror film.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} Cook described the camera work by Raimi as "audacious", stating that the film's visceral nature was greatly helped by the style of direction.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} Woolley, Newman and several critics complimented the film for its unexpected use of [[black comedy]], which elevated the film above its genre's potential trappings.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} All three critics compared the film to the surrealistic work of [[Georges Franju]] and [[Jean Cocteau]], noting the cinephilic references to Cocteau's film ''[[Orpheus (film)|Orpheus]]''.{{sfn|Egan|2011|p=22}} Writer [[Lynn Schofield Clark]] in her novel ''From Angels to Aliens'' compared the film to better-known horror films such as ''[[The Exorcist (film)|The Exorcist]]'' and ''[[The Omen]]'', citing it as a key supernatural thriller.{{sfn|Clark|2005|pp=26–28}}