“Evil Dead” is a 2013 horror film directed by Fede Alvarez. It is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name, directed by Sam Raimi. The movie follows a group of friends who go to a remote cabin in the woods to help their friend overcome her drug addiction. However, they find a Book of the Dead in the basement, which unleashes demonic forces that possess them one by one.

The film stars Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore. It received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing over $97 million worldwide against a $17 million budget. The film’s intense and graphic violence, as well as its dark and serious tone, set it apart from the original and established it as a standalone horror film.

This may be one of the goriest, and scariest movies of recent history. The original Evil Dead series was gory beyond belief, but it had an odd sort of morbid charisma about it. It was so campy, you could hold marshmallows on skewers up to the screen while it played, and they would be roasted. This remake however, is far from campy. It’s dark, intense, violent, shocking, just a horrifying tale of brooding doom.

What makes it partly so scary, is that the main characters are good people just trying to help out Mia, and are completely oblivious (at first) to what evils surround them.

It goes places. The sounds, the visuals, the acting even, is a solid contribution to proof that modern horror is not dead at all, and that audiences can still be shocked and scared.

We seem to be in a time where the remakes of remakes will be remade, even films like Cabin Fever aren’t remaining sacred, the obligatory remake follows.

Evil Dead now is a remake with a bit of bite, of course it has every possible cliche under the sun ticked off. We have the obligatory character coming out of the ground with long stringy hair, we have the trapdoor, the book of death, and of course the vomiting. Despite all the blatant lack of any sort of imagination Evil Dead somehow manages to capture the imagination, and provide ninety minutes of quite thrilling entertainment.

The scares are plentiful, and the acting is such that you believe in the pain, physical and mental, it really is quite well made. Effective use of special effects and music.

Not a film I’d look to watch on a regular basis, but it’s somehow rather refreshing. 7/10

Please enough with the remakes though.

A straight horror vibe, some extreme cringe-inducing gore and a surprise final act do enough to differentiate this from the original, but it can’t top the raw charm of the cult classic. ‘Evil Dead (2013)’ is a commendable effort, though. It’s certainly one of the better remakes I’ve seen. The film captures what it is that Raimi and company would have gone for if they had the budget and experience to do so back in 1981, achieving that over-the-top but seemingly ‘realistic’ gore-fest feel that makes it not for the squeamish. It’s probably one of the goriest films I’ve seen, with powerful practical effects grounding everything in reality and capturing the spirit of the original. Having rewatched ‘The Evil Dead (1981)’ fairy recently, I think it’s safe to say that it isn’t just nostalgia that drives me when I say I much prefer the zaniness of the original to the more refined approach of this one. Though I would rather watch Raimi’s picture, Alvarez’s outing does more than enough to set itself apart from its source material and, as such, isn’t actually competing for your attention. It’s its own thing and all the better for it. It’s a really solid effort, actually, despite some clunky dialogue and a cast of mostly generic characters. That’s really impressive considering the lasting, palpable yet intangible allure of the original ‘video-nasty’ that everyone loved to hate and now just loves to love.

In all fairness, director Fede Alvarez has come through successfully on remaking this 81 cult horror, that sees a group of young campers, possessed by evil spirits from that notorious book that should never been opened. With another attractive cast, who deliver realistic performances, especially the heroin addict sister, the film too is beautifully shot in the cold misty woods of New Zealand, and this works wonderfully, cinematically, I might add. This was the biggest thing, I must say, that really impressed me. I must admit I was disappointed at one aspect, as I thought it would be full on throughout, much like Evil Dead 2, (my oldie favourite) where everything just goes crazy and you can’t think straight, but there’s enough blood shed in this to satisfy you gore lovers. The highlight is the girlfriend cutting off her own arm with a chainsaw scene, with the boyfriend (Fernandez) asking “Are you okay?” There are some nice touches of humour here I liked that worked better here, than the original, and the slipping on the tongue scene was inventive. What was good was the catalyst of the story, the reason for them all being there in the woods, as to comfort the young heroin addict girl, one, her brother who’s managed to show up here, hot girlfriend and all. Shiloh Fernandez’s character irked me some, while not even managing to make his mother’s funeral, months prior. How he become the hero near the end, and braved up, I liked. Though of course with not the greatest script that I’ve actually read part of, here’s a well shot remaking of a notorious horror, that of course, can’t surpass the original, but comes pretty close. But in this present, it’s a guilty pleasure on another chain, it’s chilling opening, brilliant, not letting us forget how frightening and evil the original is. And like this remake, among others, these are what mostly opt for. Great end credit sequence, with an afterword from Bruce Campbell.

The first five star movie of 2013 is this long awaited reboot to writer/director Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic original ‘THE EVIL DEAD’. It’s a loose sequel that finds a new group of young adults stumbling across the ‘book of the dead’, from the original trilogy, in the same cabin that iconic hero Ash and his friends did in the original two films. Raimi and actor Bruce Campbell (who played Ash) have returned as producers of the film (along with their buddy Robert G. Tapert, who produced the original three films). Raimi picked Fede Alvarez to make his feature film debut directing and co-writing the film (along with Rodo Sayagues and Diablo Cody). It stars Jane Levy (from TV’s ‘SUBURGATORY’), Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore. Levy plays Mia and she’s supposed to reprise the role for two more films, the last of which is supposed to link this new film series to the adventures of Ash and the original films (following a ‘ARMY OF DARKNESS 2’ movie). I grew up on these films and am extremely excited to see Raimi and Campbell picking the series up again and think they’re off to a great start.

The story picks up 30 years after the original ‘THE EVIL DEAD’ film ended with a new group of kids going to the same cabin so Mia (Levy) can try to detox and get over her opiate addiction. Her friends Eric (Pucci), Olivia (Lucas), Natalie (Blackmore) and brother David (Fernandez) are there as well to help her get through it. They come across the ‘book of the dead’ (the Naturom Demonto) from the original films, in the cellar and Eric foolishly reads from it (despite several warnings not to). He of course awakens the dead and Mia is possessed. The others originally think she’s just going through withdrawals but they soon find themselves being taken over and killed off one by one as they fight the deadites for their survival.

The film was made on a budget of just $17 million (which is a lot higher than the original film obviously but a pretty small budget by Hollywood standards). The filmmakers decided not to use CGI (except for touch ups) and filmed for 70 days. The results are definitely rewarding. The film really has that ‘old school’ classic slasher film feel to it and it’s surprisingly loyal to the original films (in style). It’s lacking the power of a performance like Bruce Campbell’s but it is really funny and satirical (more so than the first film I think but not it’s sequels). The violence and gore is out of control (It was first rated NC-17, like the original) and it really is a true hardcore horror film; it’s truly exhilarating and relentless. I think the filmmakers did about as good a job as they possibly could rebooting this classic series and being a huge fan it’s an enormous pleasure to watch. I have no real complaints; it’s a masterpiece just like the original film and it’s sequels!