Mondo Dictionary: The 'Evil Dead' Effect

Every once in a while, a film comes along that changes the way that films are made. Just look at the rash of Satanic films after Rosemary's Baby or the entire sub-genre of Brucesploitation. A lot of times though, the impact of these films gets forgotten as years go by. I want to change that, at least in regards to one thing:

The 'Evil Dead' Effect

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn was a major hit on the burgeoning video market of the late 1980s and influenced a ton of films. Horror films stopped being just scary and started to be 'wacky.' Admittedly, some of this comes from the impact of Robert Englund's increasingly parody-styled performances in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. To get a real idea of this film's impact, just look at some of the movies that followed it.

*Waxwork and Waxwork II turned from fairly-scary to overtly-comedic. This is especially true in the second film, which parodied The Haunting and Aliens.

*C.H.U.D. II is a horror comedy, when the original is a fairly-serious horror film about monsters beneath the sewers. While there were jokes, it was played quite straight.

*The Return of the Living Dead films are so tongue-in-cheek that they cannot breathe. 'Nuff said.

*The Monster Squad re-unites all of Universal's monsters for the first time in over 40 years. What does it feature? Garlic bread burning Dracula and the Wolfman being kicked in the nuts. Wow.

*All of Peter Jackson's early films (Bad Taste to The Frighteners). Do I need to explain this one?

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There are more of them out there, but this is just a sample. For future movie terms, keep reading. Up next is a term that basically 'sucker punches' subtlety. Stay tuned...