To Have and Hand Not

Rating: 4/10 (30 March 2005)

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is a splashier, dare I say, more sophisticated re-make/sequel of the original Evil Dead. It is not a true sequel as it revisits basically much of what happened in the original but only changing things around. Things are changed around enough; however, to clearly make this a different film and not a true remake. At any rate, this aspect of the film was interesting to me. Now, confessedly I was not a huge fan of the original Evil Dead. I didn't think it was a bad movie nor a real good one either. I do understand why so many people love it, but I admitted then - and now - that this type of material is just not my cinematic cup of tea. Bruce Campbell(again playing Ash) and his girlfriend wend their way over the river and through the woods to some cabin in the remotest part of nowhere - where only weeks before an Archaeologist(something like that) and his wife were staying decoding the book of the dead(Necrominicon(?)). I did like the obvious homage to Lovecraft. Anyway, Campbell arrives, plays a tape revealing the words that wake the evil dead, and his girlfriend quickly dies, only to come back and lose her head, be chainsawed, and dance(through a type of clay-mation) naked in the woods with her headless torso and head in hand. All of this happens in the first ten minutes or so into the film. From there, Campbell begins his one man comedy/horror show. He is about as big a slice of ham you will find. Obviously, more people come - and die - and there is a neat ending to the film which opens for another sequel(Army of Darkness). Campbell breathes some life into this movie creating a frenetically eerie, over-the-top performance of Ash, a man having lost his hand by cutting it off himself still having a sense of humour and seeming to fear nothing(including in his performance). Director Sam Raimi shows us why he became a big league director. He has talent. He still is using a small budget in comparison to what an A-list film would take. You can't tell watching this. Raimi gets the most out of everything(and even more with Campbell). He also creates some innovative camera shots - uses a lot of the same shots from the first Evil Dead - and paces his film with a high energy that will make you jump a lot. That all notwithstanding, I like a little more meat to my story. I like a bit more logic - not just fun. That is why again I will say that Evil Dead 2 is not a bad film, not a great one, but just not my kind of film. I am ecstatic that so many people enjoy mindless violence in rural areas with chainsaws, cleavers, etc...but it's just not me. For me, I just didn't find Evil Dead 2...all that Groovy! I did prefer it though to the original. This one is a bit more fun and doesn't have nearly as much screaming. The best part - hands down - was when Campbell, after having taken his hand off, places a bucket over it to restrain it and then puts a bunch of books on top. The top book was Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. Now that was clever!