EVIL DEAD (2013)
Reviewed By Jerry Saravia
Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" films distinguished themselves from standard horror fare by amping up the horror and the absurd with tongue-in-cheek humor. Aside from the goofier-than-thou "Army of Darkness," Raimi made the early "Evil Dead" films playful and built the intensity with ingenuity and some horrifyingly funny gags. Most of all, they starred the incomparable Bruce Campbell as the chainsaw-wielding Ash whose silly grin and larger-than-life persona made it all rather "groovy." This "Evil Dead" remake (or perhaps an "alleged" sequel) amps up the blood and gore but has nothing else to deviate it from the norm.
We have rather wan characters on display here. Jane Levy is Mia, the recovering junkie who should have gone to Dr. Drew rather than Raimi's barren cabin in the middle of the woods. She is there with supportive friends, one of them is a nurse (all of whom are instantly forgettable on screen) and there is Mia's brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez) who has never been there for her. Why they all felt the need to be at a remote cabin in, literally, the middle of nowhere with a young woman who is going cold turkey, I cannot figure out. One character finds the Book of the Dead (missing its famous visage on the front cover) and unhooks the barbed wire that keeps it tightly shut (this would be a sure sign not to open the book). The book even tells the reader through its writings in blood TO LEAVE THIS BOOK ALONE! I think one phrase read: DON'T DO IT MOTHERF*****! A bunch of dead cats in the cellar that leaves a stench only Mia can smell would have me more worried than a damn book! The incantations are read, the blood from the sky falls, and the decapitations, disembowellings, amputations and every hook, line and sinker are displayed.
"Evil Dead" is pure sadism, on the order of "Hostel," but the original "Evil Dead" films were never sadistic - they were somewhat gory but they maintained the blood flow in moderation. Here, a demon cuts its wagging tongue in half! Another one chops off its arm! Even Mia loses her hand when a vehicle is overturned and crushes it! "Evil Dead II" references, much? But none of this is scary or chilling - you will turn away and cover your ears from the bone-crunching sound effects and not because of the resolutely dull fright factor.
Jane Levy gives the only performance in the movie that could be termed adequate. But the movie sorely needed someone like Bruce Campbell - he made us believe he was as nutty as the demons and we rooted for him. These characters are served up as bloody entrees with no particular taste or variety. All you get are the entrails and gallons of blood.
