It's all about the chainsaw...

Rating: 10/10 (28 September 2004)

Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell come back to the woods to try and capture what made the prequel so great, and almost succeed. I prefer it's predecessor, but that is not to say this is not a good film. The reason is not because this is an inferior film, they're just very different. The original had vomit-inducing ultra-violence and shriek-inducing scares and thrills with a tad of black comedy thrown in here and there. This is the exact opposite, where the scares and violence are toned down, but the comedy and camp value has been scaled up.
For reasons that don't make any sense to me whatsoever, ED2's first ten minutes or so are a recap and mild remake of the first, supposedly due to the fact that Raimi could not get permission to use footage from the original to put in this sequel. I don't know about you, but I don't see how that's necessary. Rarely do sequels include exact footage from the original, even more rarely is it needed. So for what it's worth, I've heard all of the reasons and it just doesn't add up. Fortunately though, this doesn't matter much and does not take away from the film as a whole...it's just not exactly a sequel and not exactly a remake. But it is, exactly, a very entertaining film.
Now what I do prefer in this film compared to the original is that the characters act in ways that are slightly more plausible. The first film had me screaming at the screen trying to help out the characters. Don't go outside, look behind you, and for God's sake, get the damn chainsaw and go to town on those nasties! Saw their friggin' heads in half! Here, my voice was saved a bit as Ash must've heard my advice from earlier and decides to bust out the bad boy flesh eating zombie stomper and shred their minion asses into oblivion. Never have chainsaws been so much fun.
We are also treated to the same wild and uninhibited camera work from Raimi, something that made the original stand apart from the rest of the genre for that attribute alone. Raimi does not disappoint here. His frenzied technique fits perfectly and he knows it. Watching the Darkness from the woods chase Ash as he tries to escape into and through the house is truly an awesome sight. As for the camp value, unless you're dead, you'll find some humorous elements here amongst the insane absurdity. And I will state, for the record, that I enjoy this film's ending much more than the original's.
A delightful addition to the horror/comedy genre, and a different although worthy sequel/remake. If you liked the original, you'll find something interesting herein.