Not good, or bad. Just leaves you feeling that you've seen it all before...

Rating: 7/10 (2 July 2013)

...which of course, you have.
Now, I generally have decided to put up with remakes because, in some instances, better technology and effects can improve upon an old classic. Likewise, I've gotten used to "re-imaginings" of old movies for the same reason. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, if a remake has a lot of differences from the original, then I'm more happy, because it is more likely that I'll end up appreciating it. Slavish adherence to the original (True Grit, I'm looking at you!) is, as far as I'm concerned, a waste of time.
With Evil Dead, we have a franchise that started with a low-budget horror (Evil Dead), was remade into something cheesy (Evil Dead 2)and then spawned a sequel to that cheese (Army of Darkness). I'll admit, I like the Bruce Campbell camp movies the best of all.
With this new Evil Dead, there is no comedy. It is an out-and-out horror movie. If there is any humour to be derived from it, it is from watching how Fede Alvarez has dealt with some of the iconic scenes from the original(s). However, that is also where the problem lies.
Evil Dead is too close to the original for comfort. It isn't True Grit style cloning, but it leaves you (on first watching) with the feeling that you've seen it before. That ruins any real tension there is in the film. Not only does it allow you to figure out who will survive, but it allows you to correctly anticipate many of the scenes in the movie. All of which, naturally, lessens the enjoyment.
Iconic scenes, such as the cutting off of the hand, the chainsaw, the Necronomicon, the tree-rape and so on, are all present in this version and all utterly predictable if you've seen the originals.
I guess, if you have not seen those movies, then this comes across as a pretty decent film. But, if you have seen them, then this is just more of the same.
I'm not sure we really needed another Evil Dead movie about a cabin in the woods. It's decent, but I have to ask... why? Why not continue the franchise that already existed, even if you had to bring in new characters for that? Why redo the original films again? The worst sin, of course, is making it so like the originals that it doesn't stand out on its own. I think that is what irritates me most about this film. It didn't have the conviction to head off on its own. Even just a little bit of variance would have been nice. But no. Just more of the same.
SUMMARY: A decent horror flick but it will leave fans of the originals feeling a little disappointed, I feel.