You’ve seen it countless times before: a group of naïve twenty-something-year-olds venture off the map for a weekend at the family cabin, bad stuff happens, each friend is left to fend for him-or-herself while mayhem ensues, etc. So what gives Evil Dead the right to carry a tagline as bold as “The Most Terrifying Film You Will Ever Experience”? Is it the film’s incessant amount of repugnant violence as promised to viewers? Is it its commitment to assuring that each gut-wrenching scene is more twisted than the last? Or is it the homage it pays to its antecedent, a film that has been named one of the greatest and most unsettling cult horror films to date? In this case, all of the above apply. Evil Dead manages to take a hackneyed story and embellish it into a horror masterpiece, with all the glorified carnage and deliciously clichéd plot twists that a slasher fanatic could ask for. By doing so, the film comes off as an extremely worthwhile remake.
Evil Dead follows five friends — David, Eric, Olivia, Natalie (David’s girlfriend) and Mia (David’s sister) — on a weekend outing to a once-used family cabin. Unlike the original film’s storyline, which followed a group of coeds on a jovial weekend getaway, the crew in the remake uses their trip as an outset to Mia’s recovery from drug addiction. This naturally unpleasant occasion sets the tone for a dark weekend that promises to grow even darker. Things take an immediate turn for the worse upon arrival, as Mia’s withdrawal kicks in with a vengeance, pelting rain confines everyone to the cabin and a mobile of dead cats is discovered in the basement. It is in the basement that Eric stumbles upon a human flesh-bound “book of the dead,” which he proceeds to browse with veritable amusement. Amongst the book’s grisly illustrations and foreign scriptures, Eric inadvertently summons a demonic spirit, which quickly (albeit graphically) latches itself onto Mia. Although she attempts to warn her comrades that something unnatural has possessed her, they blame it on the wacky stages of withdrawal and pay her no mind. However, her self-induced third degree burns and successful attempt at spewing a mess of bloody entrails at Olivia suggests that something is astray. Once Olivia acquires the same frenzied behavior as Mia, it becomes clear that each victim with whom this malign demon converges develops a sinister and bloodthirsty contagion. As a result, the friends are left to fend for themselves in a kill-or-be-possessed scenario, with all the head-bashing and knife-wielding that is necessary for survival.
To some fans’ dismay, Evil Dead lacks the subtle humor and innovative flavor that awarded its antecedent so much fame. However, it redeems itself with its higher budget, visually mesmerizing bloodshed and a commitment to staying overwhelmingly and enticingly disturbing. Each gruesome scene raises the bar for your slasher-flick standards, and if the splitting of a tongue with a box cutter doesn’t make you squirm, the chainsaw straight to the dome under a torrential blood-shower will probably do the trick. In Evil Dead, no stone is left unturned and no scenario is not used to its fullest potential. The film discernibly applies to a specific audience, and unless you’re seeing this movie against your will, you probably have some idea as to what kind of twisted events you are about to watch unfold. As a devoted fan of the horror genre, I certainly give Evil Dead my blessing.
