Movie Review: Evil Dead
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
I’ve been a fan of the original Evil Dead trilogy for almost twenty years, so when I got word of a remake, I was skeptical about how good it would be. Even the fact that Fede Alvarez’s vision for one of my favorite movies was fully sanctioned and produced by the original writer/director Sam Raimi, Producer Rob Tapert, and star, Ash himself, Bruce Campbell, did little to lessen my apprehension for this release. Couple that with the fact that I usually dislike remakes altogether, and the Evil Dead remake already had two strikes against it.
As I sat down to watch Alvarez’s reimagining of the horror classic, I decided that I needed to be as objective as possible. Bruce Campbell has been making the rounds lately trying to calm the nerves of skeptical Dead fans like myself so I felt I owed it to him to at least come into watching the 2013 rendition with an open mind. What I discovered is that it was much easier said than done. Since it is almost impossible to not compare the original Evil Dead trilogy with this new movie, let me get a couple of things out of the way. First, this Evil Dead film deserves to be viewed and judged on its own merit, and second, there are plenty of little nods to the original series peppered throughout the movie for folks like me.
I’m guessing most viewers of this film are coming to the franchise for the first time. Their only real exposure to Bruce Campbell is probably of him on USA’s Burn Notice. That’s fine, and it’s also one of the challenges Alvarez faced when rebooting the franchise. He has to tow the line to please the legions of fans of the cult movie classic, as well as make it something that a modern horror audience would want to see. Overall, he accomplishes this. While the same basic plot remains – five twenty-somethings spending the night at a cabin in the woods – this Evil Dead does its best to actually give the characters a reason to be there…and a reason to stay when things start to go wrong.
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The five are in the middle of nowhere to help their friend Mia (Suburgatory’s Jane Levy) quit heroin cold turkey. During the night, they discover a door leading to a basement filled with dead cats hanging from the ceiling and a book bound in human flesh. Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) inadvertently awakens an evil spirit that begins feasting on the souls of the folks in the cabin. From there, the plot goes out the window and we just get to see the living cabin dwellers struggle against their deadite counterparts. There’s a lot of gore, and plenty of cringe-inducing scenes, but nothing that really amounts to being scary. In fact, take away all the fun nods to Raimi’s films and you’ve got a pretty by-the-numbers modern horror film.
Ultimately, I think it was a good decision not to do a straight remake of Evil Dead. Making someone reprise Ash for instance, a character that has become synonymous with actor Bruce Campbell, would just be setting the new actor up for failure…especially who they cast in the “Ash-like” role of David (Shiloh Fernandez). He doesn’t have the charisma or attitude for Ash. He can take a good fall though, just like Bruce.
Jane Levy in “Evil Dead.” © 2012 – TriStar Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved.
There is one thing this rendition of Evil Dead does better than the original – its portrayal of the female cast members. In the 1981 classic, they’re nothing more than props used to attack Ash and Scotty, but in the new film, with the exception of Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), the female characters are independent and strong, which makes for a more enjoyable viewing experience. You become more invested in hoping for their survival, even when things start to look bleak.
When it’s all said and done, I’m glad I saw Evil Dead in a packed theatre. The energy in the audience was contagious and helped me release the “how dare they remake Evil Dead thoughts” from my head. With that being said though, there’s a certain sinister playfulness from the original trilogy that is completely missing from this movie. It has plenty of sinister and not enough fun. Because of that, it almost becomes a chore to watch the movie. While I didn’t necessarily hate the 2013 rendition of the film, if given the choice, I’d rather watch the original Evil Dead.
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