Groovy!

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2001)

EDII is a wacked out horror-comedy, and definitely not for all tastes. In fact, the first time I saw it many years ago, I thought it was stupid. I was into "serious" horror films at the time and didn't appreciate the humor in it. It's almost a satire of the horror genre, even of the original Evil Dead. Years later I was able to appreciate it for what it is. If you approach it with this in mind, it's a scream of a good time. The original Evil Dead film was scarier, but the only humor in it was unintentional, ie: incredibly bad acting, super cheesy FX. In EDII, we get better acting and better FX, still cheesy but they fit the tone of the film. The gore is so over the top it's hilarious!What really makes the film is Sam Raimi's camera work and Bruce Campbell's crazed acting and brilliant physical comedy. The bit with the evil hand is just classic.
Folks who gripe about plot holes and the like: loosen up, it's just a cheesy horror movie. You're taking it way too seriously. It's really a marvelous piece of work for a relatively low budget film, and there's a reason why it's earned such a cult following and is held in such high esteem by many in the business: it's full of creativity.
There's been a lot of controversy over the story not matching up with the first film. Here's my take on it: It's not really a sequel. Ash didn't go back to the cabin. The events at the first of EDII are a recap of what happened in the first ED film, for people who didn't see it, but EDII is meant to stand on it's own. Army of Darkness is the sequel to EDII, so there are really only two films in the 'series', not three. I think the original Evil Dead is just a 'demo' if you will, of what Raimi really had in mind. Personally, I'm glad he increased the humor and decreased the hard core gore a bit, it makes it more entertaining. The last time I tried to watch the original Evil Dead, I could barely finish it, it was so bad. Of the three Evil Dead films, this one is hands down my favorite.
The DVD of this is great, especially the commentary, one of the best I've heard. Buy it.