The Evil Dead.

Since I'm going out for my friends Birthday tomorrow, I probably won't be reviewing Doctor Who until Sunday, that is if I'm not hungover or in an even deeper mancold state that I am now, so it might be even later than that. As such I decided to start this project well...now, as it's looking likely that juggling my reviews next week is gonna be a pain in the balls. Enjoy!

So what is this project? This is my Evil Dead retrospective! I thought I was clever when I did my Spider-Man retrospective despite having no actual investment in the franchise and I was wrong. Not only were those reviews bad anyway (for whatever reason each review seems great when I've written it and for about a month after, but then I look back and go "the fuck was I thinking?") but how can you do a retrospective with no emotional involvement? Protip: you can't. So yeah, let's do it properly this time.

For those of you who live on Mars, The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror (the humour comes after this film) film written and directed by Sam Raimi (yes the director behind Spider-Man and no he isn't the reason I am doing this retrospective but it is a freaky coincidence, or something). How Raimi made The Evil Dead happen is complex and fascinating and is worth a read in itself, rather than me trying to condense it here. Just know he had less than 400, 000 dollars, it was all shot on location and by all regards was a living hell. And basically The Evil Dead conquered the hearts of the world and is regarded as one of the most successful and loved cult films of all time. And I'm right up there with them, this film was and is a huge part of my life and it's the start of one of my all time favourite trilogies of all time.

So a bunch of attractive young folk go to a cabin in the mountains, a creepy and very crappy cabin. Pretty much from the word go, things start to get weird. It all starts with a drawing, followed by a cellar door popping open. This leads the AYF to piss off some ancient demons after they play a recording and one by one they become possessed, as the woods around the cabin come alive and everything descends into pure hell and Ash is left to fight his way out alone... Yeah, there isn't a whole lot of plot, the original script was only around sixty pages.

What is really surprising about The Evil Dead is just how scary it still is, no matter how many times I watch this film, it still ends up making me jump many a time before the film is over. Lots of people call this film silly but I don't really see why, I really do think this film is terrifying. Largely this is down to some wonderfully constructed atmosphere, using lots of low-budget solutions to achieve high budget camerawork, they just create such a beautifully atmospheric film, it's just a beautiful and stylish film in general, honestly. The whole film has this eerie, nightmare like feel that leaves you uncomfortable even when nothing much is really happening and the fact you are just waiting for it to all go wrong is what makes it all so very scary. I always forget just how intense it gets in places, don't do what I did and hold a hot drink while watching this, that bloody hurt.

I am torn on what is better written, the remake or the original. On the one hand, I think the remake has much better characters, I forgot just how quickly everything descends into madness in The Evil Dead and how little we know about our characters by the point they are being killed off. Sure the remake failed to realise most of the set up, but there was still a much more solid foundation than The Evil Dead has, a more believable passage of time, and characters and conflicts with much more flesh. Like for example in the original one of the Deadites is Ash's sister, this is only mentioned once. And although Ash and Scotty have girlfriends, it looks like both of these kids were failing chemistry class.

However what is in the originals favour is the supernatural aspect of the film, I guess because the remake spent so much time making good characters, they didn't leave themselves much room for the supernatural/horrorside so not only was it not scary, it felt very rushed and incomprehensible at times. The original uses that space not used on the characters, to explore the Book of The Dead, the lore that surrounds it and builds it up beautifully. So in many senses The Evil Dead is certainly the better horror film but I think the remake deserves credit for actually populating itself with real characters, that go beyond the largely flat, clichéd and archetypal characters that populate the original.

Flat is something that sadly seems to define everything about the characters in The Evil Dead. I don't know whether it's just because of amateurish acting but no one ever seems to act accordingly to what is happening. For its tiny budget the film has some incredible set pieces, the film really descends into all out insane madness where you never know what might happen next, but the bland characters putting on bland performances with their nonreactions end up undermining a lot of effect those set pieces have. I mean they are killing their possessed siblings, their possessed friends, their possessed loves...fucking react!

I am also torn on the special effects, as well. Although there is no denying that the remakes effects look better, choosing to do practical effects with 2013's tech was genius, to some extent the remake is more a splatter film, than a straight horror film, attempting to instill disgust in the audience rather than straight fear. The Evil Dead is gory, especially for its time and please don't misunderstand me, this ain't for the squeamish either but because of the thick and artistic atmosphere the violence goes beyond the almost slapstick feel in the remake to something much more chilling. 

Although in the remakes defence, it does build up and give greater motivation and purpose to some of the most iconic scenes of the original. Although there is certainly greater establishment of the supernatural side of the story, characters actions and responses feel a lot more random and directionless than they do in the remake. And although this sometimes works in showing Ash's general desperation and the chaos of what is happening around him, it just as often feels oddly slapped together.

So do I recommend it? Watching The Evil Dead both with my critic hat on and the remake in mind only shows me just how much merit the remake actually has. Although The Evil Dead is undeniably the better horror film and is a bloody great horror film in its own right, I'm not entirely sure The Evil Dead is actually the better film period. Although you could say The Evil Dead doesn't establish enough for you to be disappointed, it's that effort the remake puts in to really add some meat to the largely lifeless characters of the original film that makes me realise that the remake may not be as a mediocre as I cast it out to be, at least not in comparison. In many senses it actually writes some of The Evil Dead's iconic moments better. It's just a shame that most of this is eventually dropped so it can descend into an all out splatterfest. So take from that, what you will.

Think About It!

-Locke, the world's worst film snob.

What would you rate, 'The Evil Dead'?