Official Synopsis
A secluded cabin. An ancient curse. An unrelenting evil. The original producers reunite to present a genuinely terrifying re-imagining of their original horror masterpiece. Five young friends have found the mysterious and fiercely powerful Book of the Dead. Unable to resist its temptation, they release a violent demon on a blood-thirsty quest to possess them all. Who will be left to fight for their survival and defeat this unearthly force of murderous carnage?
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To be absolutely honestly with you, dear readers, I had zero faith in a remake of what could only be considered a horror classic. The original film jumpstarted Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s careers. It redefined the horror genre, mixing insanely grotesque situations on film with a touch of humor (though, not quite the level of Army of Darkness). How and why would they remake a film of that magnitude?
Answer: Because if done right, the film could bring a lot of elements the original couldn’t produce due to budget and effects.
The new Evil Dead is darn scary, and it comes packed with plenty of screams. Starting off on the right foot, you get to see the entire setup of the plot unfold. A girl is running for her life, only to be snatched away by the strangest looking people imaginable. She is tied up to a wooden beam with the intentions of getting set on fire. Before the heinous act is performed, her father approaches her and makes his apologies known. You’re instantly cheering for the girl to escape, but alas it is not in the cards. As she burns to death in terrifying screams, she suddenly comes alive — but not in the way you would imagine. The girl is possessed and looking for a fight.
Thus, the movie begins.
I want to give away the opening because this is how the movie treats you as it goes on. It carries you along in one direction, while giggling wildly in the back about how you’re not catching something. It will keep you absolutely glued to the set until the very end (and you should stay for the end credits).
This film doesn’t feel as ‘remake-y’ as other horror film remakes. You don’t have a group of kids going to a cabin without a purpose. They’re going out to this secluded cabin in the woods to help a girl named Mia out, who is trying to kick her drug habits and wicked ways. While in this cabin, the group finds a secret passage that contains tons of gypsy artifacts including an old book, which, as you can guess, brings ancient evil back to the area. From that point on, we get everything that the movie can throw at us. We get gruesome murders, horribly possessed people, tree…um…um…, and plenty of hard decisions that need to be made in regards to losing body parts. All of these things aren’t simply thrown in for shock value, they are put there for character survival and story progression. This story and all its parts are well thought out. This isn’t merely a remake of a classic, it’s an honest to God improvement. Now, don’t misread that last part, I’m not saying that it’s better than the classic, rather it improves upon the classic and is able to fill in the blanks because it has more money/time.
Nothing will be better than the classic, but this one does a great job in honoring its memory.
That’s really what separates Evil Dead (2013) from other remakes of horror classics. It honestly doesn’t do more than it should. It stays on track, keeps focus with the original and simply expands upon what it can do. It ups the scare value, doesn’t blacken the eyes of Raimi or Campbell’s canon at all; simply put, this is what a remake should be like for any movie.
Having said that, the film does tend to be a little long in the tooth with its resolution (which is fantastic when it finally arrives). I wish it could have been about 15-20 minutes shorter. It looks like the writers were just over thinking it a tad. The resolution of the film is fantastic, though, and you won’t be disappointed. I will leave it at that.
Overall, if you like Evil Dead (the original) then you need to add this right next to Army of Darkness on your Blu-ray shelf. It deserves your time and attention.
As for the Blu-ray portion of the film, you get unfortunately get a solid HD transfer. Why unfortunately? Body parts. I won’t say anymore. There are no compression issues, no color banding problems, just crystal clear gruesomeness that comes right to your screen in nauseating perfection. It’s definitely one of the more solid HD transfers I’ve seen this year, and something Sony Pictures should be very proud about delivering to the viewer. If you’re deciding between this and a DVD, then put the DVD down and get the extra grossness in high-definition.
The audio comes to you in DTS-HD 5.1 and the aspect ratio of the film is 2.39:1.
Finally, as for features, here’s what to expect:
– Making Life Difficult
– Being Mia
– Directing The Dead
– Commentary featuring Jane Levy, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, director Fede Alvarez and writer Rodo Sayagues
– Unleashing The Evil Force
– Evil Dead the Reboot
There is plenty of stuff here to be excited about, especially the ‘Evil Dead the Reboot’ featurette. Lots of good featurettes on this release, and fantastic commentary from the participants of the latest release. These features will certainly keep the film alive and kicking well after the horror ends.