Movie Review: "Evil Dead"

Evil Dead is not a film to go to if you're looking for a particularly strong script or riveting character development. This is a haunted house of a horror movie- a film that moves the audience from one terrifying scene to the next, slowly but noticeably increasing the intensity of the scares and the amount of gore on screen with each new sequence. It isn't groundbreaking, though it is certainly one of the better horror remakes to date. For those who are ready and willing to go along for the ride, it will be one hell of a good time.

The characters in most horror films, Evil Dead included, are essentially piles of meat waiting to be ripped to shreds. The audience bought their tickets with that idea in mind- when each character meets their ultimate doom, it really doesn't come as much of a surprise. A good screenplay's job is to make us care about the characters enough so that when they do die, we feel something. And Evil Dead does that well. Instead of boring us with the obligatory "calm before the storm", screenwriter Rodo Sayagues (with polishes by Diablo Cody) actually gives us a reason to get invested.

The character at the center, Mia, is trying to quit a heroin addiction and is spending a weekend at a cabin with her friends as she undergoes withdrawl. In the process of creating some relatively interesting characters, the screenplay also manages to provide reasoning for why the characters will make the the stupid decisions that angry viewers will yell at them about later on. They can't leave the cabin because last time Mia tried to beat her habit, she gave up after a few hours. Mia's increasingly terrified behavior isn't abnormal as her mother showed signs of insanity not long ago, not to mention she's undergoing withdrawal. And there is no need to drive out to the hospital as one of the characters is a nurse. Are these first twenty minutes or so particularly well written? Not necessarily, but they help to differentiate Evil Dead from the dozens of other horror remakes that never bothered to give us a reason to care for its characters, while also subtly acknowledging the clichés of horror without relying on meta commentary- something that wouldn't have worked well in this film.

Eventually, as I'm sure most of the audience is expecting, the characters are subjected to a particularly sadistic breed of demon who begins picking the characters off one by one, disposing of them in increasingly disgusting manners.  At this point the plot is largely forgotten, but that's ok. This film becomes pure entertainment at about the 30 minute mark, and remains that way for a full hour, not once coming to a halt but instead creating a false sense of calm for a few minutes at a time. And, like all great haunted houses, the scares- or, in this case, the gore- get ratcheted up with each passing sequence. From a shard of glass to an electric knife and ending in, naturally, a chainsaw, Evil Dead encourages, no, insists that audiences embrace the film as nothing more than bloody entertainment. And, for the most part, they succeed.

Now, naturally, audiences that don't like a lot of blood with their horror will not enjoy this extremely violent film, but the film simply was not made for them. But as an exercise in trying to gross the audience out, it really succeeds. Director Fede Alvarez proves one scene after another that he knows how to stage an exciting and terrifying confrontation between our heroes and the demonic antagonists, without ever feeling like he's resorting to clichés or even relying on famous sequences from the horror classic of which it's based. It's the sort of horror film that will have viewers wanting badly to cover their eyes in fear but being too enamored to turn away. And while he certainly relies on gore to elicit scares, the real tension comes from figuring out where the gore will come from and what will produce it. Who will bite the dust next? What will happen to them? And with what weapon will the damage be done? Gorehounds will certainly go home happy- this is quite possibly the most violent mainstream horror film to date. It also happens to be one of the most creatively violent films in recent memory.

But in this gore lies one of my biggest problems with the film itself. I'm far from squeamish and love horror films of all sorts, but I do believe there is a fine line between effective gore and gratuitous, borderline offensive gore. That's my problem with "torture porn"- I take no pleasure in watching a film where we are simply introduced to characters simply to watch them get tortured. Not to mention that some violence should be almost off limit for directors of the genre. Sure, watching characters lop off body parts with kitchen appliances is brutal. But is it offensive? Not necessarily. Rape, however, is something I believe to always be unnecessary. There is, quite simply, no way to make it "fun" in any context. That was my biggest problem with Raimi's original.  Obviously "tree rape" is far from the actual act, but the idea behind it still rubbed me the wrong way. For the most part, the violence in Evil Dead didn't bother me, but there was on scene that came close to crossing the line. I won't get into specifics for those who don't want to be spoiled, but it was one of the earlier violent scenes and it definitely created a poor first impression. But, while I don't think it came as close to crossing the ethical line as the first one did, it certainly did bother me a little bit.

But that's not to suggest that this is a bad film. In terms of the horror genre, this is miles beyond many of the recent offerings and it stands tall in terms of horror remakes. It also serves as a great introduction to two talents I'll be looking out for at the movies- the aforementioned director Fede Alvarez and the film's star, Jane Levy. Her character is put through the wringer and forced to run a gauntlet of emotions, and she is constantly up to the task. I certainly believe she has a long career ahead of her. In a year devoid of entertaining films, let alone quality cinema, Evil Dead demands a trip to the theater- for those with the stomachs to handle it. Flaws and all, it's bloody good fun.

OVERALL GRADE: B
_____________________

Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Tumblr
Follow me on Letterboxd