I have mixed feelings, but I still found it fairly entertaining

Rating: 5/10 (8 January 2003)

This movie kind of lost me from the get-go, since I was wondering why the hell Ash would go back to this cabin, after all that happened in the first "Evil Dead." Now I'm reading that this was actually supposed to be a remake of the first "ED." Why a director would want to remake his own movie, I don't know, but I'm sure all the "Evil Dead" enthusiasts out there could come up with some logical reasoning behind the creation of this sequel, so I won't get too much into it.
The scenes in the opening go by like flashes of lightning, and sometimes the effects are too overwhelming to digest. Raimi obviously had a bigger budget, so it seemed like he wanted to take full advantage of this bigger budget, but at times he just gets way over the top.
But I became more engaged in the film when the additional characters came into play. Like the first "ED" I wish it could've had a little more plot, but also like the first "ED" I sensed Sam's joy in making the film. Like a teenager making a student film, he jumps at any chance to create visuals that'll make the audience go "Wow." And there are some truly original visual sequences, which combine his knack for visuals and slapstick comedy. The scene where Bruce beats up on himself is classic. I also loved it when Bruce, armed with his chainsaw, uttered the line "Groovy." And if you're looking to buy the DVD, it has a great commentary track that's definitely worth checking out!
All in all, I still won't regard this as a "good" film, but it has its moments and serves as pretty good entertainment. But I still wish Raimi could've tempered himself a little bit with the f/x sequences.

My score: 5 (out of 10)