JOHNNY: Ladies, welcome to www.allthingshorror.co.uk! We are here today to discuss your roles in arguably one of the greatest horror films ever made, The Evil Dead. How does it feel to be a part of a film that has become legend, but has also endured some harsh and undeserved criticism, ie: the film being very badly cut in the UK for a considerable amount of time?

BETSY : Well, we can only say 'Sorry you missed a great film for so many years! We had a chance to talk to UK fans last spring when we visited during a convention in London...They're just glad it can be seen now!

THERESA: There’s a lot of crazy notoriety that comes from being in Evil Dead and for the most part we really didn’t realize until recently. In 2001 the movie was being shown at American Cinematechque, which is an art house theatre here in Los Angeles. It was being advertised in the newspaper that the cast would be there to answer questions. That’s when I got a phone call from a voice of my past, “Betsy Baker from Evil Dead calling!” She wanted to see if I was going to appear at this Q&A?! It was very optimistic advertising. We both ended up at that EVIL DEAD viewing and it was then that we learned of the many fans of this movie. Our jaws dropped when we saw how they waited in a line around the block to have us sign their copy of the movie!! We couldn’t believe that it had become such a cult phenomenon, people young and old (our age) loved this movie. Betsy and I went on to locate Ellen and have our first three way phone call ever. That phone call was very emotional because of the experience we had shared in making EVIL DEAD but also to realize what the movie had become while we were off being moms.

JOHNNY:: The making of the film has been well publicised, taking more than four years to finish and sometimes under extremely punishing circumstances. In retrospect, with everything that you went through – would you do it all again? Did you know exactly what you would all be letting yourself in for?

BETSY: Would we do it again? Hmmmm...Good question. If we were certain we could have heat in the cabin, fresh hot coffee or cocoa in the middle of the night while shooting, Karo syrup that was guaranteed to come out of our hair after one washing, the promise that in some scenes we only had to do one take, and a world-wide tour to meet all the fans...hey, why not?

ELLEN: Oh absolutely! The fact is we were young and resilient – if you asked us to do it now, we might answer differently.

JOHNNY: Did you know exactly what you would all be letting yourself in for?

ELLEN: No, we had no idea. The script (if you could call it that) certainly didn’t give any idea of the actual action that would take place, plus you never really know what a movie set will be like until you’re actually there living it. And of course who could’ve predicted that we’d be experiencing the coldest winter Tennessee had had in years!I

JOHNNY: The film has demanded a cult viewing from the off – what in your opinion makes the film tick, and what do you make of the growing fanbase that continues to show up at all of the conventions you attend?

ELLEN :There are several factors contributing to EVIL DEAD’s cult status; but I think the most important one is that it’s completely over the top. There will always be a segment of society who support (and thrive on) anything that pushes the limits.

JOHNNY: In some regards, with the introductions of films like ‘Hostel’ and ‘Saw’, the Evil Dead can be viewed as coming from a more innocent time of horror film making. What are your opinions on the new wave of ‘gorenography’ – films that are just sick for the sake of it?

BETSY: EVIL DEAD has certainly been labeled as a film to which many new films got their inspiration. However, EVIL DEAD was shot with absolutely no meny, no computer graphics, no electronic special effects, and created many scare tactics that had never been seen before. It's an honor to have been in such a film that introduced new talent from new generations.

BETSY: Never in a million years. We wern't even sure it would make it to the editor's room. There were so many unfinished parts to production, we thought it might not even be completed. Oh, Ye of little faith.

JOHNNY: The contacts you wear look like they are the most painful things ever. Is it true that you couldn’t see anything while wearing them? So the fight you have with Ash (Bruce Campbell) later on in the film – how on earth did you manage that without breaking something?

BETSY: The contacts were indeed solid whatever; we couldn't see even a speck of light. It was total darkness while wearing them. Bruce and I rehearsed the scene over and over, and we crossed our fingers once the camera rolled, that I wouldn't actually stab him...

JOHNNY: The necklace you are given by Ash…….not the greatest gift in the world…..What did you think when you first saw what you were to be given? Did you have a little giggle to yourself?

BETSY: When the Props Dept, (meaining either Sam himself or Tom Sullivan!) brought out the necklace, the only thing I could think was,' What were you thinking? How can I Tell Ash when I'm never gonna put that on, that I'm never gonna take it off?' We had quite a laugh about it on the set. Originally, the glass portion of the necklace was going to have something to do with the end of the movie, but Sam hadn't figured it out yet...as it turned out, we didn't use the glass portion for anything. 

JOHNNY: What are your memories of watching the film for the very first time? Were you shocked by what you saw?

BETSY : I think the first time I saw the movie was in an old movie theatre in Culver City, California. I wasn't able to attend the 'Premiere Ceremonies'...I think I was out trying to make a living! There weren't many people in the theatre, the sound quality was horrible, and the film quality back then wasn't much better.

JOHNNY: The films success was pretty instantaneous, with Stephen King among others giving it fantastic reviews. The film hasn’t released its foot off the pedal since then – are you still recognised on the streets, and what do your two teenage children think of their mum being in a horror film that defined and re-shaped the genre?

BETSY: I'm not recognized at any school functions, or at the grocery store, but I have been recognized at restraunts and on the streets, and at auditions, etc. Our two children don't think a thing of it...they're not into horror and they don't realize how this film really did play a significant part in defining and shaping a genre.

