Evil Dead -
Ode
*I'd like to thank aintitcool.com for putting on this sneak preview of the film down in Miami, FL, and of course for bringing Bruce Campbell.*I'm not one for April Fool's pranks. I find them annoying, stupid, and most of the time, ridiculous. But there are times when one happens, and its wonderful. It's even better when you are going to see one of the most classic horror films of all time, 1981's "The Evil Dead" with Bruce Campbell in the audience introducing the film and conducting a Q&A after the film. It's even better when the film starts, gets about a minute in, and the film breaks, revealing the trick, which I had a sneaking suspicion was coming. April Fool's, you're not here to watch "The Evil Dead" '81, you're here to watch "Evil Dead" 2013. Truly, truly awesome, and now I'm lucky enough to bring you kids a review of the as-of-yet-unreleased "Evil Dead" remake, which is an
ode to everything wonderful and right with horror remakes.
Everything you've heard about "Evil Dead" is warranted; it's a brutal, bloody, gory, sick, twisted, squirm-inducing nightmare. In the best way possible. While, as a rule, horror remakes are usually unnecessary, I really thought "The Evil Dead" was in need of a tune-up. Coming out three years after "Halloween" and merely a year after the genre game-changer "Friday the 13th," "Dead" made it's mark as
The Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror. It was low-budget, gritty, and a new take on the slasher genre. It had the demonic spirit of "The Exorcist" but the wink-wink-nod-nod of "Friday the 13th" and even some old Herschel Gordon Lewis
films. However, if you look at "Dead" now, it seems dated. You can tell that it only took them about $300,000.00 to make the film. Still, I believe in keeping a classic, a classic, and not messing with a good thing. Come some 30 years and two sequels later, a new vision of "Evil Dead" is about to be unleashed nationwide, and with the blessing of Sam Raimi and Mr. Bruce Campbell, I can honestly say
we got a winner.
While keeping with the spirit of the original film, we follow five teens who have decided to head out to the middle of nowhere to a cabin in the woods. The added twist this time around is that they are there for an intervention for Mia, played by Jane Levy, who could be America's newest Scream Queen, a heroin-addict who just suffered an overdose. I liked the fact that the teens are in the woods for a reason, because in films like these you always get a lot of red herrings, namely the Necronomicon, which is unnamed in this version, but you should know what the Necronomicon is at this point, where you have to suspend disbelief nearly the entire film, and don't worry, you'll have to do it anyway for most of this movie, in a good way.
While the story is reasonably strong for the genre, the violence and gore is ramped up to 11, and it's wonderful. The gore effects are great, and I was surprised to see that WETA was behind some of the work, and it makes sense, because some of the effects are right out of "Dead/Alive," before Peter Jackson got all Hollywood on us genre fans.
As a horror film, "Evil Dead" is fine, a bloody-romp in the vein of what most people are used to out of the horror genre these days, as a remake, one of the best ones made. And while I use the term "remake," "Dead" is more like a re-imagining of the original. There are various
odes to Raimi's masterwork, including our heroine wearing a Michigan State sweater, to the old car that she is also sitting on. We even get some chainsaw, yes, a chainsaw, what would an "Evil Dead" movie be without some chainsaw. With all that being said, if you're a purist, go into "Evil Dead" with an open mind, and have fun with it; there are plenty of
odes to the original, and if you're new to the world of Ash and the Deadites, do your homework and watch "The Evil Dead," "Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn" and "Army of Darkness" (the primitive screw-head next to me kept calling it "Evil Dead 3." I wanted to tell him to go home because his mom called, and he had chores to do, plus it was a school night). 2013's "Evil Dead." In a world full or remakes and bad ideas, its nice to see they got something right. Hail to the King, baby.....
Fun Fact: Look closely at the car Mia is sitting on and you'll notice that it's an
Oldsmobile Delta Royale 88, the same car used in the original "Evil Dead" trilogy. Which begs the question, could this possibly be a sequel as opposed to a remake, or just coincidence?
One of the best satires that’s really a horror film at heart. Michael Moriarty leads this delicious film of mysterious goo that is pouring out of the earth. For some odd reason an old man takes a taste right away to see what it is. This white thing pouring from the earth taste amazing. Corporate America takes a taste as well and what we get is this new craze sweeping the nation.
