It is a tough task on taking a cult favourite series and basically updating it to a modern setting. Though that usually causes scepticism from fans, saying they have missed the point on what made the original films good in the first place or they just completely fail as a whole. Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes have come under criticism, as their remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street are really beat-to-beat remakes of the original movies (which makes us ask the question; why bother remaking it if it is going to be exactly the same as the original?). So it was inevitable that the news of an Evil Dead remake would make the fans cry “BETRAYAL!!!”. How could anyone think of trying to top Sam Raimi’s (director ‘The Evil Dead’ Trilogy and ‘Spider-Man’ Trilogy) cult independent horror classic which starred Bruce Campbell as one of horror’s most beloved icons? Especially the teaser poster has the guts (pun non-intended) to have giant words reading “THE MOST TERRIFYING FILM YOU WILL EVER EXPERIENCE”. Well I am actually happy to report that it is pretty good (undeniably flawed but pretty good considering it is a remake).
The movie is set (where else?) at a cabin in the woods, where David (Shiloh Fernandez) and his friends are helping his sister Mia’s (Jane Levy) drug addiction. Because they have previously attempted to help detox Mia and failed, they decide to keep her in the cabin until she really has been cured of her addiction. Meanwhile, they find a secret cellar in the cabin and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) finds a book (the Necronomicon). Despite repeated warnings written within its pages, he recites the words and thus releases evil spirits. If you have seen either any of the previous movies, you know where this leads to. As Evil Dead fashion, everything starts to go downhill. Demons start possessing our heroes and one-by-one are dispatched in the most gruesome way possible!
Rather than being a straight remake of The Evil Dead, it is both a reboot and a loose continuation of the series (as fans may notice ‘The Classic’, Sam Raimi’s trademark car). This is mainly to appeal new fans of the series but also bring back fans of the original films. This is an extremely difficult task to succeed, as you have the risk on alienating your new fans but also fail to deliver with the fans. Director Fede Alvarez (this being his feature debut) understood what made the original movie great but decided to bring something different so there wasn’t a case of deja-vu. The film genuinely felt the filmmakers were achieving on bringing something fresh but also delivering what we love about the series. Though the film plays it straight and thus some may find it not as enjoyable to watch such as Evil Dead II (which me and many others consider it to be the best of the series). The film’s tag-line may bring too much hype and can be misleading. The film is really more to shock than to scare and does feature a few jump scares that is often common for filmmakers to think it’ll scare audiences when it is lazy horror filmmaking.
The characters in this film are from decent to being completely unmemorable. Though it is a bit of a sigh of relief that they didn’t rely on having stock characters that horror films nowadays seem to feel obligated to include into the movie (i.e. the slut, the jock, the nerd etc.) Jane Levy as Mia really handles herself well, being able to deliver a sense of dread and fear as to what is about to come (especially what she is going through). Shiloh as David is decent but feels pretty bland as a protagonist and slowly becomes less interesting as the movie progresses. The rest of the cast are just characters waiting to be possessed and then get cut up into the meat grinder (they honestly don’t make much of an impact to the story). Though the series was never known to have such developed characters or having an in-depth story.
The film, however, will get much attention from the use of practical blood and gore effects and it really is a HUGE relief as horror films tend to rely too much on CGI. This movie spills blood by the gallons, limbs are cut off as if it would be preparing a cannibalistic feast! The camera does not shy away from the details, as you really feel the pain that is inflicted upon each character and will use anything they can use such as shards of glass, a box cutter, electric knife and of course, the movie’s trademark, a chainsaw. Though one particular infamous scene from The Evil Dead makes its appearance in the film, but it isn’t prolonged as it was in the original (a scene where Sam Raimi has said that he went a bit too far). This movie is really not for the squeamish or faint of heart, it is primarily for fans of the series and to gore hounds alike. I won’t argue that audiences may find this film too grotesque and can be viewed as being part of the torture porn that movies like Saw and Hostel made such a huge trend.
Overall: This is a worthy addition to a much beloved cult classic series, which is saying something as most horror films and horror remakes fail to deliver its promises. Some may have to be warned of the movie’s graphic violence, and deciding to have the movie playing it serious rather than having a sense of fun may be its downside. It is definitely not up there with The Evil Dead or Evil Dead II but it really does hold on its own and that is something worth giving praise to.
3 out of 5