"Evil Dead" - directed by Fede Alvarez
Now this is a tricky one....
Is this a reboot or a sequel?
There is a case to be made for it being either and honestly I don't have a clue.
The more important question is probably why was this made at all?
The original Sam Raimi "The Evil Dead" was released in 1981 complete with gushy Stephen King quote on the poster - 'The most ferociously original horror film of the year!'.
It was then promptly dumped at the centre of the so called 'Video Nasties' nonsense in the United Kingdon and became the poster child of the 1984 Video Recordings Act.
It was frequently mentioned in sentences that contained phrases like 'Won't someone please think of the children!' and 'Ban this filth!'.
It was a full on horror flick for sure.
Red, raw and dripping from every severed limb it wasn't fooling around - at least until about halfway through when it started dabbling in slapstick (albeit very gory) humour.
"The Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn" was a flat out remake that had its gory moments but was entirely played for laughs.
It stands as one of three movies that made me cry with laughter- the others being "Raising Arizona" and Peter Jackson's "Braindead".
(What can I tell you.... disemboweled, farting intestines and eyeballs flying into screaming girls' mouths tickle me something terrible.)
The third Evil Dead movie - "The Army Of Darkness" was toned down in terms of gore but cranked the comedy up to 11.
So, with a history of gory excess and slapstick splatter what else is there left to do in an Evil Dead movie?
Plenty it turns out.
The 2013 version ditches the "The" from the title and becomes simply "Evil Dead" but it is indeed Raimi's first movie that it shares common ground with.
This might be the first really hardcore horror film to make it to the big screen in a couple of years.
I can't recall one that is so single-minded about its intentions to fill the screen with gore and blood and all round ugliness.
It begins with the look of the film.
It is a little grainy, very desaturated and utterly grim.
You can almost smell this film - the decay, the blood, the burning flesh.
I like the subtle use of depth of field and focus - it's rather slick stuff.
The story is basically the same as the original with five people holed up in a cabin in the woods.
Cleverly, a drug addiction angle is introduced which gives a little grounding to proceedings.
When the chunks of flesh hit the chainsaw this aspect is used nicely to provide some impetus for the young folk to stay put when any rational person would get the hell out.
The very pretty Jane Levy reminds me of Alexis Bledel with a dash of Emma Stone.
As Mia it is she who has the drug dependency problem and her brother David and friends assemble at the cabin in an attempt to ween her off.
The plot follows the expected route of an ill advised reading of a book bound from human skin and written in human blood closely followed by an Evil possessing one of the main cast.
Shiloh Fernandez as David is revealed as the lead early on.
He reminds me of Karl Urban.
He will soon be seen in the intriguing looking "Syrup" alongside Amber Heard - something that "Evil Dead" co-star Lou Taylor Pucci has already done in the awful (but admittedly nude Heard laden) "The Informers".
Rounding out the five are blonde Elizabeth Blackmore and brunette Jessica Lucas.
An aspect that I like is that each gets their own standout scene.
Sure, this is mainly down to the level of (often self inflicted) violence portrayed but that is what we expect.
"Evil Dead" doesn't disappoint.
Tongues are sliced, limbs lopped, power tools abused and this is merely a sample of the gory buffet on offer.
I would imagine that this film set some sort of record for sheer gallons of fake blood used.
To say that it is awash in the stuff doesn't do it justice.
I'm an Evil Dead franchise fan and "Evil Dead" ticks quite few fan service boxes rather nicely.
Chainsaw... check.
Hands lopped offf... check.
Raimi's aging Buick... check.
Tree rape... check.
Swooping camera moves through the forest... check.
And if you stay in your seat until the credits have finished....
Ash... check.
There are more and a lot of the fun is looking for the little nods to Raimi's films.
It is also acutely, playfully aware of the golden rules of horror films - chiefly that you never show a chainsaw unless you are going to use a chainsaw.
Gorehounds will not be left wanting - I assure you.
Uruguayan Writer / Director Fede Alvarez gained the attention of Hollywood with his short film "Ataque de Panico!".
Whilst this was awash in CGI he wisely forgoes this in favour of practical effects work on "Evil Dead".
For a first feature and with a budget of $17 million he has done a bang up job.
"Juno" screenwriter Diablo Cody did a script brush to American-ise the dialogue but largely her work was left unused.
It is not a film heavy on dialogue but what there is is perfectly serviceable.
Effects wise this is very, very good indeed.
I honestly can't pick a gore highlight but I can narrow it down to three or four.
Or possibly five or six.
Special credit should go to local Propmaster Roger Murray - it is simply superb work.
In fact "Evil Dead" was filmed in Auckland - a familiar location for producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell after tv shows including "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess".
With the recent and utterly excellent "Cabin In the Woods" laughing in the face of the franchise it is to the filmmakers credit that this film still feels serious.
Serious in a horror movie kind of way of course but nonetheless this is a 'proper' genre flick.
I am doubly pleased then to see that this film found an audience having already made $64 million dollars.
Personally I didn't find it scary at all but that is the way it was marketed and it certainly seems to have worked.
A sequel has been announced and I for one am excited to see what they do with it.
Will it take Raimi's route of changing tone or will it be a straight up sequel?
Based on this gory, grim, well made and all round nifty horror flick I look forward to finding out.
Is this a reboot or a sequel?
There is a case to be made for it being either and honestly I don't have a clue.
The more important question is probably why was this made at all?
