If you know me well,
you are probably incredibly aware of my absolute love for all things Evil
Dead. As if the original wasn’t awesome
enough, they had to go and make ‘Evil Dead 2’ (amazing in every way possible)
and then go medieval on everyone’s asses in ‘Army of Darkness’. And although some of you may contest this, I
strongly believe Bruce Campbell was so deserving of Oscars for his portrayal of
Ash in all three movies.
But, true to my
nature, I am getting off track. Just a
wee bit.
So as we all know,
there was a lot of controversy surrounding the remake of ‘The Evil Dead’, which
came out earlier this year. Most of this
controversy was created by my fellow Evil Deadites (see what I did there?) from
around the world. I will admit it, I was
absolutely appalled when I heard they were remaking it; to me, it is cinema
gold. It would be like remaking ‘The
Terminator’. Or ‘Batman’. Oh wait… But as trailers, screen shots and
behind the scenes notes came pouring in, along with rave reviews from my
trusted Bloody Disgusting, I began to get on the ‘Evil Dead 2013’ band
wagon. I found myself following it all
over the internet until its release. And,
naturally, I was horrified that Australian cinemas pulled its’ national
release. Luckily for my trusty Cinema
Nova, I was able to see it on the big screen.
Now, I know there are
still haters out there – I can practically smell you! However, here’s my advice: Don’t think of it
as a remake. Think of it as an original
movie. If you can do that, you’ll share
the love that I have for the film.
‘Evil Dead’ (2013)
follows Mia (Jane Levy), a junkie who is determined to make one last ditch
attempt at getting clean. Her friends,
along with her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) drag her along to the old
family cabin, which has become eerily decrepit over the years. Little do they know, there were some
interesting shenanigans going on in the basement not too long ago…
Upon arrival at the cabin, the group begins to get the cabin back
into some sort of working order. A nasty
smell plagues the air; we soon follow the gang into the basement where, along
with dead cats causing the disgusting odour, they find an old book bound in
human flesh, wrapped in garbage bags and barbed wire. Yes, my friends, it is the beloved
Necronomicon. Of course, one curious
little critter that goes by the name of Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) cannot resist
taking a peek at this monstrous piece of occult literature. And, naturally, when red writing throughout
the book (blood?) warns him not to read from it, he does! I mean, why wouldn’t you? Cue the crazy soaring camera through the
woods, eventually crashing into Mia and causing her to vomit. Uh oh…
As Mia goes cold turkey from the drugs, she begins to also show some
strange signs that her friends think are just signs of withdrawal; little do
they know, this is Mia becoming demonically possessed. She bites people, curses at them and vomits
black liquid before being chained in the basement. That’s the end of their problems, right?
Wrong. So unbelievably wrong. The gang soon become vulnerable to Mia’s
possession and any form of contact with her soon ensures their own
possession. I’m not going to give anything
away, but there are some incredibly awesome moments here. However, it isn’t anything that duct tape
cannot fix! The remainder of the film
follows the group’s battle with the demonic forces enslaving them, eventually
leading to the ultimate showdown between good and evil. And, of course, the bloodiest finale of a
film I have ever seen.
The film, when regarded on its’ own, is one of horror cinema’s
finest moments over the past ten years.
I loved the way that Mia’s withdrawal symptoms are misinterpreted and
for once I didn’t hate the main characters.
I strongly recommend seeing the original first though; without this
viewing, many of the amazing references to the original will go straight over
your head.
Would I recommend this film? Absolutely.
If you consider yourself any kind of horror fantatic, you must watch
this film. It is such a pleasing,
welcome contribution to any horror buff’s collection and I will fight you to
the death if you completely disagree with me.
Enjoy!
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