Evil Dead (2013)

Director: Fede Alvarez

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas

Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods.

The original ‘Evil Dead’ and ‘Evil Dead 2’ took the demonic possession genre to an entirely new level, so I was curious to see what a new director was going to do with this installment.

Let me start by saying what I didn’t like about the film: the characters. With the exception of Mia (Jane Levy) all the other characters felt two-dimensional and uninteresting, especially Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), who felt dispensable. The other issue I had, was the back story and the reason why they went to the cabin in the woods.

In the original 1981 film, the youngsters were boisterous and filled with joy and adventure, so when things started going wrong for them, I sympathized with them. With this installment five young people – including a brother and sister – clearly have issues between them and this resulted in the film starting off on a somber note. The group didn’t look like they were out to have fun and felt like none of them wanted to be there. According to the story, the reason they decided to spend a weekend at the cabin, is to try and ‘cure’ Mia of her drug addiction. In reality, a drug addict would need professional help and will definitely not overcome her addiction with the help of friends away from society for a weekend. So this back story failed in my opinion. Had there been another reason it might have worked better.

What did work, was the fact the others thought Mia was hallucinating from withdrawal symptoms when she started seeing strange things happening around them. This was well set-up. I still would have preferred the film to start on a lighter note. I think I would have rooted more for them had they not been so depressed to start off with. There was also no chemistry between any of the characters, not even between brother and sister.

Let’s talk visuals and make-up; my gosh, these were exceptionally well done! So much so that this is a very difficult film to watch. If gore and bucket loads of blood is not your thing, then you’re definitely going to want to give this a skip. If you’re familiar with the ‘Evil Dead’ films on the other hand, then this is probably the reason why you’re watching this one and you knew from the beginning what to expect. Even so, this is an extremely gory movie!! This is not for the faint of heart, and truly the stuff nightmares are made off. I mean, bloody hell, this was just sick!

Why do we as humans watch these kind of movies and actually find them entertaining? Who knows? I did. The film is fast-paced and relentless. Once the horror starts, there’s no stopping it until the credits roll, and by that time you’re bound to be on the edge of your seat, clenching your teeth, sweating, and your heart will be racing. Ah, yes, and this is why we enjoy these kind of movies: the adrenaline rush!

‘Evil Dead’ received 25 award nominations, winning 6 including Best Makeup/Creature FX (well deserved!!!). The film was nominated for Best Horror Movie.

Would I watch it again? I don’t think so. I still enjoyed the 1981 film more.