Evil Dead (2013) Review

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Written by: Fede Alvarez, Diablo Cody, Rodo Sayagues
Running time: 91 minutes
Rated: R (for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language)

By now I’m sure that everyone is tiring of the unending remake cycle that Hollywood has been in this last decade or so.   No, you say?  Give us more, you say?  Judging by the box office success of most Hollywood remakes you – the public seem to show up in droves for each remake that comes down the pipe, thus ensuring that we will see more and more in the future.  I’m only for a remake if it can bring something new to the table that either due to technology wasn’t possible before or something in the story that shakes things up from the original.   If there’s no reason to remake a film, then don’t bother.

The very highly anticipated remake of 1981’s cult classic film Evil Dead has had a lot of hype behind it for some time now.  Is all the hype for this film warranted?  Does director Fede Alvarez’s remake do justice to the original and bring something new to the table as well?  The answer is a resounding YES!  While I feel that most remakes are unnecessary and derivative, the Evil Dead film lives up the hype and goes places the original could never go and in some cases improves upon the original.

In the new story, we are introduced to five friends who are heading to a remote cabin in the woods to help Mia (Jane Levy-Suburgatory) overcome her drug addiction.  Once there, they make a terrible discovery of the Book of the Dead.  They unwittingly summon demons in the nearby woods that have been lying dormant by reading incantations in the book.  Once awakened, the demons possess the group one at a time with grisly results until only one is left to fight for survival and end the night’s horrors.

I have a lot of praise for director Fede Alvarez, he has taken a film that by most accounts should not have been attempted and turned it into probably the best studio horror film this year.  He and his crew have done something that is so rare these days, he has made a remake that is practically every bit as good as the original film was.  Using the building blocks that Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert had put down from the original film, Alvarez has expanded upon that universe and created a truly horrific and blood-soaked film that not only pays homage to the original but ventures off in its own separate and distinctive direction.

The highlight of the film and what most people will be talking about are the incredibly gory makeup effects that are on display throughout the entire film.  I don’t know who the filmmakers had to pay at the MPAA in order to get this film an R rating, but I was flabbergasted in utter delight at what was allowed to slide past the ratings board.  Evil Dead has to be one of the goriest R rated films I have seen in recent memory.  There were stories that came out last year about how all the makeup effects were done practically with little to no CGI used in the film, if that is truly the case here, then Patrick Baxter, Roger Murray, and the rest of the makeup crew certainly deserve this year’s Oscar for Makeup.

The cast led by Jane Levy in the standout performance are great in the film.  Levy shines as a possessed Mia, and hits every possible emotion with great vigor. The rest of the cast also does a wonderful job here.  There are a couple of throw-away roles of course, but that’s always the case in a horror film.

The film is shot beautifully, there are some unique camera angles reminiscent of Raimi’s own visual style in the original, but the film doesn’t rely on weird angles exclusively.  The New Zealand backdrop which stands in for Tennessee forests is also visually stunning.  Set designers have recreated the creepy cabin in the woods to look almost exactly the same as the original with great effect.

Honestly, there’s not much negative I can say about the film.  There is some exposition in the very beginning that comes out of nowhere without really any explanation that left me scratching my head but that is minor and definitely didn’t detract from the film at all. 

It’s obvious that Evil Dead was produced and looked after by the creators of the original film, Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell.  They let director Alvarez do his own thing without letting it get too far from their original film.  Evil Dead is truly horrifying at times, it will shock you, make you squirm, and gasp in terror.  A better remake is not likely to be found, this is one remake that actually should’ve been made.  I can’t recommend this film highly enough, both for fans of the original and newbies alike.  Also, be sure to stay through the end credits, you’ll be glad you did!

4 ½ out of 5 Pentagrams!

Watch the trailer here,