The facts and figures of the production are as follows:

It was filmed over one long weekend in 1979 at a farmhouse provided by Rob Tapert’s family (incidentally the same farmhouse was used to film the cellar sequences in The Evil Dead)

The resultant short film was first shown to friends and relatives in the backyard of the Tapert family home. It premiered to the public in August 1979 at a Detroit cinema known as ‘The Punch and Judy’. It ran before The Rocky Horror Picture Show on consecutive Saturdays via a Super 8mm projector that occupied only a quarter of the screen!! Sound hissed and hummed but the crowds responded positively and as Tapert later said “[the] audience members actually reacted.”

It was then used as a demo reel and shown to potential investors for what Raimi described as a 'much larger project'. Tapert, Raimi and Campbell raised $90,000 in three months from local attorneys and businessmen; "That was our main tool for financing," says Raimi. "Part of it was for the investors to believe in that picture, and to perceive it as scary. The other part was for them to believe us; that we were hard-working young men trying to get started, that we wouldn't be taking salaries and intended to bring it in as cheaply as possible, to safeguard that investment. So it was a combination of all those things."

Here are a selection of Behind-the-Scenes/publicity stills. The link below will display various shots taken from a print of the film. The pics are hazy but so was the film! Enjoy

Campbell and Joanne Kruse

Campbell and Joanne Kruse

Campbell and Ellen Sandweiss

Campbell and Sandweiss

Campbell and Raimi on set

Note: Joanne Kruse appeared in some promotional stills photographed byold friend Mike Ditz, she was not actually in the film! Ditz would later be responsible for the promotional stills for 'The Eil Dead' which incide the famous 'chainsaw-over-the-head' and 'hand-from-the-grave' shots that adorned posters and video game covers the world over.