The original Sam Raimi "The Evil Dead" was released in 1981 complete with gushy Stephen King quote on the poster - 'The most ferociously original horror film of the year!'.
It was then promptly dumped at the centre of the so called 'Video Nasties' nonsense in the United Kingdon and became the poster child of the 1984 Video Recordings Act.
It was frequently mentioned in sentences that contained phrases like 'Won't someone please think of the children!' and 'Ban this filth!'.
It was a full on horror flick for sure.
Red, raw and dripping from every severed limb it wasn't fooling around - at least until about halfway through when it started dabbling in slapstick (albeit very gory) humour.
"The Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn" was a flat out remake that had its gory moments but was entirely played for laughs.
It stands as one of three movies that made me cry with laughter- the others being "Raising Arizona" and Peter Jackson's "Braindead".
(What can I tell you.... disemboweled, farting intestines and eyeballs flying into screaming girls' mouths tickle me something terrible.)
The third Evil Dead movie - "The Army Of Darkness" was toned down in terms of gore but cranked the comedy up to 11.
So, with a history of gory excess and slapstick splatter what else is there left to do in an Evil Dead movie?
 |
| Still better than most Best Western's I've stayed in |
The 2013 version ditches the "The" from the title and becomes simply "Evil Dead" but it is indeed Raimi's first movie that it shares common ground with.
This might be the first really hardcore horror film to make it to the big screen in a couple of years.
I can't recall one that is so single-minded about its intentions to fill the screen with gore and blood and all round ugliness.
It begins with the look of the film.
It is a little grainy, very desaturated and utterly grim.
You can almost smell this film - the decay, the blood, the burning flesh.
I like the subtle use of depth of field and focus - it's rather slick stuff.
The story is basically the same as the original with five people holed up in a cabin in the woods.
Cleverly, a drug addiction angle is introduced which gives a little grounding to proceedings.
When the chunks of flesh hit the chainsaw this aspect is used nicely to provide some impetus for the young folk to stay put when any rational person would get the hell out.
As Mia it is she who has the drug dependency problem and her brother David and friends assemble at the cabin in an attempt to ween her off.
The plot follows the expected route of an ill advised reading of a book bound from human skin and written in human blood closely followed by an Evil possessing one of the main cast.
Shiloh Fernandez as David is revealed as the lead early on.
He reminds me of Karl Urban.
He will soon be seen in the intriguing looking "Syrup" alongside Amber Heard - something that "Evil Dead" co-star Lou Taylor Pucci has already done in the awful (but admittedly nude Heard laden) "The Informers".
Rounding out the five are blonde Elizabeth Blackmore and brunette Jessica Lucas.
An aspect that I like is that each gets their own standout scene.
Sure, this is mainly down to the level of (often self inflicted) violence portrayed but that is what we expect.
"Evil Dead" doesn't disappoint.
Tongues are sliced, limbs lopped, power tools abused and this is merely a sample of the gory buffet on offer.
I would imagine that this film set some sort of record for sheer gallons of fake blood used.
To say that it is awash in the stuff doesn't do it justice.
 |
| Who's laughing now? |
Chainsaw... check.
Hands lopped offf... check.
Raimi's aging Buick... check.
Tree rape... check.
Swooping camera moves through the forest... check.
And if you stay in your seat until the credits have finished....
Ash... check.
There are more and a lot of the fun is looking for the little nods to Raimi's films.
It is also acutely, playfully aware of the golden rules of horror films - chiefly that you never show a chainsaw unless you are going to use a chainsaw.
Gorehounds will not be left wanting - I assure you.
 |
| The filmmakers on set (director Alvarez is in grey front centre) |
Whilst this was awash in CGI he wisely forgoes this in favour of practical effects work on "Evil Dead".
For a first feature and with a budget of $17 million he has done a bang up job.
"Juno" screenwriter Diablo Cody did a script brush to American-ise the dialogue but largely her work was left unused.
It is not a film heavy on dialogue but what there is is perfectly serviceable.
Effects wise this is very, very good indeed.
I honestly can't pick a gore highlight but I can narrow it down to three or four.
Or possibly five or six.
Special credit should go to local Propmaster Roger Murray - it is simply superb work.
In fact "Evil Dead" was filmed in Auckland - a familiar location for producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell after tv shows including "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess".
 |
| Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas and Lou Taylor Pucci |
Serious in a horror movie kind of way of course but nonetheless this is a 'proper' genre flick.
I am doubly pleased then to see that this film found an audience having already made $64 million dollars.
Personally I didn't find it scary at all but that is the way it was marketed and it certainly seems to have worked.
A sequel has been announced and I for one am excited to see what they do with it.
Will it take Raimi's route of changing tone or will it be a straight up sequel?
Based on this gory, grim, well made and all round nifty horror flick I look forward to finding out.
| Rated | R18 for graphic violence & profanity |
| Running Time: | 92 minutes (1hr, 25 mins without end credits but stay for Bruce) |
| Starring: |
| Jane Levy | --- Mia |
| Shiloh Fernandez | --- David |
| Lou Taylor Pucci | --- Eric |
| Jessica Lucas | --- Olivia |
| Elizabeth Blackmore | --- Natalie |
| Phoenix Connolly | --- Teenager |
| Ellen Sandweiss | --- Cheryl |
| Stephen Butterworth | --- Toothless Redneck |
| Jim McLarty | --- Harold |
| Sian Davis | --- Old Woman |
| Bob Dorian | --- Professor |
| Bruce Campbell | --- Ash |
No comments:
Post a Comment