Okay so I’m going to try something a little different here. In the late 80’s, Steven Spielberg came out with a TV show called Amazing Stories that seems to ether grab a ton of flack or a ton of love. I never really watched the show, maybe a totally of two episodes of which I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about. I do remember the show and that opening but not a bit of memory regarding the episodes. So since Amazing Stories is on Netflix, I’m going to pick a couple of episodes out of order strictly do to the crew and actors that appear in that episode.
This episode is about a horror novelist who doesn’t believe in the subject that he writes. But he quickly begins to reconsiders this as he begins to see a man tying to kill him. The only time he see this figure is when he looks into a reflective surface, which shows the man gaining on him with the intent to strangle him.
That said…
Okay so I’m going to try something a little different here. In the late 80’s, Steven Spielberg came out with a TV show called Amazing Stories that seems to ether grab a ton of flack or a ton of love. I never really watched the show, maybe a totally of two episodes of which I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about. I do remember the show and that opening but not a bit of memory regarding the episodes. So since Amazing Stories is on Netflix, I’m going to pick a couple of episodes out of order strictly do to the crew and actors that appear in that episode. 
The next scene is where Christopher Lloyd comes into the story. He plays a teacher who is pretty hard on his students. Seeing a student crewing gum, he questions the student who quickly swallows the evidence. The Professor then picks a piece of gum from under the desk of the student, ask what is this then? The student says thats not the kind I chew, which in a silly way catches the student in a lie. So he requires the student to swallow the random piece of gum. I love this scene a lot because Brand is trying to sneak into the classroom during this time. The way the whole scene flows just reminds me of Back to the Future, which isn’t a bad thing mind you. Alan Silvestri scores this episode just like Back to the Future. When Peter falls into the grave around the 18:20 mark, just listen, it just screams Back to the Future and damn do I loved that. 
Regarding the story it’s definitely not the strongest but still enjoyable to watch. It’s a revenge plot after Brand and his best friend; Cynthia Simpson (Mary Stuart Masterson) gets caught with the same paper. Brand takes the blame and is punished in front of the class by the Professor. So the two decide to cast a deadly spell on the Professor which doesn’t go to plan. I really enjoyed this episode mostly because it felt so Back to the Future like. That said Go to the Head of the Class was still enjoyable to watch especially with Halloween around the corner.
The "unobtainable, unloved ones" all look pretty cool. In fact I find that I like some of the others more then the one she picks. But that's not to say the one she picks isn't good, it really is badass looking. The issue is the lighting. They should of made it a bit darker because the mask doesn't work as awesome in the brighter night shoots. But the voice and the darker scenes really make the mask work, especially when she begins to get angry and the mask begins to sweat.
These episodes aren't the scariest of the show. But they're very enjoyable and have a deeper meaning of excepting ones self and not trying to be different for anyone else.
Two other things I took away from this viewing of the showing was something good, and something not so good. The good; The score. Holy crap, but this score is relentless and puts you on edge nearly the entire film. It's a driving score that is the heartbeat of the horrors to come. Listening to it in surround sounds simply puts shivers down your spine. The bad? I'm sorry, but for the most part, the acting is pretty lackluster. Sure, it was 1980, and it's a horror film, but goodness, Shelley Duvall and Scatman Crothers put forth some Razzie-worthy performances. On the other hand, while Nicholson's performance is over the top, it's still haunting as a man who is succumbing to his own demons as well as the ghosts in the hotel.
It's a film by Robert Rodriguez, that when I say that, a shit ton of people that never knew that pop up with seriously? That Robert Rodriguez? Yes that one. I know it doesn't have that Rodriguez feel to it, but after a few viewings it starts to become clearer. The story is simple as dirt, teachers bodies become taken over by aliens and a few students stand up to take them down. The film has a Breakfast Club mixed into Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe in it. And that there for me takes this film to a different level you don't get very much anymore. 
Like Matt said in our upcoming podcast, The Faculty is an underrated film. This is something that I've said for years now. Since the film came out in 1998, I've heard nothing but hatred toward this film. Every time it came up people would downplay the entertainment value and said that is was just crap. I would always come to its defense with how enjoyable this film is.
