Hail to the king, baby.

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2004)

I never saw the first Evil Dead, and I plan to, but I did see Dead by Dawn. HOLY FISHSTICKS BATMAN! I've never seen anything quite like this. Geniously fusing horror with comedy (not to mention Bruce Campbell's trademark one-liners), you've got yourself one freakishly enjoyable splat-fest.......And if you can't tell by my enthusiasm for this movie already, that's a good thing.
From what I've heard (darn you all who have seen the first movie!!!!!), Evil Dead II is essentially a remake of the first, but going to a less darker, less scarier tone. The comedy has been upped though.
The overall story is this: Ash (Bruce Campbell) and girlfriend Linda go to the infamous abandoned cabin for a weekend alone, in director Sam Raimi's trademark beat-up Oldsmobile (in practically every one of his films, with the exception of "The Quick and the Dead"....Cause you wouldn't see one of those in the 1800's...). Ash discovers the Necrimonicon, the book of the dead, and its ritual dagger, and makes the mistake of playing the reel-to-reel tape of the owner of the cabin reciting verses....Which (surprise!) awakens the evil spirits and captures Linda. After trying to destroy Ash, it's off with her head, and I'd give everything away if I said any more.
Surprisingly, more people know about this film then the landmark original, which sparked as much controversy as it did acclaim (it was personally reccomended by Stephen King), and one-upped the original by boasting a bigger budget, better acting by the front man (Bruce Campbell even admitted that in the first film he was still perfecting his acting skills and may have gone a little overboard), tongue-in-cheekiness, and an overabundance of gore, which all horror fans should be happy to hear.
So, before I ramble on till Kingdom come, go and watch this movie. You won't regret it.