Film Review: Evil Dead

Finally, we can breathe a sigh of relief – Evil Dead is a remake that works. For so long we’ve suffered terrible reboots of franchises we’ve known and loved (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Halloween), still praying for Hollywood to leave them alone. But backing from producers Sam Raimi (director of the original Evil Dead trilogy) and Bruce Campbell (who played the iconic hero Ash Williams in the series) has guided Fede Alvarez’s twisted vision down the right path, creating an experience that is as equally horrifying as it is visually spectacular.

Let’s get the main concern out of the way: the reboot is definitely a worthy addition to the franchise. Evil Dead is a wonderful homage to the original trilogy not only in its many well-placed low-key references that will have eagle-eyed fans squealing with delight, but also its style of filmmaking. So many modern horrors have suffered visually (thus hindering their scares) at the hands of CGI, but Alvarez (despite having a background in CGI), just like Friday 13^th Bacon, decided to keep his special effects old school and only use CGI for touch-ups. He claims that he and his team extensively researched illusions and magic tricks to create the real effects on his lengthy shoot of 70 nights. The mountain of hard work was certainly worth it, because the film is full of brilliant cinematography and eerie imagery that will stay with you long afterwards, such as the sickly amber eyes of the Deadites, the shot in the film’s trailer of the cabin in flames as a girl backs away from it and blood pouring down as rain. In this respect Evil Dead is a master class in modern horror movie special effects, using CGI as an enhancement to its already well-conceived sequences and not solely relying on it to provide the scares. It truly demonstrates the love and care put into the reboot as opposed to the cold cash-cow horror movie clones we’re so used to. Many horror directors could learn from this, as it truly does make a difference to how scary a scene is when believability is comprised by dodgy CGI. The excellent editing is not only wonderful for creating some of the scariest scenes in the film, but also works as a fantastic tribute to the iconic editing of the original trilogy.

But all the glitter of nostalgic fandom aside – does Evil Dead actually work well as a horror film? Definitely. Although the script leaves something to be desired the new premise of four young people helping Mia, a former junkie, go cold turkey is actually rather refreshing instead of the usual teen road trip prologue, and it certainly makes the tale more believable as her rehabilitation offers not only an actual legitimate reason for five teens to stay in the middle of nowhere in an obviously creepy cabin, but also explains how they don’t immediately notice that the problem is supernatural rather than a result of withdrawal symptoms – as opposed to the regular horror movie tropes of teens that decide to go ahead and stay the obviously creepy house despite immanent danger and that are as thick as two planks when it comes to realizing the dilemma (when the audience knew about it as they were buying their popcorn, and have to wait through that 50 minute period for the protagonists to catch up). The cast is also solid, particularly the fantastic Jane Levy as Mia who the audience can easily sympathize with one minute, then gag at the next. Unfortunately Shiloh Fernandez’s performance as Mia’s brother David doesn’t quite hit the mark, as his wooden delivery hinders the more emotional scenes of the film. Some of the score also seems a little out of place at times, blaring a little too much when it would be far more effective to keep a scene quiet. Despite these problems, the scares are terrifyingly genuine, and will have you squirming in your seats – even if you’re a well-seasoned horror fan. In true Evil Dead fashion, the gore just keeps on coming.

Evil Dead restores faith in the horror remake and whets the appetite as a taste of what may come, with a reported sequel and Army of Darkness sequel in the works (as well as a teased idea of merging the fates of Ash and Mia for a seventh title). It may not be particularly inventive, but it is certainly very effective and wildly entertaining – a refreshing outing for horror movie fans.

And, by the way – stay until the end of the credits. You will regret it forever if you don’t.