given the budget, and terrible quality in which i viewed this, i gave it a generous 7. either way, sam raimi already showed great skill with a very minimal approach at creating suspense, and terror in this short.. the camera moving through the woods towards the character, ala evil dead, and the minimal soundtrack enhance it all. not giving a long detailed review here, but if you are a big fan of the evil dead, and horror in general, this is WELL worth a look.. for all its "amateurness" this really shows some fantastic promise, which is obviously why raimi is where he is today. it goes to show how even with a minimal approach in both plot, and dialogue, through effective use of music, and incredibly inventive camera work, you can create the atmosphere you are going for. really an inspiring piece for anyone who likes the idea of going into the horror genre.. fun stuff.

A short film by director Sam Raimi, he made it in his college days in hopes of raising money to be able to make his masterful horror film The Evil Dead (1981).Two couples staying at a country house are terrorized when one of them becomes murderously possessed by evil spirits.Even with its grainy, home-made quality, Within the Woods is perhaps the greatest horror short ever made! There's plenty of effectively eerie and dark atmosphere, well-timed shocks, and some bloody-good makeup FX. It's a gripping little horror picture! Raimi would later spoof scenes from this short in both The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987).Young Bruce Campbell heads the small cast. Campbell does a good show as a likable teenager turned horrid monster by an evil spirit. Ellen Sandweiss (who would go on to star in The Evil Dead) appears as the films heroine.A bit of a rare find, but a must-see for Raimi's fans!*** 1/2 out of ****

Despite it's obvious low budget, un-professionalism and complete lack of intelligence: Within the Woods may well be the most important horror short ever filmed. For, if it were not for this little movie; the student team of Sam Raimi, Roger Tapert, Bruce Campbell et al may never have gone on to make the finest film in horror movie history; The Evil Dead. It's well documented by now that this film was the one that the team made in order to get funding for their first feature length movie, but funding wasn't all they would get from it. If you've seen this film, then it's a good bet that you've seen The Evil Dead too; and if you have, you wont be able to get away from the similarities of the techniques used and the sequences shown. Much of what happens in this film made it into the final cut, with things such as the conclusion to Ellen Sandweiss' chase sequence, the zombie at the door and the final monologue of the main character being lifted wholesale from this movie into The Evil Dead.It's not surprising why Sam Raimi and co ended up getting funded for this short. While, as mentioned, it's not great on the whole; we are shown quite clearly the prowess of the director. Raimi has implemented his trademark camera angles, along with the 'Raimi-cam', brilliantly and this is matched by the post-production, which sees the film being well edited and scored. As you might expect for this sort of film, the acting and script are, frankly, rubbish; but it hardly matters when the rest of the it is so inventive and well done. And 'Indian burial ground' aside; that's what the film is. The basic premise of the film wasn't changed for The Evil Dead, except that the actors have been swapped around. This time, we get to see the great Bruce Campbell as the main monster, and Ellen Sandweiss as the protagonist. While this works because Bruce's charisma allows him to excellently portray a possessed human; he makes for a better hero really, and Raimi and co ended up getting this right for the final cut. If you're not an Evil Dead fan (unlikely), you wont like Within the Woods...but if you are - make sure you track it down!

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.