Now I understand the mixed reviews!

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2013)

Just got home from watching Evil Dead and it's only now that I understand why it has received such split opinion.
First of all, Evil Dead is a great, entertaining modern horror film - fact!
What Evil Dead doesn't do so successfully is capture the original's creepy, cursed-like atmosphere - fact!
So, if you score this about around a 7, 8 or 9 out of 10 I totally get it - and I'm with you. If however, you scored this a 5 or under, I think it's likely because you expected the film to reflect the original's notoriously creepy, low budget, relentless fright fest quality. Even the original's hammy acting aided it's atmosphere - I still rate the original "The Evil Dead" in my top 2 or 3 horror films of all time.
Unfortunately, though I really enjoyed Evil Dead from beginning to end, I have to admit, I really, really wanted the film to creep me out in the same way the original did in the 80's - but it didn't, and that's the problem. Still, I gave this a solid 8 out of 10 as it is probably the very best out of all horror remakes of the last 20 years. Evil Dead looks and sounds great, the acting is decent, there's plenty of respect and nods to the original and there's gallons of blood!
...And when was the last time that happened? Not perfect, but I enjoyed every minute!