Evil Dead

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2013)

The original 1981 version, starring Bruce Campbell (who here produces with original director Sam Raimi) is one of my favourite scary movies, with its over the top blood spill and dark humour, but I was actually looking forward to reboot, I heard it was going to be more scary than funny. Basically five friends, car shop owner David (Shiloh Fernandez), school teacher Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), recovering drug addict and David's sister Mia (Jane Levy), nurse Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and David's girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) meeting at an old cabin in the woods. The group have gathered there to help Mia get clean after an incident where she overdosed and for a moment was medically dead; they agree that she will attempt to escape, so they make sure they will stop her. Soon after arriving there is complaints of the smell, and under the rug they uncover a cellar door, and going down to investigate they find animal corpses wrapped in barbed wire, a shotgun and an old book covered with a black trash bag. Eric takes the book out , and he scrolls through it to find many strange demonic images and translations scattered in big letter, and he traces and reads out hidden words from the pages, awakening a demon. Mia starts being haunted by the demon, and she begs to leave the cabin, but as agreed the group refuse to let her leave, but she gets away and tries to drive away, but she ends up crashing the car and running into the woods, where she is trapped in the thorns, and possessed they tangle her up and the thorny black tendril rapes her. The group find her and take her back to the cabin, they refuse to believe her claims thinking it she is suffering hallucinations from her drugs habit, but after finding the dog killed with a hammer and Mia severely burning herself with boiling water in the shower David is prepared to take her to hospital, but the bridge is blocked by a flood. Back in the cabin they are about to sedate the drug addict, but she grabs the shotgun and shoots her brother in the arm, and in a demonic voice she says that they are all going to die, she momentarily collapses, but then wakes to vomit blood on Olivia's face, and she falls into the cellar to be locked in by Eric. Soon after Eric finds Olivia is possessed as well as he catches her cutting her own skin off her face, and she repeatedly stabs him trying to kill him, until he grabs a large piece of the broken sink and smashes her head and kills her. David helps him with his wounds, and Natalie check son Mia when she sounds unpossessed, only end up bitten on the hand and with blood being vomited on in the mouth, and moments later the black infection in her hand slowly takes over her arm and will spread, but still focused she grabs an electric knife and severs her arm off to stop possession. Eric is convinced that reading passages from the old book he has released an evil that will one by one take them over, and attempting to burn the book it is futile, and he explains that the book details a demon that will take over five souls and cause the sky to bleed and release the Abomination from Hell. He also explains that the book says that there are only three ways to end the terror, burying the first possessed person alive, dismembering their body, or burning them to death, David of course refuses to do any of these things, and then the two of them are attacked by a now possessed Natalie with a nail gun, until she is hit to death with a crowbar. As the only one left David decides to listen to the words of the book, and he soaks the cabin with gasoline and plans to the set it on fire with Mia inside, but he changes his mind and goes to tranquilise Mia, but she attacks him, and before dying Eric saves him, and David buries his paralysed sister wrapped up, unconvinced by her momentary return to normality and upset by her taunting. He knows that she is dead, so he quickly unearths her and improvises a defibrillator to bring her back, but she does not respond to the electric charge, but when he looks away she is suddenly awake and no longer possessed, and Eric momentarily comes to warn them of their doom, before the cabin and he are set alight, with David inside. The final stage of the prophecy from the book has occurred, so it begins raining blood, and the Abomination comes from beneath the ground and chases after Mia, in the process she gets a few deep flesh wounds, and her arm gets trapped forcing her to pull it off, but she kills the demon grabbing a chainsaw mashing it through its face, the remains sink into the earth, it stops raining and Mia walks away, but the old book remains. I can only think of a few good examples where a remake, or reboot, has turned out as good as, if a little better, than the original, e.g. True Grit, I Spit on Your Grave, especially in the scary movie market it is difficult to remake a film considered a classic, but this one succeeds. The cast, especially Levy, are good, the new story with the terror first seen as cold turkey visions is clever, the removal of original character Ash doesn't matter, and the change to rehabilitation trip instead of vacation is interesting, but of course what made this film for me was indeed the still over the top gore effects, with scenes like blood falling from the sky and chainsaws going through faces it is spectacular to watch, it has jumpy and funny moments and good music too, it is a fantastic horror film. Very good!