On one hand, I
feel obliged to give credit to filmmaker Fede Alvarez for taking the remake of
Evil Dead in an original direction while retaining some of the most familiar
imagery. Rather than simply copying what made the original successful, Alvarez
attempts to go his own path. Some of this convolutes the simple storyline with
more melodrama than the narrative can handle, making this a relentless film to
endure. The most noticeable element missing from the original is a sense of
humor, which has all but disappeared from the horror genre since 9/11.
The simplicity
of a group of teens escaping for drunken debauchery in a remote cabin has been
altered to the much bleaker task of helping a friend kick a drug habit. Mia
(Jane Levy) gathers her brother (Shiloh Fernandez) and three friends (Lou
Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore) in a family cabin,
attempting to go cold turkey with their help. When the group discovers a
horrific secret chamber underneath the cabin, reading from a book leads to a
demonic possession of sorts. The behavior change in Mia once she is possessed
becomes increasingly erratic and violent, which is assumed to be symptoms of
withdrawal from the drugs.
What follows are
a series of increasingly dramatic and violent confrontations, as if the demon
possession were a virus which is transferable. Gender roles have been altered
in the remake, which saw a rewrite by the hack stripper-turned-screenwriter
Diablo Cody. While the original broke convention by offering Bruce Campbell
instead of a final girl, we have returned back to a female protagonist. This
allows for a continuation of the metaphor for drug addiction, but an odder
choice in the film deals with the deaths. The only villains in this movie end
up being the five friends who are also trying to survive, so it is inevitable
that they must fight each other. What is oddly coincidental is the fact that
both of the two male characters are forced to gruesomely dispatch their
significant other, and both do so without much hesitation. Though it doesn’t
seem significant to the themes or the plot, Evil Dead ends up becoming a brutal
battle of the sexes.
The horror
violence in this film is graphic and intense, without the relief that comedy
provided in the 1980s. Fans of horror will undoubtedly find plenty to enjoy,
though this is not a movie for the casual spectator. Only die-hard horror fans
will likely be able to endure the relentlessness of Alvarez’ vision, though he
certainly gets points for creating something that will shock the desensitized
veteran fans.
The Blu-ray
release includes an additional digital copy of the film, as well as a number of
fantastic technical special features. Exclusive to the Blu-ray is a cast and
filmmaker commentary track, a featurette on the revival of the cult classic,
and one on the design of the new book of the dead. There are also three
additional featurettes, with a great deal of focus on the exhaustion caused by
filming such an intense movie.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of Filmmaking:
7/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Disc Features: 7.5/10
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