Intro
So, if you know me, you probably know how I feel about remakes and re-imaginings in the year of our lord, Anno Domini, twenty hundred and twenty-six.
I’d much prefer if movie studios were to come out and admit that they were creatively bankrupt rather than displaying past IPs with modern attitudes.
There would be more dignity and integrity in doing so.
But I suppose I can be wrong at times.
That’s how I feel about Evil Dead of 2013.
It’s a remake by Fede Alvarez, who would later go on to make works like Don’t Breathe and Alien: Romulus.
With my not-so-enthusiastic experience with Alien: Romulus, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about his first cinematic break-in. Not exactly a good first impression for me.
With Halloween coming up, a friend of mine sat me down to watch it.
Does it hold up?
Did I like it?
Would I recommend it?
Well, let’s give this movie a good hacking and find out.
The Evil Story
Now, it’s important to understand that the continuity of Evil Dead is anything but sane. Previous sequels don’t firmly connect with each other, as opposed to restart and outdo their predecessor.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing but leaves speculation of the timeline. For instance, some argue this movie is a reboot or a “requel.” Without getting into the weeds, I argue it’s a sequel due to some details that hint of leftover relics of the previous films, suggesting the events take place long after Ash left the cabin…
And the fact Alvarez said so…
It starts off with a harrowing, well-played intro.
A young woman is kidnapped by a very suspicious looking, cult-like group far in the woods.
They move her into a basement, where they set up a pyre to burn her. Her father is there and she begs him to let her go as he pours oil on the wood, setting her up for immolation.
One of the women of the group reads off a creepy, old-looking book that looks familiar and is filled with text and images that are evil and forbidden.
The ritual begins.
They set the wood on fire, the girl burns, and as she begins to cry out to her father. He loads a familiar dual-barrel shotgun and aims at her.
Suddenly, the girl’s demeanor changes as she roars, yells, and curses as she looks more demonic with her voice sounding a lot like Reagan’s possessor in The Exorcist. It’s clear that this group was not sacrificing a girl for a blood ritual but rather putting her out of her misery and eliminating a demonic threat.
After a few more profane threats from the demon, or deadite, and the father fires a fatal blow to her head, putting an end to this introduction of a nightmare.
The title flares with that violent red text and the movie begins.
It’s a very foreboding and harrowing intro and it’s clear that this isn’t going to be fun, whacky, mischievous addition to the series like Evil Dead 2 was. If anything, it’s going for the horror mood that Evil Dead (’81) was attempting.
It’s a hell of an intro that really doesn’t shy away from the brutality and does a stellar job in foreshadowing where we are going with the story.
From there, our focus moves to a group of young adults who move out to a familiar, spooky-looking cabin in the woods, where the story begins.
It revolves around Mia, a drug addict, who is trying to get clean while her brother and some friends drive her out and away into nature and away from the city, in the hopes that it will make the quitting process easier — basically an intervention.
Of course, she experiences withdrawals and anxieties that she starts smelling some god-awful stench that leads into to the basement where we discover that it’s the same basement we saw in the introduction. From there we find the same book and the shotgun that was used in the ritual.
One of the friends, curious of its contents, reads it, and conjures the evil from within.
Now it becomes a grueling battle of survival as the evil from the book torments and tortures this group of friends to death, one person at a time.
The Good, The Evil, and The… Amusing???
What’s really funny about all this is despite it all — despite the fact that it’s a re-used IP, despite the fact it borderlines sexual violence to the point it becomes exploitative, despite the fact that its story structure runs on a horror cliché, despite the fact it’s not really a genre I’m a huge fan of… I actually enjoyed it.
I like the idea of a character with a history of narcotics that’s trying to fight demons within while at the same time fighting actual demons outside their understanding or concept of normalcy. And the idea of trying to express alarm of something tormenting you while others, understandably, mistake your actual experience for withdrawals is a splendidly, horrifying, and sadistic concept.
It really puts the character in an underdog situation, and it’s done very well here.
I loved Jane Levy’s performance.
There’s a scene after her first horrific encounter with the evil in the woods and is talking to her brother about it, you can see the absolute horror in her eyes and hear the paranoia in her quivering voice as she tries to explain to him what’s going on.
Her performance comes off as authentic and when taking out of context, one can mistake her as being under the influence, which is great and horrifying.
The other supporting players, especially the ladies, did a great job as well, but Ms. Levy’s performance was my favorite.
