Such horrible things happen to young people in cabins in the woods. Stay in the cities, kids – your biggest risk there is Godzilla.

The plot of The Evil Dead can be summed up thusly: “Kids in a cabin find an evil book and release demons.” But nobody comes to The Evil Dead for the plot. For one thing, it came out during a golden age of horror movie practical effects — it’s gory and juicy and stomach-turning. It launched the careers of director Sam Raimi (of the original Spider-Man movies) and cult favorite actor Bruce Campbell. But the best innovation of The Evil Dead is that it manages to be funny-on-purpose to a degree usually unseen in horror movies. It frequently goes too far and it knows it; the movie is in on the joke. It’s a B-movie elevated to A-movie standards of filmmaking. That’s why it was the beginning of such a beloved franchise, and that’s why it still holds up today.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $7 for Tampa Theatre Members.