Director: Fede Alvarez
Screenplay: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore
Year: 2013
Country: USA
Running time: 91 mins
BBFC Classification: 18
This review contains plot spoilers for Evil Dead (2013).
The world of horror movie remakes can be oft maligned; for every The Blob there’s a House of Wax; for every Invasion of the Body Snatchers you get a Psycho. The act of taking a frequently beloved cult classic and rendering it anew with a fresh coat of paint can be a risky business, particularly when said classic comes with an often vocal fanbase – this was very much the case in 2013 when Sam Raimi tasked Uruguayan director Fede Alvarez with reimagining his breakout horror film The Evil Dead for a new generation.
Now I don’t think anyone would argue that The Evil Dead is not a classic; it’s a fantastic example of low budget filmmaking and as bold a calling card for young filmmaker Raimi as you could ever get. Understandably tensions were high, but the idea of the film being a reimagining rather than a remake certainly piqued the interest of this deadite fanboy.
Alvarez’s Evil Dead takes the concept of the original film – five young friends visit a cabin in the woods and unearth unimaginable evil – and adds layers to it. This is often for better or worse but it starts with the films basic premise. David, Natalie, Eric and Olivia are all there to help David’s sister, Mia, overcome her heroin addiction. The cabin, once David and Mia’s parents holiday home, is literally a place for her to exorcise her own demons; unfortunately these friends didn’t bank on the secret hidden in the cellar – a site of ritual sacrifice that houses the forbidden tome, Naturom Demonto; the Book of the Dead. When Eric unwittingly reads from the book he unleashes a presence that consumes Mia and threatens the sanity of all her friends.
From its opening scenes, Evil Dead sets a very different vibe to its predecessors. The series as a whole had, to this point, never been particularly constant with its tone, flitting from low budget grindhouse horror (The Evil Dead) to slapstick horror comedy (Evil Dead 2) and even an epic sword and sorcery adventure (Army of Darkness, my entry point to this crazy franchise), so Alvarez’s decision to play his Evil Dead completely straight should come as no surprise. The film has a far more unsettling edge to the narrative and visuals with some downright unpleasant gore effects that finally make good on the tagline from the original film of “The ultimate experience in grueling terror”. It’s the effects that are really the standout here as Alvarez pushes the five friends from one horror set piece to another – we get two severed limbs, a nailgun used to nasty effect and a particularly uncomfortable encounter between a tongue and a box cutter, all presented with gloriously splashy practicaly effects, complimented by very minimal, subtle CGI embelishments. All through this, Alvarez peppers the script with easter eggs and callbacks to the original series, all scored by a superb soundtrack from Roque Banos which gives the whole story a remarkably sinister edge.
The slim cast all deliver decent performances but there is definitely an air of the mid-to-late 2000’s Platinum Dunes style horror acting to their performances. This group of young adults, largely purposefully so, are a lot harder to like than Ash Williams and his friends from the original film and the script largely doesn’t give them much character to work with. Fortunately we have Jane Levy stand out among her fellow cast members as Mia, the addict trying to kick the habit. Easily going through the most hell with her prominent possession and the awful things she does in demon form (remember that box cutter?) it’s Mia that carries the movie.
Yes, spoiler alert – despite the script lining up Shiloh Fernandez’s David as the hero of the story, a late twist pivots an unpossessed Mia into that role when the Kandarian Demon who’s been inhabiting her body for most of the plot decides to drop itself into her brother instead. This really does hammer home Alvarez’s intention of Evil Dead to be an analogy for the process of going “cold turkey” – Mia literally goes through hell when she disposes of her drugs, bringing her friends down with her and comes out the other side ready to take on her literal demons, albeit in this instance with a chainsaw. It’s this finale that really makes Alvarez’s take on the story pop, as an empowered Mia swings her weapon to fight the forces of darkness against the backdrop of a burning cabin while blood rains around her.
Unfortunately this excess does sum up why Evil Dead as a whole doesn’t really work as well as it’s predecessors; for all it’s grimy darkness and the little callbacks that ground it in the franchise as a whole, it never really hits the same sense of fun that Sam Raimi’s original series had. The callbacks and references can come across as a little too cute, the relentless violence can be a little too nihilistic when you remember the idiocy of Bruce Campbell as Ash, his possessed hand smashing plates over his head, and the photography is, as with the characters, very typically mid 2000s horror – all washed out colours and grim darkness. None of this is to say that Evil Dead is a bad film; Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues’ script takes the concept of the original film and adds subtext to Mia’s journey and, in a series that’s taken a more anthology approach in its recent entries, Evil Dead Rise and Evil Dead Burn, this can easily sit alongside those other films rather than replace them.
Bonus Features
- Theatrical and Unrated cuts of the film
- NEW Beyond the Blood: Chris Tilly on Evil Dead (2013)
- Commentary featuring Jane Levy, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, director Fede Álvarez and Writer Rodo Sayagues
- Making Life Difficult
- Directing the Dead
- Being Mia
- Evil Dead: The Reboot
- Unleashing The Evil Force
- Interview with director Fede Álvarez
- Interview with Jane Levy
- Interview with Bruce Campbell
- Q&A at The Ritzy Cinema
- Brand new artwork by Krisha Bala Shenoi
- Removable O-ring so the clean artwork can be displayed
- 2 posters: one of key art, one of alternative artwork designed by Krishna Bala Shenoi
- Four new illustrations by Krishna Bala Shenoi for each panel of the digipak
- 64 page collector’s booklet featuring four new essays on the film
StudioCanal have put together a belter of a collectors edition with this release. You get both cuts of the film converted to 4K – I recommend watching the unrated version; it’s gorier and has a handful more character moments that compliment the story – as well as all the bonus features from previous releases AND a brand new video essay by Chris Tilly. For anyone (like me) who only has the 2013 Blu-ray release of the film, this is a must have package. The 4K transfer looks great with the HDR adding a much needed depth of contrast to the somewhat washed out palette, and the image pops with detail. Add to this some gorgeous packaging and a booklet we sadly didn’t get a chance to take a look at, and you have a set that will look great on any collectors shelf.