Evil Dead

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Screening Suggestions

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As we approach October, and my upcoming Halloween Special, perhaps it's time to show off a little of my darker side in my tastes. This one is straight up horror, absolutely drenched in practical blood and gore, and it's a thing of beauty. It gets extra credit for, not outdoing, but at least living up to it's source material as well. This is saying a lot considering the original 1982 film would be the one to give us Ash Willams (Bruce Campbell) the most badass horror hero of our age. That said, however, this movie works on a level that works very well without the need for an "Ash".

The setup involves a group of people, gathering at a cabin in the middle of nowhere. The general idea is to get their friend, a girl named Mia (Jane Levy) off of heroine. She's further helped here by her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez) who is seemingly trying to make up for lost time with their now deceased mother.

Mia buries her heroine deep in the ground, and vows never to touch it again. It's revealed, however, that she has vowed to do this before, and relapsed without much reluctance. Because of this, her friend Olivia (Jessica Lucas) explains to the others that she should be kept there until she's clean. They would stay with her as long as it took. Meanwhile, tag-along Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) discovers the Book of the Dead in the basement. As 'Evil Dead' tradition has it, he reads from it, and what ensues is an onslaught of demons, blood, gore, and anything to try to make one squeamish. However, unlike the original 'Evil Dead', this one comes with an interesting, symbolic twist. Without saying too much, the way I interpreted things for myself as a lot to do with Mia fighting her "inner demons" when it came to her addiction. There's this climactic scene that tends to confuse a lot of people who watch it, but bearing my thoughts in mind, perhaps it will take on a new meaning for you when you watch it.

The scariest thing about this concept is that it IS a remake of one of horror's biggest titles, and that's not gonna sit well with a lot of people. With that said, however, it's easy to see that this one does a rather brilliant job of it all. It's remade to be it's own thing, but the homages to the original film are all over the place here. This one, being fairly new as well, just looks better. Don't get me wrong, the effects of the original lend themselves to it's charm. But if you were to show a brand new audience these two side by side, the updated effects just work better. And guess what! Not a single bit of it is CG! It's all practical, Hollywood meat. The good stuff that gives you that real sense that something may actually be happening.

So, if you're looking for something truly horrific for this Halloween season, this isn't a bad title to watch. But listen, don't just throw those original Campbell films to the side either. 'The Evil Dead', 'Evil Dead 2' and 'Army of Darkness' are all still classics in the name of horror. But for a remake of so much to live up to, this was one of the few that pulled it off VERY well!

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