'Evil Dead' is Not the Scariest Film You'll Ever See

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2013)

On a scale of 1 to 10, "Evil Dead" would be ranked somewhere in the middle. It wasn't good, but it wasn't horrendous either. It was a mediocre film when considering the standards for its genre.
Unfortunately, Fede Alvarez's "Evil Dead" didn't really have enough depth to make us properly feel anything for its characters. The attempt at a slightly emotional and connected character story is to be applauded; however, it still seemed to fall flat in many areas.
The beginning starts off with a recount of what happened earlier (perhaps a few years, but it's not clear) and a foreshadowing of what's to come. After, we cut to a cabin in the middle of the woods (because that's usually how the monsters, demons, and ghosts keep you away from civilization). Mia (Jane Levy) is trying to detox after a long battle with drug abuse with the help of her brother David and friends Eric, Olivia, and Natalie (Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, and Elizabeth Blackmore).
The friends find an evil book in a basement filled with dead cats. Curiosity getting the better of him, Eric reads an incantation from the book. Of course, once this happens, the rest of the film becomes a tiring wait to see who dies first.
A demon is summoned and possesses Mia and then systematically begins trying to possess and kill everyone else. It isn't really scary as much as it is extremely disgusting. There is plenty of gore, cutoff extremities, and creepy sounds that are pretty on par with several other horror movies. Unfortunately, "Evil Dead" doesn't harbor any story surprises and becomes really tedious as the same thing happens to each character and you're left wondering if the movie is over yet.
Elizabeth Blackmore's character is only there to serve as one of the souls that the demon must feast upon in order to rise. She has a few speaking lines and her best performance comes from the scene where she shoots her friends with a nail gun. All the character decisions at some point leave you shaking your head at their illogical actions and occasionally even the dialogue is lackluster.
"Evil Dead" only really makes sense in regards to why the demon chooses to possess Mia and not anyone else. Besides the obvious case of being the nearest one, Mia has the weakest will of all her friends and the demon catches her at a particularly vulnerable moment. On the other hand, the reason for the demon's existence or why it needs to possess a certain number of people is never explained nor is the reason why they decided to remake Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead" in the first place.
All in all, if you enjoy horror movies, a lot of blood and some creepy scenes, then "Evil Dead" is for you. Just remember not to expect too much out of it.
Grade: 2 out 5 Stars
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