In the much anticipated remake of the 1981 cult-hit horror film, five friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon dormant demons living in the nearby woods...
The Evil Dead is a cult favourite, and one that the fans could really get protective over. This remake, however, screams "I'm part of the club" at cinemagoers, with posters proudly proclaiming that this is a 'new vision' of the old story from the makers of the original. In other words, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, the director and star of The Evil Dead, are on board as producers. So, even though it's an in-house job (and Michael Bay is nowhere to be seen), is this a Hollywood horror remake to get furious about? No, not really. It isn't really a film that conjured up any strong emotions in me.
It's a curious thing, but this "new vision" manages to be uninteresting without ever being completely boring. First-time feature director Fede Alvarez shows occasional flare for style as he attempts to piece together the now well-known cabin-in-the-woods story. But the acting is often poor and the gruesomeness becomes so unrelenting it's like a never ending white noise that buzzes around you while you sit in the cinema. This film gets so caught up in how to make the audience feel sick, it forgets to make them interested in why they might feel sick and what the point of it all was in the first place.
In this version, the reason for the group of young photogenic people to be in the woods is altered. They are there to help one of their members to give up her life of illegal drugs. She plans to ride out the withdrawal symptoms with her friends and brother to support her. But, as many will be aware, she ends up becoming possessed by evil spirits.
Although the opening of the film shows promise, Alvarez never manages to make anything very memorable with the material - and legacy - he has been handed. Sure, he shoots it all fairly competently, but this needed more than competence. It needed edge, verve, buzz and a pulse. Instead, this movie borders on the mundane and becomes rather lifeless (albeit in a hysterical kind of way). A source quoted on the American poster for Evil Dead claims it will "blow you away". I didn't feel blown away. I felt disappointed and, for the most part, rather numb.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. The deadites return in this revamp of the EVIL DEAD franchise from newcomer director Fede Alvarez centering on a group of friends who head out to an isolated cabin in order to clean up their drug-addicted friend (Jane Levy) who might or might not be possessed. The helmer wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues, which is being polished up by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody. Film series veterans Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Bruce Campbell handle producing duties on the production for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
First time director Fede Alvarez helms this reworking of Sam Raimi's 1981 cult horror. In an effort to straighten out their drug-ravaged friend Mia (Jane Levy), a group of five 20-somethings decide to decamp to an isolated backwoods cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. Once there, however, the group find themselves beset by demons from the nearby woods when they begin reading from an unearthed Book of the Dead.
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