Post by jipper on Jul 20, 2013 1:16:12 GMT -5
Evil Dead (2013)
5 of 10
***Minimal Spoilers***
5 of 10
***Minimal Spoilers***
Alright, a new Evil Dead movie comes out, I had to watch it. I'm not the uber-fan of the original series of movies but I am a fan. So much of a fan that one Halloween I drove to the sight of the original cabin, trespassed onto whomever owns it's property and watched the original film projected onto the evil trees in the woods on that sight. If anyone is wondering, I wasn't raped that night but I'm sure at least one of the people I went with is now keeping a secret.
So the new Evil Dead. I had no hopes for this movie going in. With all the horrible remakes lately of my beloved childhood horror films (Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St., Halloween, etc.) I assumed this would be another regret. The only possible saving grace of this movie was that Sam Raimi the man who made the originals was a producer. However, Raimi's last directed horror film, Drag Me To Hell was below average at best and he produced, the Possession which wasn't much better.
The movie starts out looking like a modern day sh!tty teen straight to Netflix horror flick. The one thing I will give this movie is that it had good cinematography from the get go. I know Raimi wasn't behind the camera of all three films and a producer can be anything from in control of the movie to just a name that did absolutely nothing to help the actually filming of the flick. BUT, Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell and the Possession are all three guilty of the same style. They're all filmed really well. The creatures/demons/etc. in all three films all look good and are passable. The style of filming is even similar. However they all fail in exactly the same way of predictability. All of the major horror scenes meant to scare you, can be seen coming from far away. It turns a jumpy moment into just another scene that passes. That is a big part of what killed all three films.
I went this whole movie criticizing it. Picking on the current horror feel or the lack of horror moments being able to scare, excite or draw out any kind of emotion. The big climatic turn from being a getaway in the woods to all out hell being broke loose the original movie had was even lost in this movie. You saw it pass but you didn't feel it.
I can't explain why because I don't know how. The movie didn't get dramatically better by the end. I personally wasn't surprised by the ending at all. I can't pinpoint what exactly it was but when the movie was over, I realized I enjoyed it. It was fun. It didn't ruin the original. It didn't live up to the original either. It didn't stand tall as a movie I'm going to tell everyone to watch. I will say however that it was an enjoyable average.
I don't know how well anyone can do remaking a cult classic like this. I suppose for me I actually enjoyed the original Texas Chainsaw remake better. For the most part it's always going to be a losing effort unless you wait over 40 years to do a remake of a film people love.
If you're a cult Evil Dead fan you'll probably enjoy this a lot less than me. For any newer fans out there, it's better than most horror films out there, but still only an average movie.