Evil Dead Review

A highly preposterous but very enjoyable horror film

Sam Raimi's classic low budget Evil Dead was released in 1981, with the current trend of rebooting horror films in mind, Evil Dead shouldn't be as good as it is. With the rise of torture porn horror films such as Saw and Hostel, real tension and suspense has been forgotten or more often than not completely overshadowed by the graphic nature of the violence in them, no matter what the content is. The good thing about the new Evil Dead is that the brutal violence combines well with the suspense in an effective way.

Like the original the film is centred around a group of friends who go to a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere, where they discover a book in the basement which unleashes a demon once they open and read it. In this film one of the characters is there for the purpose of stopping her drug addiction. Because of the film's correct and short running time of 91 minutes, it isn't long before the narrative of the film plays out and the carnage begins.

With the introduction of the demonic force, one by one we watch the characters physically deform into monstrous killers. Each of their transformations is grisly, and the effects even more so. The film certainly pulls the punches in the blood department, moments of self harm are graphic and a little shocking, but never really upsetting because of the horrid nature of the character's involved. A particular reinvention of one distressing scene from the original that involves rape via tree vines appears.

The secluded setting of the film is never really played upon but we know it exists, when the outside forests of the cabin are shown, they are to heavy rain and grey skies, a vast difference to the opening scene when they arrive at the cabin. Most of the film takes place in the cabin itself, a dark and dingy place with dead cats hanging from the ceiling in the basement.

The pace of the film fits in well with the running time, although the characters are not deep enough to really empathize with, we do care and sympaphise with them, the paranoia and downturn of their fortunes are portrayed well.

The ending has a surprising twist, and one that is different from the original, again preposterous but enjoyable. The film does suffer from a lack of imagination, at times it just felt like I was just waiting for the next person to die in an already seen death, most scenes are predictable, and for a horror film, , although there are scenes of tension and suspense, the scares are very few and very far between.

But Evil Dead is a welcome change from the rest of the torrid horror remakes of late, in part because it takes the essence of the original and adapts it to a new audience. It uses its simplicity as its advantage.

3.5/5