NOT the most terrifying film you'll ever experience.

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2013)

5 friends go up to a cabin in the woods to help one of them detox from some drugs. Going cold turkey proves to be more difficult when the uncover an ancient book of the dead, which is bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. When one reads from the pages, it unleashes an evil so grotesque and profound that nothing can stop it. Of course, someone reads from it....
Let me tell you where this review is coming from. I LOVE the original to death, it's my favourite horror film of all time. I've seen the red band trailer and I read the script, so I knew exactly what was going to happen. Did that hinder my enjoyment of the film? A bit, knowing some twists in the narrative makes the film lose some freshness, but I don't think the decision to stay true to the script was not all that great a choice. The film is a flawed attempt from people who love the source material. I can still give this remake a passing grade.
Where the film excels is the most obvious point I or anyone else will make in their reviews. The practical effects, mainly the gore. With only a few noticeable scenes in CGI blood, this film decides to use the gore that most horror fans are use to. It looks real, feels real and is actually refreshing to see. People were sad about the news of an Evil Dead remake until the RedBand trailer came out and they saw the carnage on screen. Most of the 'shocking' gore bits are in the trailer (tongue slice, face saw, arm cut, etc) So I don't think there will be a lot of surprises here, but they excel at presenting it in such an over the top, yet serious fashion.
The film looks great with some nice camera movements that add to the unsettling atmosphere. Once the crap hits the fan, it's a no holds barred blood fest. This remake plays it straight, offering little to no camp that can be found in the original series. There are obvious winks and nods to the original, involving chainsaws, hands and tweaked famous lines, but for the most part this entry tries to separate itself from the original. This is where it succeeds and fails in my opinion.
The reason they are there is a nice little way of keeping them there. One character has to detox from drugs, so obviously she will be the first one who senses something is wrong here but no one will believe her cause she's coming down from the drugs. This is the little bit of character background they try to squeeze in. This film is not concerned so much with character backstories, yet they try to present some to the audience. It makes for an odd and slow build up for the carnage. When it hits, we don't care about any of them either. I even forgot that the girlfriend was there because she disappears for most of the first act only to show up for her own gruesome scene.
The film is not scary at all. I was terrified of the original, this one didn't even have me jump at those cheap jump scares. I was scared of the cellar in Raimi's version. Here I think it is just gross. That's the main theme the film wants to get across it seems. It wants to gross you out, not terrify you, not make you smile, not make you care about anyone, just make you squirm at the blood. I have to give the film props for at least trying to separate itself from the original by making the story a bit of its own thing. Whether or not this works is another story. The one giant misstep, in my opinion, is when they try to make the evil and actual thing. The book reads that HE is coming, HE wants your soul, etc. The evil should not be characterized by a single demonic entity. I always envisioned the evil dead as multiple dead scary things. This is one direction that the film takes to separate itself, it fails in that aspect.
Finally, the climax of the film. There is one scene just before the climax, I have to add, which is mind boggling dumb. I was rolling my eyes reading the script and had hopes they would change it, they don't. Never before has the evil been so easily defeated and never more have I been so disappointed at a story choice. After that we get a bit of a character shift and the climax is a bloody mess. Again, this chase sequence feels less Evil Dead and more Friday the 13th stalker-ish. While it is thrilling to watch and ending with a bang, it feels out of place.
This Evil Dead is gruesome, but some fun is to be had. A flawed remake that could have been so much worse. For those interested, there is a little after the credits bit that, even though feels half-assed, is a nice fan service moment.