Casey's Movie Mania: EVIL DEAD (2013)

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2013)

A horror fan's wet dream in term of its graphic violence and excessive gore display, but EVIL DEAD suffers from weak script and mostly forgettable characters.
Okay, if you ask any die-hard horror fans out there, you can bet your answer that the 1983's THE EVIL DEAD was one of the holy grail of all horror genres ever made. So naturally, when the filmmakers first announced the remake was greenlit, (everybody) are skeptical about the result. But before you cried blasphemy, Fede Alvarez's EVIL DEAD remake is surprisingly effective horror movie that will pleased (most) of the original fans as well as newcomers.
First-time feature director Fede Alvarez knows well that a great horror movie doesn't rely on extensive CGI when comes to gore and violence. So what you get here instead is a great deal of practical special and make-up effects that guarantees to make you twitchy or shocked in either ways. Nevertheless all the technical credits are top-notch. As a lead character Mia, Jane Levy delivers an engaging performance worthy of mention here.
Despite its added "Mia-has-to-overcome-her-heroin habit" angle, it's a shame that the plot doesn't scratch beyond its surface once the real horror kicks in. Apart from Mia, the rest of the supporting actors are mostly caricatures while Alvarez's choice to play his remake all dead serious rather than the uniquely campy tone set originally by Sam Raimi, is sometimes too depressing for its own good.
The new EVIL DEAD may not have lived up to Sam Raimi's iconic original as well as his 1987 sequel, but at least this is one of the rare horror remakes that doesn't feel like an overrated, cheap knockoff.
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