"Everything's gonna be fine? I don't know if you noticed this, but everything's been getting worse... every second."
The first thing I want to tell people about the new 'Evil Dead' film, is to throw out all you remember about Sam Raimi's cult horror
classic and just start over. Fede
Alvarez's remake is much darker, gorier, and lacks the cheesy schlock that made
Raimi's original the classic we remember -- so just forget the original. What Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez does in
this new version is very up to date with what twenty-first century audiences are
expecting in a modern horror film. The
producers of 'Evil Dead' are Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Robert G.
Tapert. Campbell and Tapert were both
actors in the original version, thus leaving their 'stamp of approval' on this
remake/re imaging. The basic plot and
spirit of the original is the same, five college age kids tormented by a demon
while out in a cabin in the woods. The
film is about an hour and a half and is rated 'R' - as I think any good horror
film should be.
What makes this version stand out is the sheer amount of
brutality to the violence. I am not sure if it is
the fact that special effects are just much better, or that the quality of the
film stock, but this film just feels different, grittier, meaner, and soulless. The story opens with a girl, bloody, tattered
running through the woods, scared, and hunted.
Trapped, hooded, and tied she finds herself in a cellar tied to a
post. Dead cats hang everywhere, an old witch-woman speaking in a foreign language is reading from an ancient tome with
horrific pictures. The girl, screaming
for help is de-hooded and the only person she recognizes in the dark group is her father. Apparently, like Louis in 'The Last Exorcism'
he needs to kill his daughter in order to save her soul. Dousing his daughter with kerosene , he lighting
her up, then he shoots her with a shotgun, but not before his precious innocent
daughter pulls a Regan MacNeil and spits out blasphemies that only a demon
should repeat.
Borrowing a shot from director John Erick Dowdle's beginning
of ‘Devil,’ he uses the concept that the world is upside down. The camera slowly rights itself and we find ourselves tracking a Jeep while it winds down the lonely road amidst the beautiful forest backdrop. This shot
reminds me of Kubrick's opening shot in 'The Shining.' Arriving at their destination, several hours
late are David and his girlfriend, Natalie. 'Evil
Dead' stars Jane Levy as Mia - a young woman who has lost herself to drugs and
is trying to clean herself up. Shiloh
Fernandez ('Red Riding Hood,' 'Cadillac Records ') is her older brother David who
didn't seem to be around much while Mia was caring for their dying mother. Lou Taylor Pucci ('Horsemen,' 'Carriers'), is
both the smart one and the fool, Eric. Naomi,
a registered nurse, is Mia’s friend who is attempting to intervene with Mia’s
drug addiction, and is played by Canadian actress, Jessica Lucas ('She's the Man,'
'Cloverfield'). Rounding out the cast as
David's girlfriend is Elizabeth Blackmore as Natalie. Oh yes, there is also 'Grandpa' David and Mia's German shepherd.
As it turns out, Mia has overdosed on heroin a couple of times and was
clinically dead for a few minutes the last time. Eric and Naomi have decided that the only way
their friend Mia is going to get better is to force her to go cold turkey and they plan to hold her captive at the cabin during the drying out process. David, who left home years ago and couldn't
face his mother's death isn't so sure that this intervention is a good idea. Naomi, the nurse is steadfast on the idea. This new version uses the 1981 version more
of a guide rather than a strict scripting of events. During one of Mia's withdrawal fits, she
screams that the place reeks of something rotten. No one believes her until the dog starts
sniffing at a rug covering the obligatory cellar trap door.
Now, those of you who don't go see horror films on a regular
basis have a tendency to wonder WTF is wrong with these characters in these types
of films. Why do they do the stupid
things they do? Why do they open books
tied in barbed wire and upon finding in BIG RED LETTERS words like 'DO NOT
TOUCH THIS BOOK,' 'DON"T READ' and stuff like that, they go ahead and read
the damn book. Didn't they see 'Cabin In
The Woods'? After finding
the crispy dead cats hanging in the cellar and the instruments of sacrifice,
Eric finds himself drawn to the book that the old witch was reading. Apparently, the people at the beginning of
the film 'borrowed' the cabin to do their exorcism on the nameless girl, as the
cabin 'looked as if someone broke in and had a party.’ Sounding out some words found in the book,
Eric reads aloud something that sounds similar to ‘hakuna matata monsanto yada yada yada’, thus summoning the evil spirit from the woods.
Although the actors all do their best to bring something to
their parts they are severely limited by a script that only requests that bring out only one
dimension of their characters. Naomi,
for instance is pretty much a 'Red Shirt,' in 'Evil Dead,' so much so that
I don't know why she even was given a name.
Her death on the other hand was brutal, bloody, and shocking. Same for the character of Natalie, her
character only comes alive when she dies.
David and Eric have a little more depth to their parts but not
much. The real star is of the movie is
Mia. Like Bruce Campbell's 'Ash'
character from the original, she is the only one who really goes through
a change in character. To be honest,
Jane Levy's depiction of the possessed Mia lovingly licking the edge of a utility
knife gave me the creeps. David's
character 'grows' a bit, but it doesn't play as truthful as does Mia's. Eric, we will note is part scholar and part fool. Actually his character is probably the most
interesting one. He guides the audience with his limited knowledge of the demonic book, he shows us the ghastly pictures of demonic purification. If anything, Eric’s role is similar to Mordecai from ‘The Cabin In The
Woods,’ that of a harbinger of doom. His role turns more comical as he is the
constantly being used as a human pincushion and keeps coming back for more.
'Evil Dead' has plenty of suspenseful moments
enhanced by a score composed by Roque Baños that is deep and ominous. Sustaining the notes, that the orchestra plays to
stretch out the suspense to a point that makes one cringe. Aaron Morton's cinematography is crisp yet
dark. The makeup and prosthetics are
just wrong in a good way. I am not sure
if it was a budget thing but this film seems a bit rushed. Bryan Shaw's editing is quick and frenetic
that leaves the audience breathless. Perhaps
that was on purpose. Horror fans
watching this film will notice Alvarez's nods to classic horror films from the
past that make us feel at home. Non-horror fans will find this
film repulsive, vulgar, and just plain sick, but that is why we horror fans go
see 'Evil Dead.'
Movie Data
Genre: Horror, ThrillerYear: 2013
Staring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore
Director: Fede Alvarez
Producer(s) Sam Raimi, Bruce, Campbell, Robert G. Taper
Writer: Sam Raimi, Fede Alvarez
Rating: R
© Robert Barbere
