A Strong Attempt

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2013)

I feel the people that review this without knowledge of the original are polluting its rating because they're viewing it as just a horror film without a previous history.
Clearly, it lacks the dark humor that was so great about the original movie. The original was scary and really funny and the make-up was incredible for the 80s. The original also had a distinct indie feel with shots that you'd see in some college kid's art film. Some of the shots in the original were incredible and that scene with Bruce Campbell and the mirror was so cool.
What I'm trying to say is it's not as good as the original but it nowhere near a horrible attempt. Why I feel it's not getting rave reviews is because it's not original anymore, so people seeing it for the first time without knowledge that there's an original will just see it as another generic horror film.
The best part was of course the make-up and prosthetics. It ditched the all CGI look in favor of trying to replicate it in real life which made it much better. The deaths were gruesome and at some points disturbing but as other reviewers might point out, it didn't have that gratuitous gore like the original. The biggest letdown for me was the scene when the nurse was in the shower and the long haired teacher goes to check up on her. The buildup was incredible and people were squirming in their seats just anticipating what could happen but all we were given was some weak cut on her cheek. Really dropped the ball there as that could have been one of the most gruesome parts of the movie.
The setting was like the original, it was creepy and the basement scenes were disturbing but I don't know, as I write this I don't really recall paying much attention to the setting but it provided the adequate atmosphere and didn't do anything but enhance the film. I didn't steal the film like some movies in which the setting plays a huge role such as the claustrophobic environment of The Descent.
The acting was okay, it wasn't horrible but they weren't the best. The best in my opinion was the withdrawing drug addict girl who was possessed. It's your typical horror in which there's a lot of screaming and yelling but who watches horror films for the acting? The hippie teacher provided some laughs with some of his lines and actions, he was like the bad ass of the film since he took such a beating. Overall, it's your typical horror film actors but better than most which is good.
What I loved about this was that everything now had a reason. They had a reason, albeit a weaker one, to be there. They had a reason not to take her to a hospital since the nurse character was able to provide the same care they would though where she got the medications is left to our imagination. They have a reason not to believe her when she talks about being attacked in the forest because she's suffering withdrawals. Forgive me for this as I still love the original, but it feels like many things were just for the sake of furthering the film because so many decisions were without any logic or reason. The new one tries to give motive for all of the actions taken by the character and I feel they did a great job.
They also did a great job with morality and mind games. In the original, Campbell's internal conflict with his possessed girlfriend was incredibly powerful. In this new one, there are many scenes like this such as the end and with the main character's girlfriend. The ending resurrection was kind of hokey but it was needed for the great ending so it wasn't so bad. It did provide the inner conflict described above but it was nowhere near as powerful since from the way he "prepared" her for burial we knew she would be back. The scene in which the demon leaves his girlfriend's body after all the harm she went through was actually sad. This one actually provided a more powerful sense of inner conflict, really what would you do in that situation?? Sitting next to my girlfriend while watching really intensifies the sadness and conflict he must have felt so in my opinion it was effectively used to convey the emotion of that situation.
tl;dr:
Pros:
-Great use of prosthetics and make-up. Sufficiently creepy setting. Acting wasn't bad enough to detract from the film in my opinion. Motives and reasoning behind actions are clearly defined
Cons:
-Not as funny as I'd like. Not super scary but then again, neither was the original. Missing the gore!!!
Overall:
It was a faithful reproduction of a great film that I'm sure fans of the original will enjoy but newcomers might have a hard time appreciating it. It benefited from a bigger budget and cleaner camera work but that kills its originality since the shots used were so typical. The original contained cool shots all done by hand since they didn't have a huge budget. In the end, it's better than most reproductions of older movies. It's nothing like the abominations that are the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Jason remakes that only care about sex and hot girls. This one was taken seriously and with care as to not butcher it. If you can put up with immature people laughing at serious parts and making dumb ass comments to try and get a laugh out of everyone then go see it in theaters. Though if you want to have a serious viewing audience with some friends who loved the original then avoid the theaters and wait for a rent.