The return of the Evil Dead

The original Evil Dead was one of the classic video nasties. Made for $350,000 (1000th of the budget of director Sam Raimi’s later film SpiderMan 3), it has become a cult classic and staple of the horror genre. It’s a splatter-filled mess of black comedy, genuine terror and low-budget creepiness. It still scares and combines over-the-top set pieces with wit, strong characters and the all important shock factor; there’s something about the pre-CGI effects that give it a tangible ickiness.

The story has become a huge horror trope now, a group of young attractive twenty-somethings go to a cabin in the woods to party. One of them finds a creepy looking book and reads from it, this unleashes a demon which possesses one of the members and chaos ensues.

Its production is as famous as the film. The actors described it as one of the worst experiences they had ever had. Opaque contact lenses meant that when the demons were attacking (with real weapons) they couldn’t even see what they were doing. Bruce Campell (as career-defining Ash) twisted his ankle during production, and legend goes Sam Raimi kept poking it with a stick to keep continuity.

Original director Raimi hand-picked Fede Alvarez for the remake, and although not directly involved, gave his approval. It takes place 30 years after the original, and there was an effort to avoid using too much CGI and rely on “magic tricks and illusion tricks”. But does it work? Will it get lost in a sea of other pitiful remakes or go some way to capture the magic of the original?

It’s always a good sign when there are three huge guys cowering at the entrance to the cinema screen, daring each other to go in first. The film posters boldly claim that it’s “the most terrifying film you will ever experience” and it has a long way to go to reach the cult status of the 1983 classic.

In short, it’s nowhere near as good as the original. It lacks the wit and humour of Raimi’s version, and barely even alludes to the touches that set the original apart. It takes itself a little too seriously at times, only really letting its hair down at the end, and doesn’t really try and fix the problems that the original had.

There is another problem in remaking this film, due to the 2012 Josh Whedon epic The Cabin in the Woods. For those who haven’t seen it (and if you haven’t I urge youto), it was a meta-horror film that completely blew apart this very horror trope. Like Wes Craven’s Scream did to slashers, it showed just how archetypal such films had become and almost dared them to up their game and change what they did. It made you re-think the whole genre.

Without the many black comic touches, Evil Dead almost slips into being pedestrian and “just another cabin in the woods” film. Whedon’s film showed us what was wrong with the genre, and Evil Dead doesn’t really try to change things.

Despite all this, overall I liked it. The story has been changed slightly, the cabin serves as a remote building to help an addict go cold turkey. This not only actually gives a decent reason why people would stay at such a creepy spot, but also twists the plot slightly. As things begin to get increasingly weird and the addict character gets possessed, the others just assume it is the side effect to withdrawal.

One thing to say about it is that it is an incredibly well made film; first-timedirector Alvarez knows how to capture the mood of a scene and picks some excellent shots. CGI is largely ignored and this really makes an improvement (take note film directors!). Everything looks incredible and the tension is held really well. The gore is pitch perfect, the blood may start a bit slower than the original but by the end there are gallons of it.

It’s also both creepy AND scary. It makes you jump, but by racking up the fear instead of relying on cheap scares. I did laugh out loud a couple of times as well, there’s something about a brief moment of comedy in between horrifying scenes which can get big laughs.

All in all, I’d say it was a good film, and an excellent one for a first-time director. Don’t go in expecting a darkly black comedy like Raimi’s stuff, and definitely don’t go in if you are squeamish. It is a really well-made film, with some great touches, some surprises and some nice nods to the original. I’d be interested to see what Alvarez does next, give him an original script with a bit of a spark to it and I think he could deliver something really special. He hasn’t quite hit it this time, but it’s a damn good effort.