A quite shiny turd

Rating: 7/10 (29 September 2013)

Remakes are per definition turds no one should watch really. No point in making a movie again that was good to begin with. What's the point? I do however support "remakes" if the director intents to use the basic story into a different film altogether. I had NO hopes for "Evil Dead", and my expectations were lower than low. I actually tend to boycott remakes, and I never pay to watch them.
But you see, what Fede Alvarez did here, was to take the basic plot and make the horror horrifying and chose to leave out the comedy and charm of the original. I must say, it works VERY well indeed. The first half of the movie is truly terrifying and creepy, and although it does work all the way through, the last half tends to lean to the pacing of mainstream Hollywood horror. But it never falls flat and it never gets boring. Alvarez even succeeds in using what made the original a trailblazer - the energetic cinematic brilliance, the panoramic shots and the ooze of dark terror and panic in the ambient atmosphere, all of which makes you think of the Sam Raimis and Peter Jacksons of yesteryear.
It's just about impossible to make the same impact on horror audience here some 30 years later, but Alvarez just about nailed if if you ask me.