Evil Dead Review
Another classic horror gets the remake treatment, this time Ram Raimi’s 1981 splatter classic the Evil Dead. Various studios have taken to task updating the oldies to varying degrees of success, but all to often groan inducing failure. Even when original collaborators have been involved the results have never peaked that of the original.
Here original director Sam Raimi, original producer Robert Tapert and original star Bruce Campbell take on a producer role for this remake. A new writer/director team were brought in, and plenty of young fresh meat was hauled out for the onscreen antics.
The results are a mix bag for sure, but at least this one seems self assure in both its look, and the direction it wants to go in. Most importantly, the blood that flows is clearly inches deep
The set up is similar – 5 youths, a cabin in the woods, a spirited forest taking them over one by one. The good news is the make-up effects use the right percentage of practical and CG. Jane Levy makes for a wonderful choice for a character that seems to be an amalgamation of both the Ash and Cheryl from the original film. The drama, as it is, revolves around Levy’s character undergoing a drug detox – which looks like an ample excuse to let her character go a bit do-lally later on. The real fun though is whenever the deadite curse comes calling and the film-makers have done themselves proud.
The extras though are worth sending a letter home about! Through a handful of featurettes we get to hear from the original film-makers and their initial concerns over the new film. The new filmmakers and cast spend time on set with a lot of time devoted towards the practical effects. There is also a nice look at the latest incarnation of the book of the dead. There is also a commentary from the writer director team and most of the cast.
This joins the ranks of very few films to be a worth retelling of a classic horror.
Steven Hurst