Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb

[Henry Gale]

Sadly nothing special. Definitely more committed to delivering piles of gore and a handful of bizarro moments than your average horror remake, but in the end, like most other 21st century re-do's, it feels like a missed opportunity.

It's a shame that outside of those big, bloody bits that most of the distinct things this film has in its arsenal are transplanted from the original films. The larger problem is those call-back moments don't even feel properly retrofitted to this 2013 version's more modernized and macabre tone, so they just stick out a bit awkwardly as silly, campy flourishes to an otherwise gritty and grisly film that takes itself pretty seriously. The overtly homage-paying moments do provide intermittent thrills, but the way they're implemented feels mostly disjointed, At its worst, it feels like a decent Platinum Dunes remake that Sam Raimi was brought in to do a week of re-shoots on.

There are definitely stretches along the way that work, particularly its beautifully bombastic finale, but between them it just can't overcome characters, plotting, a generally clunky momentum and scaring techniques that aren't compelling or original enough to allow those undeniably effective (and impressively graphic) moments to really pack a lasting punch. The overall experience suffers because it has nothing under the surface.

There's just a sore lack of reinvention or a genuine spark to really accomplish anything new here. It hits all the sorts of beats we've seen before -- either under this franchise's name or others-- but just seems content with hitting them a little harder and bloodier. It's like a theme park exhibit to showcase an array of ideas instead of a well-devised ride that strings them together cohesively. It's as if the whole project started as a hired writer being contractually obligated to call the project Evil Dead and supply die-hard fans with a checklist of things that were peppered through Raimi's films and then only over time did people who actually revered the originals re-work them with a bit more affection. But take away the Book of the Dead, the demon voices, the chainsaws, and even Raimi's Oldsmobile, and I'm not sure what would hypothetically be there for anyone to get interested in this as an original script. It simultaneously wants to live up to its name and also deliberately be its own thing, but no idea how to be either.

The best example is the end credits tag, which is literally just [

Show Spoiler

a close-up of 2013 Bruce Campbell against a dark background, uttering the word "Groovy", and then giving a jokey scowl to the camera. Why? Because... It's Ash, guys! I mean, c'mon? Is that not enough!?

] And that basically sums up the whole thing for me: Theoretically all the right elements for something cool, but not enough genuine inspiration or imagination to weave them into something truly exciting.

[Dukefrukem]

[Ivan Drago]

Diablo Cody wrote it. I'm out.

[Dead & Messed Up]

No, she didn't. She briefly worked as a script doctor.

[Henry Gale]

Yeah, Cody isn't even listed in the final credits. Which considering how WGA actually decides things, doesn't mean she didn't do anything significant, but whatever her input might've been, it's not peppy, mannered dialogue.

If anything, and I never thought I'd say this, the movie could've used some more of a noticable voice, especially in how the characters acted and spoke, and she might've been just the sort of person to do that kind of thing. I'll clarify that I mean more of the sort of biting, morbid type of character interactions she scripted in Young Adult, or even the sort of weirder things she worked into Jennifer's Body (horror or otherwise). I didn't want to hear this group of kids say "Honest to blog" to make sure it was set in present day. I swear.

[Skitch]

Go on...

[Dukefrukem]

Go on...

The ideas are there (up until the ending) it just lacks the polish that maybe a more experienced director could have brought to the table. Every character in the movie was a miscast with the exception of Jane Levy. Terrible acting abilities among the group. Apparently...no one in the cabin feels pain. The ending is horrificly lazy. And why is every movie doing an after credit scene now? I stuck around because I felt like there would be something there and I was right.

Henry's write up above is spot on. He even would give it a higher grade than I would.

[Skitch]

I think my expectations are appropriately in check.

[Ezee E]

Also, put this up to debate, but I feel this is more in line with being a fun horrorfest to watch with friends, rather then torture porn horror that was famous a few years ago. This is desp

[Ezee E]

Ite being as gory as those previous movies. Anyone agree?

[Henry Gale]

Oh I thought it was a lot of fun in exactly that way, just not enough of the time. I saw it with a pretty optimal, horror-loving audience with a bunch of friends in the mix, and the whole room burst into applause and cheered when the big, bloody crescendo of its finale graced the screen, and I was pretty much there with them. I'm just not sure it had enough going for it to keep me invested between moments like that.

[eternity]

[Rowland]

Says the guy who made Detention. And Torque, but I like that movie.

[number8]

Wouldn't turning cows into steak be the contextual element, whereas the steak isn't?

[Bosco B Thug]

Okay, I'm going to be confusing on this one. It's a two-star film, but I didn't dislike it, or not enjoy it, so I didn't want to nay it.

If you don't think about comparing it to the original Evil Dead, this is a pretty neat, stylish horror film. Talk about messing with a tried and true formula (or not tried and true...): it takes The Evil Dead and gives it a story, characters with arcs, thematic underpinnings, emotional peaks and narrative fades, and forgoes conventional slasher film thrills for more "high concept" devices to lead to the gore and grue.

Very middlebrow for a sick and nasty throwback horror. You just have to go along with it.

[megladon8]

Surprisingly decent. Sits along the Fright Night remake as a film that was better than it had any right to be.

I really liked that they did their own thing with it entirely. A slavish remake (or, even worse, 90 minutes of fan service) this was not. A wink and a nod here and there, but all in all it's its own movie, which is its greatest strength.

Strong visuals, and Jane Levy's performance was kind of fantastic.

People comparing this to torture porn don't know what they're talking about.

[Dukefrukem]

Sits along the Fright Night remake as a film that was better than it had any right to be..

Odd comparison.

[megladon8]

Odd comparison.

