Roller Coaster Ride

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2016)

Evil Dead 2 was once again directed by Sam Raimi and it's supposedly a sequel to the original The Evil Dead, although I see this film as more of a remake of the original with a bigger budget and a different goal. The Evil Dead is one of my favorite films of all time, it's a film that took many chances and I respect Raimi for going through hell to create that project. Evil Dead 2 had about 10 times the budget of the original film, so is it good?
For the most part, I really like Evil Dead 2. It's a completely different film than the first one. The first one was actually trying to be creepy and campy. This one is a straight-up slapstick comedy with horror and gore elements in it. And it really works. For me, the first minutes of the film that are focused entirely on Ash are just as good or even better than the original. And for me, that's saying something. I know a lot of people prefer this over the original film and I can definitely see why. Ash becomes the iconic character people have grown to love and the film is just hilarious and crazy. Some things don't make any sense at all, but it's established by the tone of the film that it doesn't matter. However I do think this is a flawed movie, at least for me. And yes, I do prefer the first movie in the franchise and I'll explain why.
Ash is one of the coolest characters in movie history. He's funny and delivers some of the best One-Liners ever. Every second of the film he's in frame is gold. However, the film deviates into this subplot of other people getting in the cabin with Ash and for me personally, I don't like any of them. To the extent where I just want them to die, quickly. If the entire movie focused entirely on Ash, it would have been great. Instead, when these people reach the cabin, some of the focus is taken off him and it just hurts the movie for me. Also, in Evil Dead 2 there are many jump scares that seem to be there for the sake of being jump scares. In the original there were some, but they all felt earned and they came when the movie needed them. Here, they're just all over the place.
In my opinion, Evil Dead 2 feels more than a roller coaster ride than a movie. It's crazy, the gore is ludicrous and nothing really makes sense. Again, these are positives. However, I do believe the movie should have been entirely about Ash and they should have brought down the jump scares. But again, the costumes and makeup are amazing and the effects are great. The ending also pretty much sums up how insane this movie is. It's a flawed movie, but an entertaining and enjoyable one. Funny as hell, too. It's worth your time.
7.5/10