"Swallow This!"

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2008)

After a brief prologue that serves as half remake, half re-cap, "Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn" continues the unfortunate adventures of Ash (Bruce Campbell) and the demons that inhabit the cabin he once shared with his friends. Much more stylized and over-the-top than it's predecessor, "Evil Dead 2" is certainly not for everyone. However, if you've seen enough horror movies in your day and can recognize and appreciate pure entertainment when you see it, you'll have a blast with this sequel.
What is normally sacrilege for horror movies is a gift here. Forsaking a conventional plot, "Evil Dead 2" instead delivers shock after shock topped with mountains of gore, so much so that if it were real, any sane person would start vomiting. By the time we're well into the second act, the cabin is wall to wall with blood and the first film has officially been outdone. Don't be mistaken, however; this movie is not just gore for the sake of gore. It's always there to serve a punchline and to further stimulate the over-caffeinated vibe the movie has going for it. And if you thought the first movie was brutal, brace yourself, because its sequel doubles up on just about everything. To describe what happens in this movie doesn't do it justice. Hell, no mind-altering substance known to man can compete with "Evil Dead 2"!
Returning to his signature role, Campbell plays Ash quite differently than in the first film. Becoming the anti-hero, Ash whips out quotable line after quotable line, becoming an instant fan-boy favorite. Along with an ever-resilient Campbell, director Sam Raimi is back in the saddle and he's letting loose. For whatever reason, it seems like Raimi has more artistic confidence and less pressure and, in turn, delivers one of the purest, most unbridled horror film of the 80's. "Evil Dead 2" plays almost as a gift to horror fans who had become complacent and grown tired of the typical slasher fare of the 80's. Almost as an oasis of the genre, it's a movie that you can come to time and time again when you're not in the mood for anything in particular, but know you want to have a good time.