Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda head out to a run-down cabin. Reciting a spell from an old book awakens demons which take hold of Linda and later Ash, too. Sunlight or alternatively dismemberment by chainsaw can cure the possession but when Ash finds himself trapped by the evil force, he can only wait for death. Until the daughter of the cabin's previous occupant, her boyfriend and some hillbillies arrive. The evil has some new people to possess and Ash has a problem that threatens to get out of hand.