It is what it says on the box

Rating: 7/10 (1 October 2013)

I've ticked the 'spoiler alert' box, but it would be hard to 'spoil' this film, which is an assemblage of horror film staples. I admit I'm not a huge watcher of horror films so I'm not going to pretend to be an expert, but even for me, it seems like Evil Dead (2013) ticks boxes, without inventing any.
Evil Dead has a pretty well trod path, plot-wise: Group of pretty OK looking youngsters assemble at a creepy venue, do something to seriously irritate a spirit/ghost/demon/entity and proceed to get picked off in gruesome and uncomfortable ways. Throw in a well-loved pet as additional victim as required. Last teen standing performs heroic/extraordinary/self-destructive act to triumph over evil.....or do they?
This rendition of Evil Dead invites five post-adolescent hotties (and a dog) to the most god-awful location (apparently they "used to love it" when they were kids - why?) to support Mia as she withdraws from her drug of choice. Mia's brother, who comes with a fraught relationship with his siblings and others, a bossy nurse, a nerdy dude and a cheerleader-type round out the clichés.
The yucky smell turns out not to be the disgusting swamp the cabin is build on, nor the gross mildew and mouldering refuse that's built up inside it, but a cellar full of decomposing cats. At the heart of the pet cemetery is a book, thoughtfully wrapped in barbed wire, enticing future readers to open it up.
Nerd boy does that, and it turns out to be a real page-turner. After reading aloud that he shouldn't read it aloud, he reads it aloud some more and invokes a demon spirit along to the party.
Demon spirit occupies Mia first, and not in a gentlemanly way at all. It then proceeds to infect the rest of the group. Until a lengthy and see-sawing showdown finally exhausts the blood and gore budget.
There are plenty of jump moments, nothing that you can't see coming, but which work pretty well. The special effects seem OK to me, for what appears to be a moderately budgeted film. If there's any deficit in quality, they certainly make up for it with quantity. The whole contents of a hardware store, various cooking implements and even the kitchen (well, bathroom) sink are deployed to get the gruesome jobs done. For me, it only just manages to balance on the edge between horror and slasher film.
Even in my limited experience, this movie accounts pretty well for itself in a genre where there is lots of really, really bad. There's nothing exceptional, and certainly nothing original, to speak of, but so long as you're prepared to live with the generic challenges (why would cheerleader go back - alone - into a small cabin occupied only by a raging, murderous demon?) I think Evil Dead does exactly what is asked of it.