Drug Addiction and The Evil Dead

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2013)

Where to start? My opinion, I suppose. The movie was good. I really did enjoy it on the surface, and really liked the subtext of the film. It retained a level of cheese that is consistent with the original film. And of course about as much blood as anyone could care to see in a movie. But why remake The Evil Dead? What is this film trying to tell us? That drug addiction and rehabilitation is a bitch! The main characters names are David, Eric, Mia, Olivia, and Natalie. If you turn these names into an acronym it can form an anagram to spell DEMON. M' Mia is at the middle of it all. We are told that the reason for coming to the cabin is to get Mia through the early stages of withdrawal. Mia throws the last of her drugs down a WELL so she can get WELL. The girl that she sees while being raped by the trees is herself. Im not sure if it's the same actress or not, but they do resemble one another. This resemblance is her addiction which she ultimately conquers and defeats at the end of the movie. There is a marijuana leaf on the wall between David and Mia during the bedroom scene when Mia says whatever was in the woods is here with them. We are told that her drug use medically killed her and she needed a defibrillator to resuscitate her back to life. This is also mirrored at the end of the movie. The syringes attached to the apparatus are apparently associated with heroine. Her necklace i.e. her will is broken and can be seen lying on the ground in the shape of a skull towards the end of the movie. After she is revived from death she uses her will to defeat her addiction. Many injuries are associated with habitual drug use. Natalie's arm rots to the point of amputation. Common with prolong heroine use. Olivia cuts her mouth and jaw with broken glass. Chewing tobacco contains fiberglass and causes mouth cancer. Eric gets stabbed in the eye with a syringe. Again the syringe could be a nod to heroine use. Could also be a reference to Mia's vow to stop using. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. This is definitely a movie I'll be seeing again. The blood, gore, and cheese that I love about the classic is abundant in this re-imagined nightmare. And I can't wait to decipher more subliminal messages that have to do with the subtext of substance abuse and recovery. See the movie!