No, really–it was an earlier TV movie called L.A. Takedown.
The short film was called “Within the Woods” and if you’re a big Evil Dead fan it might be worth tracking down (not going to say where but I think you know).
But anyway, while “Within the Woods” was used as an investment tool to fund The Evil Dead, it has almost nothing to do with the rest of the series in terms of plot, characters, locations, and situations. But I guess fundamentally it would be a remake if “Within the Woods” were ever actually officially shown to anybody but a few investors.
In a Fangoria interview with Sam, he has this to say:
I’m pretty sure he and Bruce tell a story similar to the one John Mullets mentioned, in one of the commentaries on either the first or second movie dvd. It was my understanding that this was what allowed Bruce to get the extra money to co-produce Evil Dead II.
Slingblade is an expanded version of Billy Bob Thornton’s Some Folks Call it a Slingblade.
My word, the deja vu! It’s almost as though someone already mentioned that movie in this thread - surely not!
(sorry, sarcasm is the lowest form of humour, I know)