Evil Dead II

The Flaming Groovy!

Yes indeed, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell are back to shake some action with this remake of their own The Evil Dead (1981), only this time with more money and more overt humour. A quick prologue sets things up nicely, then BAM! Ash (Campbell) and his squeeze are in the cabin of doom and about to be part of a night of unholy demonic terror.

It's a nightmare of the black comedy kind, where Raimi and Campbell invite us to a party and then gleefully pummel us into submission - and we sado-masochistically enjoy it! Ash has grown a pair of cojones and decides to fight back against the demonic forces, cue mucho action with chainsaw and shotgun. There's a quip on the tongue for our hero as well, even as he is battered from ...

RELEASED IN 1987 and written & directed by Sam Raimi, The Evil Dead chronicles events when two Michigan State students (Bruce Campbell & Denise Bixler) travel to a remote cabin in western Tennessee for spring break wherein they discover a copy of the Book of the Dead and an audiotape whose incantations resurrect demons in the woods. The daughter of the archeologist who made the tape (Sarah Berry) also visits the cabin with her beau (Richard Domeier) and a couple of dubious locals (Dan Hicks & Kassie Wesley DePaiva).

The first film was low-budget, cartoony and extreme, but it was serious horror. This sequel is also cartoony and extreme, but its decidedly comedy horror. Its entertaining for what it is, but its hindered by a confusing ope...

Not really much of a fan of slasher/gore films, but friends suggested I give this a try purely because the film does not try to take itself too seriously, and despite the fact there is lots of gore here, none of it looked particularly realistic and only adds to the extremely black humour of the whole affair.

But what attracted me to this film was the charisma of the lead actor Ash, played by Bruce Campbell. He is not a great actor by any stretch, but he does have a rather boyish charm that moves the film along, even if the script is as creaky as the rocking chair in his cabin!

Definitely made on a shoestring budget, and the sfx (no cgi here!) are not all that great, but it doesn't matter because you're just there for the ride; and to ...

The Evil Dead II takes everything fans loved from the original and ramps it up to one thousand, but is that such a good thing? The direction from Raimi is very present once again with fantastically creative shots and quick zooms that are such a staple of his. The story is way more fleshed out here, with interesting flash backs that give the original an entirely new perspective. The special effects are better than the original, and we get to see a lot more of what the evil entity is. But with all the positives this movie has, it is just missing something that I cannot put my finger on. The original felt so genuine, and I think the low budget helped increase the tension and horror of the possessions. Here the tone is a little campier and I ju...

I don't understand the hype.

When watching this film, I got the serious impression that Army of Darkness ended up being a kind of sequel or spin-off to this work, considering the themes involved and the persistence of the main actor, Bruce Campbell. Both films have similarities, and it's hard not to think about it.

Sam Raimi is one of those directors who have made a name for himself in horror cinema, but I can't help but think that this is one of his poorest works. Evil Dead is dark, it's bizarre, it's full of gore and scenes that make you want to throw up your popcorn, but it's not the kind of film I would watch again. With a miserably low budget and a lot of creativity, the director manages to disgust us more than to scare us, a...