Evil Dead
Starring Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore
Directed by Fede Alvarez
Friends David (Shiloh Fernandez), Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), Mia (Jane Levy), Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) travel to siblings David and Mia's old family cabin to help Mia overcome a drug addiction. While at the cabin they uncover something incredibly evil in the basement - a book whose cover is human skin. Eric opens the book and unknowingly unleashes a demon that inhabits humans, and latches itself onto Mia.
At first the friends think it's withdrawal symptoms, but not long after the demon unleashes its fury on the group, and they discover that it needs five human sacrifices to bring to life the ultimate demon. As they succumb to the demon's power one-by-one (in extremely gruesome and terrifyingly unpleasant ways), it's up to David to find a way to put the demon down while saving his sister's life.
In the early 1980s, a relatively unknown director named Sam Raimi made a low-budget horror film with his friend Bruce Campbell and some others. It didn't make much money in the box office and for all purposes was considered a bomb. But when it was released on VHS (and eventually DVD and Blu-Ray), it found a whole new life as one of the greatest cult classics of the 80s, spawning two other insanely intense sequels, all of which had a twinge of the comedic as well as the horrific, and gave one of horror movie's biggest iconic heroes - Ash.
In 2013, director Fede Alvarez (with producers Raimi and Campbell), decided to re-invent the "Evil Dead" franchise, bringing in a relatively unknown cast that give amazing performances. This film is by far nowhere near a direct remake of the original, but rather a whole new story (much like Rob Zombie's take on the "Halloween" series, instead of the Zack Snyder nearly identical "Dawn of the Dead" remake), focusing on different characters, but having some of the same occurrences happen (especially the "tree scene," if you've seen the original you know what I'm talking about). I much prefer a re-imanging of a classic instead of a shot-for-shot remake, because it left me on my toes wondering what was going to happen.
Gone was the comedic aspects of the original, and instead Alvarez went for the sheer terror and gore, not leaving a lot of light moments in the film from beginning to end. The characters' deaths are extremely gory and over-the-top, and delightfully evil. From hacked body parts, vomiting gallons (it seemed) of blood, different uses of a nail gun, and of course the classic chainsaw used in the most gleefully disgusting way, it was a torturous thrill ride from beginning to end. Any true horror fan will appreciate and value what they just saw, and others will more than likely be highly nauseous from what they just witnessed. In either event, it is a great time at the movies with friends for sure.
Rating: A
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