John's Take: 'Evil Dead'

I know the moral is supposed to come at the end of the story, but let’s start with it this time. If you come across a book, no matter how interesting, that someone has taken care to make sure you don’t read, DON’T READ IT.  The Evil Dead IS cult horror. It launched the careers of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, perfected the injection of comedy into horror, and created the horror hero by giving us one of the most memorable characters known to the horror genre in Ash Williams. Sure, there were characters that defeated the bad guy before The Evil Dead, but they can hardly be described as heroes/heroines….survivors would be a more apt description. I’m telling you this for the simple reason to introduce the movie we’re here to review, a remake was inevitable. The general rule in this type of situation is as follows: The better the original, the worse the remake. I’ll hit you with a spoiler from the start and say this is NOT the case this time around. Fede Alvarez, the writer and director, did something almost unheard of in the remake world. He changed what should be changed, kept what should be kept, and added things of his own creation…here’s the surprise, he did so successfully. Enough with the precursor, here’s what’s going on in Evil Dead.

Five friends, David, Mia, Olivia, Eric, and Natalie head to a cabin in the woods owned by David and Mia’s family (they’re siblings). Mia has a heroin habit; the kicking of which is the reason for the jaunt to a rundown cabin in the woods. Though it’s never fully explained the dynamic is that David left Mia, Eric and Olivia, when his mother got sick for greener pastures and met Natalie his current girlfriend. The group are there for one solitary reason, to get Mia off drugs before she kills herself by way of another OD. Almost immediately Mia begins to complain of a smell, the group dismisses this as withdrawal symptoms until a trap door is found. This particular trap door leads to a disturbing amount of dead cats hung by their necks from the roof….and a book. A book wrapped in plastic and secured with barbed wire, this leads to one of my few problems with the film…but more on that later. More importantly it leads to a whole mess of problems for all involved when one of the group decides to read from the book, a book which we know as Necronomicon Ex Mortis….book of the dead. An evil is unleashed and fun times follow for all.

What It Got Right

The trailers had me prepared to love this film, they were scary...not run of the mill creepy, I mean don't watch by yourself scary. The movie delivered on the promise of its trailers in almost every way. To start with the practical this film gives us a plausible reason for a group of responsible individuals to spend a weekend in an extremely remote dilapidated cabin in the woods. Drug addiction. It’s a simple thing, but it makes a world of difference…if you have a loved one that you want to help kick the junk you are going to get them as far from civilization as possible, not to mention it helps to explain the inaction of the group when the affected begins to complain of supernatural occurrences. This film is pure horror; I want to be clear on that. To explain, none of what we expect from a horror movie, save for the terror itself, is present. There is no sex, no humor, just horror…it’s purity in this sense is surprisingly refreshing. The mythology of the franchise is left intact, tree rape and all, but somehow Alvarez hits the notes in a way that keeps them whole but fresh and new at the same time. There are so many throwbacks to the original series, right down to the male leads outfit, but somehow not a single thing seems forced….no in your face “Hey remember the original!” moments to be found, it’s all organic. The series fan will notice but the first time viewer won’t feel like they missed something. I don’t want to just focus on its comparison to Evil Dead’s past; this flick stands alone and stands strong. Unflinching gore, suspense, twists, it’s all there. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, but it definitely sets a bar for modern horror which future movies of the genre will need to reach.

Bonus points for finding an obscure way to feature Raimi’s signature Delta 88

What It Got Wrong

Oprah's Book Club Pick of the Month

There is one glaring problem with this flick…a problem which is no stranger to the genre but is taken to another level here. There’s always one guy, usually a grad student or teacher, who can’t help but to do the one thing that all of us in the audience know he/she shouldn't  Evil Dead exaggerates this, is it on purpose? I don’t know but it sure as hell bothered me. The fact that this is a remake has no bearing on our knowledge of the evil in the object this guy chooses to unleash; it’s wrapped in freakin’ barbed wire and covered in plastic that should say enough. Now, I’m aware there are certain concessions made with horror films but when you go to the lengths to make the destination understandable (see: What it Got Right) you’d think the same care would be paid to everything else. Nope, this fella’ who’s portrayed as the brain of the group cuts through barbed wire, rips through plastic, pays no attention to the human flesh it’s bound in, and disregards the warnings written in blood to read from the book. As a side note, I don’t know anyone who reads out loud when by themselves, be it the Necronomicon or Chicken Soup for the Soul. Past this slight annoyance (despite the paragraph devoted, it is only a slight annoyance), the characters are mostly forgettable, save for Mia, and had it not been for the series history I would see little to no future for the franchise.

The Final Word

This is a TRUE horror movie. Something to watch on a Friday night for a shot of adrenaline and an excuse to get close to your date. If you’re a gore hound, there’s plenty there for you as well. I am a horror aficionado, a veteran of all things macabre, I am not lying when I say my eyes were averted for at least 2 minutes of this movie….if you've seen 127 Hours imagine a horror version of that flicks infamous scene.

P.S. Stay after the credits for a retro treat!

4 Out of 5 Guttenbergs