I was always a big fan of the original EVIL DEAD. It was one
of those movies that most people hadn't heard of but that word got around
about. When you saw it you had no idea what to expect. This small group of film
makers had pieced together a classic horror film putting a new twist on the old
dark house by moving it into the woods and creating a whole new sub-genre. It
was only a matter of time before the folks in Hollywood decided it was time to
remake the film.
The story is a bit changed this time around. The make up of
5 characters tossed into an inescapable situation remains but their make up is
altered as well as their motivation for being at the cabin. Jane Levy stars as
Mia, a drug addict who has tried cold turkey before but is willing to give it
one more shot. Her friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas), a nurse, and Eric (Lou David
Pucci) have driven her to her old family cabin in the woods. They are met there
by her normally absent brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and his girlfriend
Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore).
Mia swears off the drugs and dumps the last that she has. As
the day progresses she begins to show signs of trouble and it's during that
time that Olivia tells David that she O.D.ed once already and won't survive if
they don't force her to stay. At the same time Mia continues to complain about
a smell and the group discovers a cellar to the old place. In that cellar they
find numerous animal corpses, what appears to be a burned center post to the
cabin and a book wrapped in barbed wire.
While the group does their best to help with Mia, Eric
decides that he absolutely must see what is beneath the barbed wire. He cuts it
off and discovers a book whose cover seems to be made of human skin. As he
reads the books, he cuts his hand on its pages dripping blood on it. The book
shows demonic symbols and pictures and has written in blood on one page
"Do not write! Do not read! Do not follow!" So of course Eric decides
the smartest thing to do is all three. Reading words that were hidden which he
finds by pencil rubbing technique, he unleashes the demons contained within. He
doesn't know it yet, but he has.
Mia in the throws of cold turkey argues with the group that
she wants to leave. David finally agrees with the group that it wouldn't be the
best idea and she retreats to her room. So it seems. In truth she stole his car
keys and takes off in David's car. Driving in the pouring rain she thinks she
sees someone in the road and crashes the car to avoid them. When she gets out of
the car she's pursued by this same person and eventually falls into the forest
only to find the forest grasping her limbs and holding her in place while it a
root slides up her leg and rapes her. I would say this is a spoiler but it was
one of the most talked about scenes in the original film and here.
David and the group find Mia and take her back to the cabin.
Mia tries to tell them that there is something in the woods but of course no
one believes her. When things go from bad to worse David tries to take her to
town but unfortunately the road is flooded with the non-stop rain. Returning to
the cabin it is now that the really creepy, scary stuff begins. What, you
thought everything described so far was bad? As the circus barker used to say
"You ain't seen nuthin' yet folks!"
So how does this film stack up against the original? Well
for one this film had a much bigger budget to work with. That being said the
quality of the film making here is top notch with some effective photography to
be seen and special effects that are state of the art. The acting by all
involved is well done, especially Levy as Mia. The only thing lacking here, at
least for me, was the script.
The original found the group having the demons basically
forced on them when they accidentally played a tape recording found in the
cellar. Here we have a character that seems to be a self centered idiot who
totally ignores the warnings in the book NOT to read or write passages who then
does exactly that. I'm willing to suspend belief when watching horror of sci-fi
films but this took the cake. How stupid do you have to be to completely ignore
the warnings there for you to see? If he had acted like he was skeptical of
what he was reading or that he thought it was a joke maybe, but here he's portrayed
as taking a scholarly approach to what he's reading and then saying it out loud
while ignoring the warning.
Perhaps the biggest differences between to two are those
seen in most movies made from one generation to the next. While there was some
swearing in the original film it was nothing like the F bombs dropped non-stop
in this one. The gore factor was also amped up. The original had some truly
gross out moments for its day but those on display here surpass anything from
the original. SPOILER: If watching someone drag their tongue along the edge of
a box cutter's blade bothers you then this is not your type of film.
This was my second time seeing this film having seen it in
the theater first. I thought it held up better this time than I did then.
Still, for me this movie is less about story and more about how much gore they
could offer. The bad part about that is that most of it was so far over the top
as to be completely unbelievable. My guess is that if you've been stabbed in
the eye with a needle, stabbed in the chest with a chunk of broken mirror, shot
with nails from a nail gun, had your hand split in two by a crowbar and then
stabbed again you're not going to be cognizant enough to continue talking let
alone help anyone. Not in this film.
Like I said, it's not a terrible film but it isn't near as
good as the original. Kids of today might like it better since gore seems to be
the way they rate a film. For me the original is better. One thing of note,
watch this one until the credits finish for what I thought was the best thing
in the movie. Fans of "Chuck Finley" will know what I'm talking
about.
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