ELLEN: Although I knew what it was like to work with these guys, there was a major difference between Within the Woods (and earlier super-8’s I’d worked on with them) and Evil Dead: WTW was filmed over a long weekend and EVIL DEAD took several months! You can endure almost anything for a long weekend! Honestly I didn’t really know what to expect, since I’d never been involved in a feature film before.

JOHNNY: The scene that you feature in when you are attacked by the woods and molested by a tree never made it into the UK version. In fact the first time I saw it was when my local art cinema showed the film when the cut was first passed. Even knowing about it but seeing it for the first time still shocked me quite a bit. Did you have any reservations about doing that?

 ELLEN: Definitely! Although I didn’t really know what I was getting into until we were actually filming, because the script only indicated that the woods would “attack” me. I was pretty mortified, but justified it by telling myself no one was ever going to see it anyway!

JOHNNY: When was the last time you watched the film, and are you proud of what you managed to achieve?

ELLEN: I guess I last saw it about a year ago when Betsy, Theresa and I did a live commentary during a convention screening. I’m very proud of the success of the film overall and happy for Sam and the boys that it helped launch their careers.

JOHNNY: You returned to acting in 2005 with Satan’s Playground. Was it good to step back into the acting shoes after such a long time?

ELLEN: Yeah, it was great – although I had over the years done a fair amount of stage acting, it was particularly satisfying to return to film acting with such a great director and wonderful friend as Dante Tomaselli (director of Satan’s Playground).

JOHNNY: Last question for you Ellen – Shemp Eats the Moon. I will never see a copy, and am resigned to that sad fate, but could you please tell me a little about what the film is about and when/where it was filmed?

ELLEN: Whoa, now you’re really testing my memory. As far as I can remember, it was directed by John Cameron (now a successful Hollywood filmmaker as well) and starred Bruce Campbell, of course, as a bumbling detective. I played the evil criminal temptress who’s trying to get the “moon” (some kind of jewel) and the only scene I really remember, which was shot in my parents’ living room, was of me trying to seduce and poison Bruce in order to get the jewel but ultimately meeting my own untimely death in the process. I believe in the end he ends up swallowing the moon, thus the title. A real work of art.

THERESA : I’m going to take a stab in the dark here, no pun intended, but philosophically it would have had to have been Cheryl saying “you love her”. I KNEW he did not love me, it was just another night in a cabin with your “girlfriend”. At least that’s what I always felt about my relationship to Scotty. Now as far as who recorded that line, I believe it was Ellen. And then of course, it may also have been Sam. He made a lot of these decisions after all of us had gone on about our lives and he was still toiling away to finish Book of the Dead as it was then known. If you listen closely you can hear the voices are not all the same. It’s hard to tell because of the effects on the recording are so distorted. I know one thing, I did not record it.

JOHNNY: How were you first cast in the part as Shelley – did you have to audition and why did you have to change your name to Sarah York?

THERESA: I was thrilled to have an audition for a feature film! You didn’t get many of those as a working actor in Motor City. All of my work was theatre or commercials. I sometimes modelled for the Auto Show that brought in some money. The audition was in Sam’s basement with Bruce and Rob feeding me lines. It was mostly a lot of screaming and facial reactions. The producers never managed to come up with an agreement with SAG for my being in this non union production. I had literally been in the union for two weeks when this part came to me. So, I went to SAG and tried to find a way to make this work. But no one wanted to make it work, so I went ahead and drove to Tennessee in hopes that in the end it could all be figured out. Once on the set and filming, I never thought this movie would be seen by anyone, so I simply used a different name-yeah, that’s the ticket, now they’ll never know it’s me!! I ended up being suspended from the union for while. But that’s why I’m listed as Sarah York. I used Sarah as my first name since my niece had just been born and called Sarah. And I always wanted to live in NY. Lesson learned, I should have just used my name!

JOHNNY: How did the ‘Ladies of the Evil Dead’ website come about?

Theresa: We wanted to see the world as the EVIL DEAD legends we were and felt the only way to do it was TOGETHER. So the website just made it easy to explain to conventions organizers who we were - Ladies of the EVIL DEAD. It’s now become a lot of fun hearing from fans all the time about their love of the movie.

JOHNNY: What would be the biggest highlight of filming Evil Dead? Was it all in all a happy shoot?

THERESA: I think having worked with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert was pretty great. All three were incredibly focused and driven. Even though they were working on a shoe string budget and really learning the process as they went along they always tried to treat us respectfully. We three were the only women on the set but they made sure we had appropriate accommodations. The food was terrible, the jokes were bad, and the hours gruelling, lots of shooting in the freezing cold in a cabin with no heat but still it was exciting to be a part of something that they so fiercely believed in. Plus isn’t there some psychological principal about your youth and it being formative so it stays with you forever?? That’s how Evil Dead will always be for me. It formed me, for the good or the bad, or the EVIL!!

JOHNNY: And finally, going to conventions and meeting the fans – are you amazed at the people who still love the film? And are the fans getting any younger?

 THERESA: The fans of course are THE reason we do go out to all these crazy places and hang out. They’re so passionate about this movie. It’s great to see the variety of people that are entertained by EVIL DEAD. There are a lot of oldersters who saw the movie when they were twelve. It was one of the first movies to go to video so even though it was unrated and not allowed in many theatres plenty of young people were able to get their hands of it by way of tapes. This is part of the phenomenon of EVIL DEAD, its timing combined with it’s over the top gore and campiness led to it marking a time in the annals of horror history. For that reason many kids today love EVIL DEAD the way they love the music from that period. I guess there’s a certain freshness to something that is what it is, no CGI or post mixing to amp it up.