Gory resurrection
If you see only one bodily dismemberment movie this year, see Evil Dead. If you see only one demon resurrection movie this year, see Evil Dead.
Whew! Those opening sentences are a stretch, kind of like Evil Dead itself. It’s two-thirds of a great horror movie. Even though it loses steam during the finale, it’s a wild, goofy, impossibly bloody ride.
For those unfamiliar with The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi’s original gore classic —yes, that Sam Raimi, the guy who directed Oz the Great and Powerful—this faithful but original remake by director Fede Alvarez may seem like just another splatter-fest. For those of us who just may be considered fanboys of Raimi’s horror oeuvre, it’s been a long wait for this new version.
Bad news: Evil Dead isn’t great. It’s not particularly original—it is, after all, a remake, and Raimi’s movie doesn’t have an original story, either. The Evil Dead, the original, does have innovative visual ideas and genuine scares. This update shares that spirit, even if in this day and age every horror trope has been covered in every horror movie.
Still, it’s fun. Evil Dead opens with a backstory, something that doesn’t happen in Raimi’s original. And this backstory isn’t much, just the idea that all this evil has gone down before.
Enter David and his girlfriend—I can’t remember her name; let’s call her Gonna-Lose-My-Limbs (Elizabeth Blackmore). Just remember David (Shiloh Fernandez) and his sister, Mia (Jane Levy). There are some other friends, including a guy who looks like he’s on the road to becoming a sensitive college professor, and a female friend, who’s a registered nurse.
They’ve all gathered at the cabin—it belonged to Mia and David’s mother at some point—so Mia can kick heroin cold turkey with their support. Then the long-haired professor-type and David find a basement full of dead cats (Mia thought she smelled rotting flesh), along with a book bound in human skin and inked in human blood. And, of course, the college professor-type begins reading passages and oh shit, demons.
Mia is possessed and begins doing horrible things, such as burning herself with scalding hot water and firing a shotgun at her brother. The friends dump her in the basement as her eyes glaze over and turn yellow, but not before she’s projectile-vomited all over the nurse’s face. So, you know, the nurse is a goner.
How does it all end? Covered in blood, duh. The special effects are truly impressive. The movie has a sense of humor (which Raimi’s sequels, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn and Army of Darkness certainly do), but it’s more interested in employing scare tactics and gore, and there’s plenty of gore, via electric carving knife, chunk-of-porcelain, chainsaw, and nail gun. Groovy.
Much like some fans of The Shining think there are hidden messages in it, I wonder whether Evil Dead fans will determine the entire movie is just a heroin withdrawal dream that takes place in Mia’s head.
Another debate for another time. Pass the gore, please.
Have your say. Drop a line to mail bag@c-ville.com, send a letter to 308 E. Main St., or let us hear it below.
Evil Dead/R, 91 minutes/Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Playing this week:
Admission
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Argo
Carmike Cinema 6
The Call
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Croods 3D
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Dead Man Down
Carmike Cinema 6
Emperor
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Gatekeepers
Vinegar Hill Theatre
G.I. Joe Retaliation 3D
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey
Carmike Cinema 6
The Host
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Impossible
Carmike Cinema 6
Jurassic Park 3D
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Life of Pi
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Olympus Has Fallen
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Oz the Great and Powerful
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Phantom
Carmike Cinema 6
Silver Linings Playbook
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Spring Breakers
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Tyler Perry’s Temptation
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Upside Down
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Warm Bodies
Carmike Cinema 6
Wreck-It Ralph
Carmike Cinema 6
Movie
houses
Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669
Regal Stonefield 14
and IMAX
244-3213
Vinegar Hill Theatre
977-4911
Jane Levy stars as Mia.
