Groovy! A lot of fun, even if it's not a masterpiece or anything

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2005)

A spawn of the same cult film pool as such diverse projects as "The Goonies" and "Donnie Darko," the "Evil Dead" series is similarly one popularized (and yes, to some extent overrated) by its endless legion of fans, most of whom were teenagers when the originals came out, and are now in their twenties and thirties. Each film separated by six years, "Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness" (or "Medieval Dead" as some fans enjoy referring to it as) all certainly hold a certain low-budget fanbase appeal. None of them did very well financially, at least not in theaters (particularly the third, which had the largest budget and flopped on initial release), but the same can be said for "Donnie Darko," the "flop" of 2001 that went on to do very well on video and has played continually at midnight showings across America, enticing new fans every day.
"Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn" stars Bruce Campbell as the returning Ash, the hapless hero who visits a remote wilderness cabin with his girlfriend only to inadvertently unleash the Deadites from another world. After his girlfriend is possessed and murdered by one of the demons, Ash finds himself fending for his life in the cabin and enduring endless physical pain.
This is a film set free of logic, cohesion, and reality. Ash murders his possessed girlfriend but never really seems to mourn his loss. Soon he's cutting off his own hand and doesn't really seem to miss it very much in the following scenes (he replaces it with a chainsaw  a clever idea that nevertheless is totally and utterly ridiculous). If I cut off my hand, I might be sort of upset, but not Ash  he doesn't really seem to mind, and it doesn't seem to hurt him very much, either, as he immediately wraps it in a bandage (which must have a magical effect, because blood never stains through the fabric). Furthermore, Ash never seems to fear death from blood loss, or the fact that when he returns to civilization, he might have a hard time convincing local authorities that he's not responsible for the murder of his girlfriend and the visitors who show up midway through the film and all proceed to quickly die painful deaths at the hands of the Deadites.
No matter. That's not the point of this film. "Evil Dead II" is pure fun, and nothing more. With this in mind, its strong fanbase comes across as being rather intimidating  visiting any "Evil Dead" message board will reveal some people who seem to thrive on this film, daily reciting quotes, acting out scenes, and dreaming up scenarios for the (pending) sequel "Army of Darkness II." That begs the question: Is "Evil Dead II" really deserving of its critical and public acclaim? Having been referenced by Jack Black in "High Fidelity" as the film you must see in order to stray away from devolving into a "movie idiot," "Evil Dead II" is a fun experience with a charismatic, energetic lead performance and a clever and witty script. Before I saw "EDII," Black's recommendation in "High Fidelity" ("there's so much blood!") was a joke -- a parody of the macho male "action, sex, nudity, loud music" attitude. After having seen "Evil Dead II" I realize that Black was right -- the blood and guts really do make it worth seeing  they almost become a punch line to the joke, such as when a body is dragged into a fruit cellar by a demon and a spew of excessive fake red water drenches the heroine as the corpse is churned into a million pieces.
So, no, it's not a masterpiece and it probably isn't quite deserving of its strong reputation. It's that type of movie, where you kind of enjoy it for the cheese factor  and don't try to heavily criticize its flaws, because to do that would be way too easy. And obvious.
The film is more of a remake than a sequel, recapping the events of the first film, dropping three characters, and generally picking up somewhere in the middle. For example in the original "Evil Dead" Ash stumbles upon the Book of the Dead, and he does so again in this movie. Many events are totally re-filmed as if they never occurred. It's a rare beast of a sequel  somewhere oddly in between continuation and smug self-parody.
I personally prefer the original "Evil Dead" if only because I find the horror elements stronger and the "comedy" far less goofy (if there are even any traces of comedy in the original at all). "Evil Dead II" goes a bit too far sometimes  the dancing furniture is lame, for example.
However, no one can say this series lacks originality. Instead of presenting us with a banal representation of the original film, director Sam Raimi reunites with Campbell and creates a whole new beast  packed with excessive physical humor (think: ultra-violent Three Stooges on a macabre level), self-parody, tongue-in-cheek humor, and what Campbell himself described as "splatstick" comedy. On top of that, Campbell is much better here than he was in the original (where he seemed to be a pale shade and more cowardly version of the typical action hero persona)  Ash is still somewhat of a coward but Campbell lends his character a great sense of irony here that if anything only establishes Ash as one of cinema's most iconic characters.
Overall, "Evil Dead II" is a really fun ride, with a superior performance from Campbell. It may not be on the same level as the original in terms of horror or just general enjoyment, but it's still a blast. Groovy, baby!