I really love Japanese horror films but sadly I didn't see this one until recently because I foolishly thought it was just a ripoff of
Evil Dead, which to be fair, I would still be happy to watch. Of course, I was completely wrong. Despite the title, it's a very unique original movie that really has nothing to do with Sam Raimi's films except they're both gory horror. There are some insanely-inventive kills in this that I never saw before, and I very much dug the atmosphere. I immediately had to check out both sequels, which unfortunately were rather disappointing but I'm still glad I saw them all. There is something special and different about this first one. As people much smarter than me have pointed out, this film feels very much influenced by Italian horror like Argento and Fulci. I love their output too so such a mix sounds like heaven to me, and I think this film certainly delivers. The ending really gets nuts but that is part of the charm. I love films that dare to do something different.