Not really. Both remakes of '80s cult classic horror films. Both were dreaded by those same fanbases. Both ended up being not nearly as terrible was originally expected.

[Rowland]

Hell, I like the Fright Night remake more than the original. There is virtually no chance of that happening here, but I'm still hoping for the best, might see it tomorrow.

[Spun Lepton]

I am a HUGE fan of the Evil Dead movies. I believe this really works as an addition to the series. While the twist near the end seems a little heavy-handed, I can't argue with it because it DOES keep in line with the mythology. The twist being ...

[

Show Spoiler

Mia is released from possession.

]

The copy I watched was really shitty, but damn if I didn't enjoy it. I will be buying this on disc when it's released. I really look forward to watching a nice copy.

[Scar]

This was... alright I guess. Copious amounts of gore, a touch unsettling at times. I think it will be better to watch with Spun and perhaps bac0n. As of now, I give it a mediocre thumbs up.

[Irish]

This was half to two-thirds of a brilliant fucking horror movie .. But then the final act retreats into [

Show Spoiler

boring, 'final girl' bullshit

]. Not to play forum politician, but I agree with every single praise and every single criticism in this thread. Voting a big yay, but not before I express how let down I was by the last act of the movie.

SPOILERS BELOW - Not using tags because this is obscenely long.

I loved, loved, loved the drug addiction angle. This gave the movie just enough plot to keep the first act going, which is where a lot of these kind of horrors struggle. I enjoyed realizing that Mia would become possessed while everybody else would mistake that for withdrawal. This was an inspired choice.

I liked the idea that David, the supposed lead, is a coward, his friends resent him, and he's estranged from his sister. The characters are so underwritten that a lot of that doesn't play as well as it should, but the basics are there. I liked the moment where David is put into the impossible position of killing the sister he was trying to save. I wish they had lingerered on that a bit more, and had created actual tension around his choices.

I loved what were, essentially, all the set pieces. These were well executed. The tree rape. The bit in the bathroom. The chick with the nail gun. Cutting off the arm in the kitchen. The finale with the raining blood. All of that was four stars of fucking awesome.

The original switched around horror movie gender roles (women are the aggressors, men are the targets) and this does too, but ... I fucking hate that they threw that out the window in the third act. And for what? So we can watch a character we haven't seem in awhile and don't care about?

Spun called Mia's return a twist, and I guess it was but while watching the film I was confused. Like, wait, the defibrillator didn't work so how is she alive and not only that but COMPLETELY UNHARMED? Is this a fucking videogame? Did she respawn?

Worse than that, "Mia" as a character hasn't been onscreen for 45 minutes to an hour. Why are we supposed to care when the demon-thing chases her around the truck? I mean, c'mon. At that point in the movie, everybody else is dead so you know she isn't going to get killed. Yet the movie insists on dragging out this little moment out for as long as possible.

I hated my own brain. I was really with the movie 100% up until the nail gun scene. Then, it became a conscious choice on my part to repeatedly ignore the voice in my head that said, "Wait, what? How is that guy still alive? Hell, how is he still even conscious?"

The characters here take viscious beatings. They're shot, stabbed, bitten, thrown against walls and fall down stairs. Twice, they cut off their own limbs. And yet ... they can still manage to stand up, walk around and maintain enough coordination to handle tools and weapons. I'm willing to cut any movie a lot of slack in this area for the sake of entertainment, but c'mon. This broke my suspension of disbelief completely and made the movie feel a helluva lot dumber with each passing minute.

But I think my biggest overall disappointment was the gradual shift in tone.

ACT I was so fucking atmospheric and creepy. I jumped at the jump scares. I yelled out a couple of times. I fucking loved ever minute of it. For awhile there I thought "Evil Dead" was gonna turn out to rival "The Devil's Rejects" and "Ringu" for great, atmospheric, fucked up horrors.

ACT II was over the top creeps, action and gore. More intense action, much less atmospheric, fewer jumps. I fucking loved Demon Mia. She really seemed pure "other," alien and evil.

ACT III was a teen slasher film filtered through Raimi's work. I stopped caring and just enjoyed the gore.

Finally: Yeah, the callbacks and the credit cookie made me smile but I agree with Dead & Messed Up. Maybe if you're trying to sell people on the idea that this movie is serious and scary, you shouldn't remind them how much goofy fun Bruce Campbell is.

[Irish]

Two more things while I'm feeling super nitpicky:

[

Show Spoiler

- If a demon every possesses a female relative and I get the upper hand, let me just tell you all right now that I going to risk my life and take, oh, I dunno, an extra half hour to forty five minutes to change her clothes, put a plastic bag on her head, and bury her in the back yard. This is despite the fact I could kill said demon in 5 seconds with a Zippo and a bottle of lighter fluid, but, ya know, why not? All of my friends are dead and I'm bleeding profusely, but fuck it, I got time.

- I'm going to make sure said female relative has a magic dress, one made of such strong, sturdy material it (1) doesn't get dirty when I throw her in an open grave and (2) never, never shows her nipples, even if the fabric becomes completely soaked through. With, say, blood. From the sky.

]

[Rowland]

I liked the reversal at the end, it reveals a nifty thematic throughline that I thought paid off in spades. Consider the film through the prism of a rape-revenge template, in which Mia's addiction is the rapist that inseminates her with the demonic DTs, causing the psychological fallout that results in the emotional and physical traumas of the middle act, before the finale delivers a manifestation of the affliction in the form of her strung-out doppelganger for her to enact her bloody revenge upon and thus conquer. It helps as well that Mia was the most sympathetic character (and Levy the best actor) of the bunch.