REVIEW: Skip ‘Evil Dead’ and stick with the original
Warning: This review may contain mild spoilers, but seeing as it’s basically a torture-porn flick, you probably know what is going to happen anyway.
Many of you probably know just how much I disdain remakes. They sometimes resemble the film they are based on in name only and generally sidestep the elements that made the original film good in favor of CGI and gimmicky plot elements. Sadly, this trend has accelerated in the last fifteen years and there is no sign of it slowing down.
Regardless, I had somewhat high hopes for the “Evil Dead” remake. The original film’s director and star, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell respectively, had a strong hand in this project. With the creative consultation and budget this film had in its favor, I even started to loosen up and have a bit of fun when the film began in earnest. For a moment, I thought it could actually be a legitimately interesting homage to the original trilogy.
Needless to say, my hopes were dashed pretty fast – maybe that’s my own fault. Instead of an entertaining horror romp, what I got was an overly cliched and mostly tired effort with only a handful of highlights. Unlike Raimi’s original films, there is little charm in “Evil Dead,” and it’s often strikingly unpleasant as well.
Mia (Jane Levy), a recovering drug addict, heads up to her family’s rural cabin for detoxification. Her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and their friends brace themselves for a potentially long and stressful weekend in which all of them will stand by to help her break the bad habit. They know nothing of the events that previously happened inside of the cabin, but soon they detect an overpowering smell.
Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) discovers the Book of the Dead in the cellar, wrapped tightly in barbed wire and a black trash bag. Rather than leave it alone, he opens the book and begins to read certain passages that awaken a dark presence in the woods. Mia soon grows incredibly restless and unpredictable. She then ventures out, desperately trying to leave the now suffocating atmosphere of the cabin.
After a mysterious and mortifying episode in the woods, Mia becomes possessed by an evil spirit and starts abusing herself and the group, to the point where they must lock her in the cellar. Afraid and confused, everybody begins to realize the book from earlier has sparked the unspeakable horrors among them. They must survive until dawn and thwart the spirits awakened by the book or face a hellish fate.
Aside from Bruce Campbell, groovy acting isn’t what the “Evil Dead” films are known for. Nonetheless, some of the performances in this remake truly stink. Only Shiloh Fernandez manages to evoke a degree of concern and plausibility as the hapless and deeply concerned David. He sells the role just well enough that I didn’t laugh at any of his dialogue or his plight later on. Sadly, the rest of the cast either falls totally flat or much worse.
Jane Levy’s portrayal of Mia typically comes off as limited to poor. I’ll concede she runs into a lot more trouble than most of the other characters, but her presence is underwhelming and she only does something truly awesome near the end of the film. She just isn’t developed enough to deliver many memorable bits.
The rest of the characters turn out to be either unbearably stupid or an excuse to set up a gross special effect later on. David is dating Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), but this is completely glossed over for most of the runtime. When she inevitably succumbs to the evil presence in the cabin, it’s next to impossible to feel sorry for her or anybody else she harms seeing as we don’t know much about her. Almost everybody retains a cardboard cutout feel to their respective characters, and that’s a bloody shame.
As for the blood and gore effects, I’ll admit even I was a bit shocked by the sheer volume of carnage on display. And it certainly wouldn’t be much of a stretch to call this remake the bloodiest movie ever made. Gross out gags come one after another at a rapid clip, and some of them are surprisingly neat. A “deadite” licks a knife in one part and… well, you get the idea. Disgusting as this may sound, the bloody bits are the closest this film comes to resembling any form of art.
Try as it may to be relevant and scary, “Evil Dead” pales in comparison to its source material. The higher production values unnecessarily become a liability rather than a strength – where’s the charm and creativity? – and the film comes off as a derivative horror yarn. There is nary a legitimate scare to be found, and when it starts to get good, it’s simply a matter of too little, too late.
– Sam McConkie is a senior in the technical and professional writing program at USU. He is a keen writer and has been a dedicated gamer for years. Sam can be reached at sambonemcconkie@gmail.com