Evil Dead: A title every self-respecting horror fan cherishes and holds deeply to their heart. Remake: A word every self-respecting horror fan dreads hearing and with good reason, given the onslaught of atrocious ones that have sprung up in the past 10 years.
When news broke that one of the most beloved cult horror classics was getting a fresh start, some cheered, most cried — I myself did both.
Directed by newcomer Fede Alvarez, Evil Dead treads the same familiar ground as the original film. You know the plot: five friends head to a remote cabin in the woods, they uncover the book of the dead, passages are spoken, things go from bad to worse to blood-soakingly wrong. Add in more background about the trip to the cabin — which revolves around Mia (Jane Levi), her brother, his girlfriend, and two friends helping Mia recover from a serious drug addiction — and you have the new Evil Dead in a nutshell.
After a lacklustre introduction, the film soon picks up. The carnage never stops once the infamous words are spoken from the book.
The main problem with Evil Dead is that it’s never quite sure of the direction it wants to take. Things happen so quickly and frequently, you are never given the chance to absorb the atmosphere surrounding the woods and interior cabin, which the original had in spades, thanks to Sam Raimi’s inventive camera work.
It mixes qualities from both ED1 and ED2, which to some might sound great, but the execution is poorly delivered. Nice homages spurt here and there, tied in with fine prosthetic FX work and gore. But, the sketchy dialogue and the fast pacing never truly gives the cabin time to breathe. Too bad, since the cabin should have been a character of its own. Here, it is nothing more than a playground for spilling blood.
Should this remake have remained buried in the fruit cellar? Probably. But gore hounds and newcomers to the Evil Dead will love it on its own merits as it’s a fun splatter film worth at least one theatre viewing.
From a die-hard Evil Dead fan’s perspective, however, it is ultimately a tough soul to swallow.
By Mike Nosanchuk
