3/5 Pitchforks
Rated: R
Released: April 5, 2013
Sam Raimi’s original “The Evil Dead” (1981) and its sequels stand as cult-classics in the 21st century.
Lauded for tongue and cheek humor and low-budget special effects, the Evil Dead films have remained in a positive light in the minds of fans and critics who reminisce about the days of Hollywood’s yesteryear.
With Raimi and Bruce Campbell signed on as producers and a relatively unknown director at the helm, does “Evil Dead” (2013) break the mold of lackluster horror remakes?
“Evil Dead” begins with a group of friends, including a brother and sister, going up to a cabin to help the sister kick a drug habit.
The friends have earnestly tried to beat off that monkey on her back, but she keeps falling back on old routines. The brother comes to help his sister and possibly build back his own relationship with her. The two other friends stand as obstacles, as they want to keep the sister at the cabin until the drug habit is gone.
This makes for a very strong first act, because the brother has to make a decision to align with his drugged up sister or the friends that want to help. These kinds of plot improvements do wonders for the remake and create an interesting character dynamic that was reserved for Bruce Campbell and no one else in the original film.
But where the film falters is the more in-depth character development that gets dropped immediately after the monsters rear their ugly heads.
The director stressed the importance of practical effects for the remake, and it shows. All of the gore effects are beautifully envisioned with scares that could keep even the actors awake at night. This film takes the audience to a gore-infested and cringe-worthy place. For the squeamish: You may not want to go based off the audio at certain parts, including a bathroom sequence that was akin to adrenaline-pumping scenes from “Alien” (1979) or “Them” (2006).
The fast-moving camera from the original hasn’t been changed, but the effect of it has. Rather than having the actors react to the camera and never showing what was chasing them (similar to the film “Jaws” albeit a little slower), the remake shows exactly what the antagonist is, leaving little to the audience’s imagination.
Toward the middle of the film, the girlfriend of the brother takes center stage when she corrodes mentally, emotionally and physically. This was a mistake. She is that typical blond bimbo in horror films that is as interesting as a scuffed-up piece of tile. When gruesome things start happening to her, the audience is fairly nonchalant about the whole affair.
The brother also gets special mention since he is one of the most flip-floppy characters ever to appear in a motion picture. He has such weak convictions that when a character calls him a coward, and he takes courageous action, he’ll go ahead and undo it, leaving the audience with their hands firmly grasping their faces.
“Evil Dead” (2013) is aloof with references and nods to the original films including a post-credit scene that will have the fans jeering in their seats. Depending on the viewer, these can be very distracting, especially toward the end of the film where there is a reference to Raimi’s films every seven or eight minutes. There’s fan service and then there’s fan pandering, and “Evil Dead” (2013) snowballs into the latter category.
“Evil Dead” is on the higher echelon of horror remakes but still manages to fall into the same pitfalls of lackadaisical storytelling in favor of the gore and characters with whom the audience has no real connection. As a jumping off point for the “Evil Dead’s” rebirth, the remake performs adequately; but those looking for something a bit more long lasting, “Evil Dead” (2013) doesn’t deliver the goods.
Reach the reporter at shfawcet@asu.edu or on Twitter @MaroonandGamer
