Better than 'The Evil Dead'

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2004)

'Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn' is essentially a remake of the original 'The Evil Dead', extended and made more professionally and with more experience than the first.
Beginning with a short recap of the first movie, we join the sole survivor Ash. He is trapped in the cabin, slowly going mad as deadites torment him. Soon he is joined by Annie Knowby (the daughter of Professor Knowby, the archaeologist who recorded the incantations from the Necronomicon), Ed (Annie's boyfriend or something), a redneck named Jake and his girlfriend Bobbie Joe. Yup, Bobbie Joe...
Now the forest has more victims to claim, and it isn't long before the deadites are back in full force. At first it seems like a rehash of the first movie, but as the events progress you can tell it is smarter than the first. Essentially the same story, but the horror scenes are better and more varied than the first, more comedy, the special effects are much much better. We also get to see Ash progress from the terrified survivor to the Cult-God 'Army of Darkness' Ash that we all love. Bruce Campbell rules. Going from the scared-pretty boy, Ash turns into the deadite-killing, one-liner spitting, King of Awesomeness.
Hail to the King, baby. Sorry, wrong movie.
'Evil Dead II' - better than the first movie - 9/10, still not for the faint of heart.