Evil Dead (2013) review

Over the past few years, we have seen countless remakes of some of the most beloved horror films of all time, including Friday the 13^th, Halloween, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Not only are most of these remakes clearly inferior to their predecessors, but a lot of them aren’t even necessary (but then again, pretty much every remake is unnecessary despite the few that are actually as good as the original). However, as sacrilegious as it may sound, there are some films that are worth remaking, like ‘The Evil Dead’, the 1981 horror classic which marked the debut of director Sam Raimi. This is mainly due to the fact that the original film is basically a low-budget B-movie and could benefit from a new reimagining. This new film, directed by Uruguayan film director Fede Alvarez, also has the distinction of being produced by not only Raimi, but also the original film’s star Bruce Campbell and series producer Robert Tapert. With that in mind, this new remake is one of the better horror remakes in recent memory. However, there are certain aspects of it that don’t really hold up when compared to the original.

Five friends; Mia (Jane Levy), her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), Olivia (Jessica Lucas), and David’s girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) head to a remote cabin in the woods in order to help Mia deal with a severe drug addiction. While there, they come across an old cellar, where they find a mysterious book titled ‘Naturom Demonto’. When Eric reads aloud a passage from the book, a demon is summoned and it immediately possesses Mia. When the group becomes stranded at the cabin because of a flood, the demon begins to possess each of them and they must now try to survive this demon as they are killed off one by one, until only one is left to defeat this menace.

The tagline for the poster referred to this movie as ‘the most terrifying movie you’ll ever experience’. That may seem like a little pompous, but believe it or not, the original ‘Evil Dead’ did the same thing too. This film does deliver on something else however; being a very bloody film. Like the original (which was actually rated NC-17), this film certainly does push the R rating. Also, in an age where a lot of horror films use CGI, this film mainly consists of practical effects, which is obviously much more effective than CG jump scares. The remake also does manage to distinguish itself from the original in terms of tone but that’s also its biggest flaw. The first ‘Evil Dead’, while still being a horror film, had an underlying comedic tone to it because of its ‘B-movie’ nature. This film is much more brutal but because of that, it falls victim to the problem that most horror films now have in that the filmmakers are trying to push the envelope in terms of violence and gore.

Aside from that, the characters aren’t really that interesting. There are some good ideas implemented into this movie, like the relationship between Mia and David and the whole scenario with Mia being a former drug addict (giving the characters a good reason for actually going to an old cabin in the woods instead of just going there to party), but like a lot of horror films, the characters do a lot of stupid things, and the character of Natalie is quite pointless (I’m guessing this is supposed to resemble the original film because Ash had a girlfriend, but it’s not the same here). Even Eric, who is probably the only one of the five to notice when things start to go wrong, is responsible for the whole mess happening in the first place. But while the characters are a little flat, the acting is solid all-around, especially from Jane Levy (who, SPOILERS, is pretty much the ‘Ash’ of the film) and Lou Taylor Pucci.

In the end, this new ‘Evil Dead’ is a bit of a mixed bag because there are both good and bad things in this movie. The acting is solid, the film succeeds at producing scares with the use of practical effects, and it manages to distinguish itself from ‘The Evil Dead’. However, it lacks the underlying humor of the original film and while there are some good ideas in regard to character development, some of the characters in this film aren’t that interesting. It ends up falling victim to one of the problems plaguing a lot of horror films today by trying to outdo its competition in terms of violence. To its credit, it’s one of the better horror remakes in recent memory because of its positives, but the negatives keep it from being as good as the original. But, to be fair, I would be interested in seeing how this ‘remake’ series will continue, seeing how it’s actually supposed to be set in the same universe as the original films and Alvarez and Raimi are planning sequels to their most recent entries in the series. Just make sure that you guys do something better than the crappy post-credits scene in this movie, where Bruce Campbell (as Ash, of course) appears, says ‘groovy’, and turns to the camera. That's it.

 

Rating: 3.5/5