The Evil Dead (sometimes shortened to just Evil Dead) is a 1981 American comedy/horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi, starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, and Betsy Baker. The film is a story of five college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in a wooded area. Their vacation becomes gruesome when they find an audiotape that releases evil spirits. The film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing a total of $2,400,000 in the U.S upon its initial release, against a budget of probably no more than $400,000. Despite getting mixed reviews by critics at the time, it has since developed a cult following. The film has spawned two sequels, Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1992), and a stage musical; in 1994 a heavily censored version was shown in US theaters and received an NC-17 rating. Work on a script for a further film has started although it was announced on July 13, 2011 that Raimi and Campbell would now shift focus to a remake of the original film. Five Michigan State students venture into the hills of Tennessee to spend their Spring Break vacation in an isolated cabin.