Evil Dead – review

Evil Dead is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name.  However, you do not need to be familiar with the franchise to enjoy this new film.  This new movie has a few glancing references to the classic movie, but it really is its own entity.  The movie has good effects and an original take on the story, which makes the film wildly entertaining.

Mia, played by Jane Levy, is coming to a remote family cabin to get clean off drugs.  In her cold turkey attempt to break her cocaine habit she is accompanied by her brother David, played by Shiloh Fernandez, along with his girlfriend and two other friends.  While at the cabin they come across a room that contains a book bound in human skin.  One of them reads from the book and unleashes a demonic entity, which possesses Mia and begins wrecking terribly gory havoc upon those in the cabin.

The movie is filmed to have a gritty, dirty, look to it similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  It gives you a filthy feeling while watching it.  There is a lot of gore yet the movie is not too gratuitous and fits the story perfectly.  The story goes in one direction and then surprisingly goes in another, which is reminiscent of films like Psycho and A Nightmare on Elm Street.  It is a fun idea and makes it very entertaining.

Going in a different direction than the original in this case works well.  Going against the grain allows them to come up with different motivations and ideas as well as really fun excuses for gore.  The movie does have a few plot holes.  However, they aren’t really a big issue unless you really want to be nitpicky- then of course, you’d be nitpicking a movie about demons coming back to possess people after reading from an evil book.  Pick your battles.

Evil Dead is a really fun movie.  It has some good legitimate scares and great effects.  The characters are interesting and the suspense is built up really well.  If you are a fan of horror or the Evil Dead franchise then this is a must see. If you are just looking for something different then you might just want to give it a watch and enjoy a movie that is very creepy.