Evil Dead

This film kept me bouncing back and forth: watch it, or pass?  I'm sure you can assume based on the fact you are reading this right now (good reader, keep it up) I decided, rather last minute (20 minutes before the start of the picture), that I owe it to you, and the Evil Dead legend, to watch and ultimately review 2013's remake of Evil Dead.  Here I go: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  Yes, just as the entire ad campaign for this film states, this is quite the terrifying endeavor.  Now, is this the scariest movie you will ever see?  I highly doubt that.  I mean some of us have seen Ghost Rider starring Nicholas Cage.  The difference, Evil Dead is supposed to be scary and Ghost Rider is only scary bad.

I feel as though I need to start by saying one thing in particular, I LOVE the original Evil Dead series.  Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and who doesn't love Army of Darkness?  Okay, back to the 2013 remake.  This version was directed by Fede Alvarez, who prior to this film directed...um....well...not really anything, 4..... 4 short films.  For those of you counting, this means that Fede Alvarez has 1 feature length film under his belt, Evil Dead.  Why did Sam Raimi (Director/Writer/Producer of the Original Evil Deads, and Director of the first 3 Spider-Man films, Director of Oz: the great and powerful) decide that Alvarez would be a good fit for remaking his breakthrough film?  The answer to this is rather unexpected.

Originally, Sam Raimi approached Fede Alvarez because Alvarez had made a short in which a robot terrorizes a city, called Panic Attack.  Raimi liked this short so much that he contacted Alvarez to make his short into a full length feature.  As it goes so often in Hollywood, that idea was squashed long before it had the chance to take hold. It turned out Alvarez had another idea up his sleeve.  Apparently he was a huge fan of the original Evil Dead films, and told Raimi that he would like to remake/update Evil Dead.  And that ladies and gentleman is how we got to this place.

As with many remakes, this Evil Dead did not follow Raimi's to the letter.  Instead, Alvarez had his own original characters, back-stories, and happenings allowing this Evil Dead to be more of an homage to Raimi's rather than a remake.  I'll put it this way.  Alvarez's Evil Dead is to Sam Raimi as J.J. Abrams' Super 8 is to Steven Spielberg.  The two films side by side have similarities, and a general over-all theme, but the way it plays out and who it plays with is not the same.  This was both a gift and a curse.

The gift was that it seemed more original.  It allowed the story to have twists which us "Deadites" would be unfamiliar, however, the curse was that the story in certain instances seemed extra unbelievable.  I would love to get into details, but I feel that to spoil anything in this film beyond the necessary for this review, would not allow other fans, new and old, to see this film in their own eyes.  I know it seems contradictory for me to write a review then say, "go make your own opinion" but I have said this before and will keep saying this, 

"I am one man!

I am one opinion!

I insist, for the most part, 

that you all go see a film,
 regardless of my rants."

I am by no means saying that this film is not worth seeing, especially if you enjoy the originals, or just simply enjoy scary films.  However, I do have some warnings; do not see Evil Dead:

1. If you don't like scary movies.
2. If the sight of extreme, and I mean extreme, gore disgusts you.
3. If you are under the age of 17 (sorry young readers, this film is rated "R" for a good reason)
4. If you hated the original Evil Dead (let's be honest, who hated those MASTERPIECES, am I right?)
5. If you have heart conditions.
6. If you enjoy secluded cabins.
7. If you get squeamish.
8. If you are prone to gagging.
9. If the scariest movie you have seen is Harry Potter.
10. If you are running low on underpants.

I feel that this list should be a requirement for a film of this magnitude.

For those of us who dislike the CGI, and who enjoy throwing out otherwise perfectly good underwear once the credits roll, then you will love this film.  Fede Alvarez and his Producers, Sam Raimi and Mr. Bruce Campbell (the best mother f***ing actor on this planet-HIRE HIM FOR EVERY ROLE! and the star of the Original films)

(See I told you so)

decided that it would be best to do this the "good ole fashioned way", meaning no CGI gore.  All the blood, and nastiness was "real".  The blood was movie blood of course, and any and all limb cutting was done with prosthetic pieces.  What I am getting at is that instead of taking the easy road which looks lame and too fake, they took the road less popularly traveled these days in order to give this film a more realistic look to all its horror, a real throw-back gift to the original and its fans.  They deserve all the credit in the world for putting the "ory" in "gory" and saying "kiss my bunz" to the computer graphics.

One of the coolest things this film offered, besides the special effects, was something most people would never notice: its sound.  I was told by a (in)credible source, that the sound of this film was layered with the sound from the original film.  How did they do that? is what I'm sure most of you are thinking.  The answer-digitize.  What these film minds did was take the original 1/4 inch sound recordings from the original film, ran it through a reader which turns the physical sound into a computer file.  This then allows them to alter the sounds, whether they slow it down, speed it up, or in the case of this film, layer it beneath the sound captured and recorded specifically for this version.  What this does to the film is gives it a much deeper audio perspective allowing for the sound effects to register on multiple levels; if you love the original film then the sound will trigger your memory of it.  The other thing it adds to the film is a certain "bad-ass" appeal.  Just another unique feature to go along with the special effects.

I'm sure at this point I have you all curious as to who this mystery person feeding me information is, well I suppose it won't hurt to fill you in.  My inside guy is none other than Bruce Campbell himself.  Don't believe me?  Observe. 

(Here I am meeting the Almighty Bruce Campbell one week ago, and might I add that he is one stand-up Groovy guy!)

                        
Now do you believe me?  

So all in all this film was pretty cool.  It looked cool, sounded cool, and the story was cool (although not as cool since it didn't have Ashley "Ash" J. Williams).  Yes, this film is over-the-top gory and creepy, but what would you expect from a film called Evil Dead?... Bunnies?



Final Words: Large Popcorn.
For its genre this movie deserves a large popcorn.  I know I had a lot to say about this film, some bad but most of it was good.  Believe me this was not a hard score to give.  Please see this film if you enjoy a good fright, parents do yourselves a favor and don't let the kiddies see this one.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
                           When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping