Evil Dead

A long, long time ago when CGI was a thing of wonder; a toy that only the most experienced filmmakers were allowed to play with, director Sam Raimi and his good friend Bruce Campbell created The Evil Dead, a low-budget horror film that shocked and amazed critics and fans alike. Now, just over 30 years later, Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez (with Raimi and Campbell as producers) has made what its poster describes as ‘the most terrifying film you will ever experience’: a remake of the original, simply titled Evil Dead. 

 The premise is simple: five friends are terrorised by the spirits of the dead in a cabin in the woods. Mia (played by Suburgatory’s Jane Levy) is the film’s focus, a girl who suffers from a serious drug addiction and has asked her brother David and three expendable friends (all you need to know is that the initials of their first names spell DEMON) to keep her company while she goes cold turkey. After a quick trip into the cellar on arrival they find the fabled Necronomicon: a book wrapped in barbed wire and bound in what looks like human skin, which, unsurprisingly, they read from.  

   As with most horror remakes, the charm of the original has completely vanished. Tongue is always in cheek when watching Raimi’s classic, but with Evil Dead nothing is ever particularly funny; the horror-comedy genre is left far behind and you get the feeling that Alvarez is seriously trying to create the scariest film ever made. Does he succeed? Not even close. The film just seems to be a succession of increasingly disgusting self-mutilations; something that isn’t entirely a bad thing, but it’s safe to say there’ll be more wincing in the cinemas than screaming. There are certainly a few moments of terror – and this is largely due to Jane Levy’s ability to pull the most disturbing faces imaginable – but it lacks the low-budget, paper-maché atmosphere that makes the original such a thrill to watch.

   What must be applauded though, is Alvarez’s complete disregard for CGI. Nowadays any old film can afford a few computer graphics, no matter the budget (watch Birdemic for proof), so to actually make a film that features double the amount of gore than in all the Saw movies combined without even a single green screen is actually very impressive – and there’s plenty of arm-slicing, cheek-gouging and nail guns in the face to be getting on with.    

 Also praiseworthy is that Evil Dead doesn't rely too heavily on the original; the references are there for fans to pick out, but they certainly don’t weigh the film down. The plot isn't even an exact copy - the inclusion of Mia’s drug problem is topical and also provides a legitimate reason for actually staying in the cabin in the first place; after she rushes in screaming and covered in blood, her friends simply attribute her behaviour to ‘crazy withdrawal symptoms’ and leave it at that (of course, they quickly change their minds when she starts slicing her tongue in half). If you take a step back Evil Dead is really not a bad film for its genre, especially when compared to the recent Texas Chainsaw 3Ds and Paranormal Activity clones we've been subjected to; it may not be as revolutionary as its predecessor but at least it’s not afraid to try.