Before he directed the comic-lover's box set staple, the Spider-Man trilogy, Sam Raimi was a low-budget collaborator. We are all better humans because of this. Had he never been an errant hair in the film industry's arm pit we wouldn't have Evil Dead I and II, and "boom stick" wouldn't be in our generational lexicon.
There would also be a hole in the heart of Tuesday Night Trash, Texas Theatre's weekly celebration films that jammed up the industry's garbage disposals. Written by Josh Becker(Xena: Warrior Princess) and Scott Spiegel (Evil Dead II, Hostel), and staring Bruce Campbell as a discharged Vietnam vet, tonight's screening, Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except features Sam Raimi as a lord-summoning, sword-slinging mass murderer who's out on a rampage. He's found followers (don't they always?) and Campbell's girlfriend, who he snatches up and holds hostage. (He also hypercolors her boobies with bloody hand prints. The humanity.)
Not surprisingly, this doesn't sit well with Campbell and soon a war is waged. Thou Shall Not Kill...Except is one of the few films shown in the Tuesday Night Trash series that has been remastered and released on Blu-Ray, largely due to its now-famous cast. But don't worry, it won't be winning any achievement awards at this year's DIFF, either. So while not fully mammalian, TSNK...E has evolved out of cinema's primordial ooze just enough to develop a tail. See it for free tonight at 9 p.m. at Texas Theatre. There will be drink specials, which you should turn into Bruce Campbell one-liner drinking games.
