I’ve been watching the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead lately (which is SO GOOD), so when the question of “what movie am I going to watch?” came up last weekend, I immediately went to Evil Dead. To be more specific, it came up while I was browsing Netflix and then I immediately put it on.
Let it also be known that I’m talking about the 2013 Evil Dead here. Not the original. Though I may binge the original trilogy next weekend, because man am I ever in an Evil Dead kind of mood.
The thing that boggles my mind the most is that somehow, this is supposed to be both a reboot of and a sequel to the original films. Which was perfectly fine until Ash vs Evil Dead came along and sort of invalidated it as a canonical entry in the series. I guess Evil Dead 2013 could have a different Necronomicon and cabin, but that’s… you know what? That’s fine. I’m fine with that.
Anyway, ED2013 is a fine movie in its own right, but is very different from its older siblings. I don’t think there’s a single joke in this movie, and I don’t find any of it unintentionally funny either. This version of the tale is played completely straight, and pulls absolutely no punches.
This story focuses on Mia, a recovering drug addict, who is out at a cabin in the middle of nowhere with her friends in an effort to quit cold turkey. Of course, eventually they find the Necronomicon, someone reads a passage that unleashes an ancient evil, and they all start getting killed and/or possessed. Only instead of being goofy, these Deadites are dead serious.
ED2013 is brutal and is so excessively gory that even I have a tough time stomaching it. That scene with Natalie and the carving knife makes my stomach churn in a way that movie gore hasn’t been able to do in many years. And then there’s the grand finale where literally everything is covered in blood. More blood than Evil Dead 2. If you can believe it. It also contains one of the most amazing chainsaw scenes ever committed to film, and it’s absolutely worth watching the entire movie for those two minutes.
Overall? It’s not really what I wanted in an Evil Dead sequel (that’s what Ash vs Evil Dead is for), and I don’t usually enjoy movies that exist simply to torture their characters for two hours. But the supernatural bent saves it and I do like how it reimagines the original story. I mean, I’ve seen it like five times now, so yeah, I obviously like the flick. Do I recommend it? That’s tougher. But I feel like there’s enough information in this short post for you to make that call on your own.
