Evil Dead - An interesting re-imagining

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2013)

The Evil Dead, of course, needs no introduction. It was a infamous horror movie that sparked much controversy for its outlandish violence and gore. And not forgetting the famous tree rape scene which gained much attention.
The movie gained cult status during the Video Revolution, even receiving the honour of becoming a "Video-Nasty" in the UK.
Its low budget style, charming simplistic story, absurd gore, camp tone, not to mention publicity helped make it a horror classic that spawned two equally excellent sequels
It also featured a young, then-unknown Bruce Campbell who would later go down in history as one of the best B-Movie actors of all time.
So, it's no wonder why Fans were in such outrage and panic when they heard the terrifying news of a remake.
Good news, The Evil Dead fans should fear not for as remakes of classic horror movies go, Evil Dead is actually very good.
It's a refreshing, unique re-imagining of the groovy little gem.
A more serious, darker toned film, that still keeps the over the top, ludicrous gore from the original.
The serious tone helps create a more intense atmosphere. No fun goofy Evil Dead II goodness or the camp tone of the original here.
The style of the film is very moody and very grim, creating a uneasy tension before the nightmare has even begun.
The characters have a decent amount of depth, that little extra more than the original, but in movies like this, character is the last thing on many of the viewers minds.
A genius move was the new characters, a perfect way to explore the new story without being bound to the original and no fear of annoying fans if there's a certain difference to their personality or a change in their fate
I'm sure fans would have been outraged if the iconic Ash was portrayed in a different light and met a different fate
Not to mention fans would always compare the new actors performance to the legendary Bruce Campbell
So it's a good thing they created new protagonists, no need to walk in its predecessors shadow in that light.
That said, the movie tends to be held back at times, unable to reach brave new territory by the fact that it's a remake. It could have explored more back story of the Book of the Dead, explained its new origin, the new lore. Keep the basic premise but break away more from the traditions, did new, exciting things. Have more grotesque, imaginative scenes with the Deadites, push the boundaries of horror. It's 2013, they could have shown the most sickening, spine tingling, frightening things these monsters are capable of. The grisly end of the creatures could have spun heads.
However, there are some very disturbing scenes that made me and many others in the audience cringe but they were no different from the dismemberment you'd see in the every day average torture porn movie or slasher.
One thing that made the original so refreshing was it's bizarre gore sequences, that back then seemed so revolutionary.
There weren't many horror movies where you witnesses a brutal slaying by an axe, or hand mutilation, or even impalement that resulted in Alien- Esq milk spurting.
The remakes gore could have raised the bar for the generation of today like the first did for the generation of yesterday.
A concept I found rather interesting was the main character Mia who is trying hard to go cold turkey in a desperate attempt to kick her drug addiction. A fresh take on the cliché: lets go to the deserted house or cabin in the woods, have a few beers, get laid and get killed by the madman, monster scenario that has been done to death, a cliché that was spoofed perfectly in 2011's The Cabin in the Woods.
It added a new layer of depth for the characters, a drama that sadly never reaches its full potential, but what is shown is enough for this kind of movie.
A daring and interesting direction the director should have went with was a psychological one, have a film that played on the idea of her withdrawal symptoms, made a story that toyed with the audience, made you wonder if the things she was seeing was really happening or all a delusion in her head.
Have her fight her own personal demons, make the Deadites a representation of her struggles.
Even be so daring to have had a twist where it all as a dream in the end, or to play it a little more safe, in a triumphant spiritual conclusion, shown that it was all real and that by conquering the Deadites, Mia had conquered her addiction.
All interesting possibilities that are unfortunately never utilised. Once the madness of The Evil Dead begins, it enters demon slaying territory and stays firmly dug in there until the very end.
The psychological aspects from the original is lacking here in the remake in favour for ultra violence and while that is a disappointment, lovers of gore SFX and buckets of fake blood will have a field day at the sinister delights that await them.
The prosthetic effects are a nice change from the lazy, unconvincing CGI blood and gore that dominates practically all modern day movies.
At the end, I found it leaving me feeling like they could have done a little more.
All in all, it's a dark, trashy, over the top, ultra violent horror movie that is certainly not for the faint of heart.
It's definitely worth checking out. For Evil Dead fans and gore hounds alike.