REVIEW: Evil Dead

Evil Dead (2013): Dir. Fede Alvarez. Written by: Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues. Based on The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi. Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore. Rated R (Endless brutal gore). Running time: 92 minutes.

3 ½ stars (out of four)

Given the recent spate of tired horror retreads, you will be forgiven for assuming that Evil Dead, a remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult classic schlockfest The Evil Dead, is another attempt to cannibalize and dismember a beloved horror franchise by taking only its name and leaving behind its heart and soul. But Evil Dead is far from an uninspired hack job. Scene by scene, from its blisteringly over-the-top opening to its certifiably insane finale, Evil Dead makes a forceful case for its own existence: A horror movie need not break new ground or reinvent the genre in order to feel fresh and new. It just needs to be bigger and badder and better than its peers.

Compare Evil Dead with last year’s The Cabin in the Woods, which was more of a genre deconstruction, pointing out its clichés as they happened. That film was undeniably clever but also kind of smug and I prefer Evil Dead’s classicist approach. Director Fede Alvarez, who co-wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues, revels in the contrivances of the plot. The story is of course familiar but rarely is it told with such zeal.

Five doomed twentysomethings meet at a dilapidated shack in the middle of the woods for a weekend retreat. The trip is actually an intervention for Mia (Jane Levy), whose heroin habit, we learn, has nearly killed her. Joining her for moral support as she tries to get clean is her estranged brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) who left her years earlier to single-handedly take care of their dying mother.

The cabin was a family vacation spot for Mia and David in happier times and it has no doubt seen better days. There never used to be, for example, dozens of dead cats hanging from the basement ceiling, not to mention the stench of burnt hair, the loaded shotgun and an ominous book sealed shut by barbed wire. Leave it to their know-it-all friend (Lou Taylor Pucci) to crack the thing open, start reading aloud and awaken an ancient evil.

There aren’t many surprises in Evil Dead, at least not in the broad strokes of the story, but what makes it so effective is its relentlessness. Once the demonic activity gets under way (and the film wastes very little time getting there), it keeps building momentum, getting wilder and crazier. And despite the presence of two attractive but thoroughly expendable beauties (Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore), the movie is notably devoid of sex.

Evil Dead focuses its energies instead on its unrelenting gore. The violence is extreme but pitched at just the right level of ridiculousness to elicit laughter from the audience amidst the disgusted screams and shocked gasps. The various bodily mutilations in the film have the same anatomical graphicness of torture porn but Evil Dead has none of the mean-spiritedness that marks those films. Fede Alvarez comes from that school of horror that combines well-made prosthetics with gallons of fake blood all in the pursuit of a trashy good time. This is the same school Sam Raimi came from and judging by Mr. Raimi’s producer credit on this film, Mr. Alvarez’s approach must have met his approval.

Fede Alvarez and his team delight in some wonderfully nasty details that take Evil Dead up a notch in terms of pure horror craftsmanship. Take one scene, where a character vomits an unholy torrent of blood on another, and notice how chunks of god-knows-what linger in the recipient’s hair for the remainder of the scene, making for a disgustingly hilarious sight gag. Or listen on the soundtrack to the wail of what sounds like an air raid siren, used during a few select moments of terror.

Also crucial to the film’s success is a breakout performance from Jane Levy. She is a remarkably versatile actress, playing the tormented and the possessed tormentor at different points, and is the clear standout in a cast of cardboard cutouts. (A lack of depth in the other characters is not exactly the actors’ faults, though I could have used a little more charisma from Shiloh Fernandez who gets the bulk of screen time in the film’s midsection). And while Ms. Levy is hardly Bruce Campbell, the star of The Evil Dead and its two ultra-campy sequels, she does help the movie maintain that delicate balance between horror and comedy.

I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun squirming in my seat, wincing at the screen and smacking my girlfriend’s arm. I had a blast at this one.

- Steve Avigliano, 4/8/13

2009 So Far

2009 is more than half way done and it’s been a pretty good summer for movies with more good stuff to come. Here are a few thoughts that ran through my head in the last few months about some movies that I haven’t yet written about on this site. I’ve designated special awards for each.

The Gypsy Curse Award: Drag Me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell was the most fun I’ve had at the movies all year so far. Taking a break from the Spiderman films (probably for the best after a disappointing Spidey 3), Sam Raimi returned to his campy horror roots with a film that revels in its own over-the-top gory glory. The music on the jump scares is cranked to 11, the blood spurting gets the Monty Python seal of approval, and the talking goat box is decisively checked off. There’s a great scene where, in a tense moment, Raimi slowly zooms in on his star (Alison Lohman) only to cut back to a wider shot, zooms in again, cuts back, zooms in again, cuts back… He does this up to five times before we realize he’s just teasing the audience. This is the work of a horror movie junkie having unabashed fun with his own film, taking every disgusting moment too far and then a little more. It’s funny, scary and a great time, even if the ending can be spotted a few scenes away.

The I Wish It Didn’t Have Talking Dogs Award: Up

The opening twenty minutes-or-so of Up are utterly perfect and had tears in my eyes, but about half way through, the movie goes from a great film, to merely a very good kids film. Up has the feel of a great Pixar short that was stretched into a full length, becoming more conventional animated fare along the way. The ending returns to the sweet sentiments of the opening, and I left the theater satisfied even if I wasn’t too excited. Note: I saw Up in 3-D and I officially declare this 3-D craze not worth the extra $3. Computer animation is impressive enough on its own, and I see no need for the extra dimension.

The Don't Get Carried Away Award: Star Trek and The Hangover

This one is a tie between two movies that I’m happy to see have done tremendous box office, but if I may play devil’s advocate I’d like to clear the hype-dust from these movies.

I was never pumped to see Star Trek, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It’s a very entertaining film that retained the nerd appeal of the franchise while also bringing that appeal to a broader audience. (My initial prediction that the film would satisfy neither the geeks nor the masses was majorly wrong.) Star Trek gets a lot of things right, but it’s a little long and all the back-story exposition becomes tiresome. Still, I’m looking forward to the next installment when the writers won’t need to worry about such matters.

The Hangover delivered several big laughs with chuckles throughout, and it felt great to see a good comedy that didn’t have Judd Apatow’s name attached. Zach Galifianakis has also emerged as “the next big thing” and deservedly so – most if not all of the best jokes here are his. But a very funny movie does not equate to “the funniest movie ever,” a label I’ve heard used in conjunction with The Hangover. It was refreshingly funny; let’s leave it at that.

The Fuck You, McG Award: Terminator Salvation

I left the theater feeling under-whelmed, disappointed and, frankly, a little bored by the movie I had seen. Over the next few days, my disappointment festered inside my nerd gland, becoming nothing short of hatred for Terminator Salvation. It wasn’t long before I found myself loathing every frame of the movie from Christian Bale’s monotone voice to the cringe-inducing “romance.” Of course, the film isn’t nearly as bad as I’m making it out to seem. In fact, it’s a perfectly functional and disposable special effects showcase that just happens to have the Terminator logo branded on it. Remember how much fun the first two films were? This one is a stone-faced action flick, all washed-out grays and browns, without a shred of fun to its silly name (where’s the Salvation, anyways?). It’s unfocused, neglecting to offer the audience not one good villain, but instead, a host of faceless giant machines and thinking motorcycles for our heroes to fight. Director McG has plenty of ambition, but no creativity. Worst of all however how is how the once badass Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn in the first film) has been reduced to a teenaged wuss here. The film ends with a helicopter ride into the sunset (Jurassic Park anyone?) implying a sequel. You can count me out of that one.

- Steve Avigliano, 8/02/09