Evil Dead

John Chard 5/16/2024 3:22:10PM 8.4

Dead Evil! In truth this was always going to struggle to appease many of the horror hordes, Sam Raimi's original film held up as some sort of religious artifact that should never be tempered with - this even though it was considerably trumped by the sequel (erm: remake). Is it fair to say that even before it was released there were those hating it? It certainly seemed that way. Can you judge this piece of horror film making on its own terms? Are there a new breed of horror film fans out there whom haven't seen Raimi's trilogy and therefore can go into it and get the tar shocked out of them? I hope so because this is a rip-snorter of a remake. Full of jumps, guts, gore, and genuine moments of terror, with Fede Alvarez and his team adding some fresh touches to Raimi's original nightmare. It is what it is, a horror remake of an old favourite that ramps up the horror and uses the tools available to splinter the ears - turn the stomach - and fray the nerves. It's illogical, daft even at times, but this is one of the better horror remakes of recent times, a real pant soiler. Bravo you undead muthas. 8/10

Kamurai 6/23/2021 3:58:42PM 8.4

Really good watch, would watch again, and can recommend. Look, I'd watch pretty much anything with Jane Levy, and she's awesome in this, far better than any two other actors in the movie. It feels like someone with some sense look at the original movie and identified some much needed upgrades. Just having a dramatic reason for these characters to gather at this cabin immediately makes the story a bit more palatable than the original. There are also several sequences towards the end of the movie that diverge from the original that makes this version vastly superior. The other big difference is that the special effects has come a long way in the 30 years between the two movies. The do an excellent job of keeping the pacing of the first movie and matching the effects to the original, but just better. Similar to the original, the majority of this movie is gore effects, but they add just enough explanation and narrative to keep decent motivation in place. This is a rare example of how to "upgrade" a movie, changing it, but keeping the spirit of the movie.

Nathan 5/16/2023 3:54:24PM 8.4

Evil Dead is one of the most brutal and disgusting films I have ever seen. I applaud the unique direction to take the franchise, which has previously embraced camp, into a super realistic and vicious horror film. The effects and gore are the best of the franchise, having a nearly 20-year gap between the previous entry. Some of the scenes go down as all-time greats in horror that have been cemented in my mind ever since. The bread cutter scene is just disgusting and done so well, I absolutely loved all of the blood that was used in these scenes. The story is not as fleshed out as the first or second film, but it does take unique directions that I can appreciate it. The use of a recovering drug addict was done really well and was an interesting motive to keep the cast at the cabin. The weakened state she was in made her the perfect victim to be the first possessed, which worked really well. The dialogue and acting were quite atrocious. Other than Jane Levy, everyone else was quite bad. The lines were corny and delivered in a somewhat awkward fashion. This made the twenty-minute rising action of the film to be quite lackluster, but luckily once the action gets going, there is plenty of things to distract you from it. Overall, this movie's visuals and horror carry the film to its rating. It unfortunately does not live up to the hype I once had for it as a 15-year-old boy, but it is still one of the better remakes in cinema history. Score: 73% 👍 Verdict: Good