The rare sequel that's an improvement on the original

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2007)

As much as I love "The Evil Dead," I still must admit that it's a pretty crude and rough around the edges film. Granted, it's the ragged quality of the original which gives the movie its raw power. That said, I just have to say that the sequel qualifies as a genuine improvement; it's a much more assured and polished piece of go-for-broke crazy film-making with better acting, stronger production values, more impressive special effects, and a wickedly hilarious sense of jet black gallows humor. Bruce Campbell encores as Ash, who once again finds himself trapped in a remote woodland cabin that's besieged by ferocious evil demonic forces. Director/co-writer Sam Raimi never lets the whiplash-inducing frantic pace falter for a minute, offering a nonstop roller coaster ride of beautifully bent, batty and berserk cinematic mayhem that gleefully assaults the viewer's senses from start to finish. Peter Deming's fluid, darting, hyperactive cinematography ensures that this picture is a complete dazzling visual treat throughout. Joseph Lo Duca's spooky'n'spirited score likewise hits the spot. Moreover, Raimi really pours on the outrageously excessive graphic gore (blood literally flies everywhere in several scenes). Gruesome gonzo highlights Ash being attacking by a headless body wielding a chainsaw, Ash's possessed hand breaking dishes over his head, and an eyeball flying into a screaming woman's mouth. Campbell delivers a wonderfully amusing and animated performance as the intrepid Ash; he receives excellent support from Sarah Berry as feisty anthropologist Annie Knowby, Dan Hicks as scruffy redneck Jake, Kassie Wesley as sassy hillbilly gal Bobbie Joe, and Ted Raimi as the hideously grotesque possessed Henrietta. Great ending, too. All in all, this baby sizes up as a total groovy blast.