As for the things that I don’t like… well, it should be obvious by now, but I’m not a fan of the gore and excessive blood that’s involved. And believe me, there is no shortage of it.
I cannot tell you the amount of times I gritted my teeth and shuddered whenever I saw a brutal scene take place that made me yell out, “OH GOD! NO! STAAAAAWP!”
It’s a hellish rollercoaster that I feel gets close to gore and torture porn for my taste…
And I read Blood Meridian.
Unlike me, a friend of mine was laughing at this brutality and made an interesting point: “These guys must’ve had fun shooting this!”
And he did have a point, I did use to work on B-movie projects with my friend Geoff Kirstiansen of SuperRexProductions back in the day, and they can be fun… and miserable… But it is an experience.
Regardless, it’s hard to divorce the fun aspects outside of the film from brutal nature within it.
Another thing that bothered me were the “Hollywood Moments” that took me out of the film – unrealistic elements, I mean.
For instance, the use of the nail gun an actual gun made me shake my head. Unless you haven’t used one, like me, you’d know it ddoesn’t work like that.
For God sakes, there’s even an unloading magazine sound effect when it runs empty.
It is a small detail, and sure it’s a horror film — it’s supposed to feel nightmarish and not meant to be taken literally or realistically. But it feels like violent contrivances for the sake of the scares.
In my opinion, it’d be more effective and terrifying with a balance of realism.
Apart from that and the excess of gore and blood, there is one thing that comes with those elements that I cannot help but praise the movie for. And that is the use of the camera and lighting.
That’s a strength I enjoyed in Evil Dead (’81) that I think Evil Dead (’13) emulates very well. I cannot tell you how many still shots or frames in the movie where I can pause it and use it as a cursed desktop wallpaper for Halloween or for a cinematic case reel of horror.
Lighting is done so well in this film that you can see it clash with the darkness. Alvarez also uses that classic technique of underlighting and it looks great.
There was an element in the film that I unexpectedly found. And that element… was comedy. Although, I’m not sure if it was intentional or not.
While my friend was laughing at the gore and violence of the film, I was snickering at some of the dialogue and editing.
I’ve always had issues with comedic elements in horror as I have to bypass a cringe curve. Some horrors excel while others don’t.
Evil Dead (’13) is odd because I’m not sure that it’s intentional.
Exhibit A comes from the excessive cursing of the deadite that it kind of goes over the top and starts to sound more like an 4chan edgelord… or someone with Tourette’s.
Exhibit B is in the editing. Everyone knows and loves the quick zoom-ins and abrupt cuts in editing that Raimi puts in his movies.
Alvarez brings that back. The thing is that the execution gives a feeling of hijinks, energy, and levity that it feels comedic and clashes against the horror.
Considering the dark nature of the film, I cannot help but wonder if this was intentional. It doesn’t hurt the film, really. If anything, it offers a bit of breathing space before it moves onto the next bit of torturous terror.
Without trying to spoil anything for anyone, I also love the cruel, fatalistic twist that takes place just when we think it’s all over.
There’s a stacking of odds that just increases in worse ways as the movie carries and it just keeps your riveted to the end.
My only complaint is the “ultimate horror.” It has a cool intro, but leaves much to be desired.
The Evil Verdict
In the end, although I’m not a fan of the gore and the more transgressive aspects of the film that make me cringe out of discomfort, I surprisingly liked it.
It’s something I was not expecting out of this franchise. It’s the adjacent elements around those upsetting ones that kept me invested.
Even though it’s not a perfect horror film, I still did enjoy it. The cast, the ambience, the lighting, the camera work, and the history behind it, it is definitely somewhat of a joy ride for me.
If you’re looking for a good, spooky, Halloween film to watch this October, you can do a LOT worse that Evil Dead (’13).
With that, I give Evil Dead (2013) seven solid boom sticks out of ten!
Well, that’s my review for Evil Dead, I hope you found it interesting and informative.
Now I want to hear your opinion!
Did you like Evil Dead (2013)?
You planning to watch it for Halloween?
Do you prefer Raimi’s material over Alvarez?
You more about the comedy or the horror?
Leave your comments below and let me know!
Thanks for oyur support everyone!
Sources
Collider: Evil Dead Alternate Ending: Fede Álvarez Finally Shares Footage
IMDB: Fede Alvarez
X: Fede Alvarez