Evil Dead II review.
Six years after shocking the world with low budget winner The Evil Dead, Director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell returned to the cabin to deliver something even better. Evil Dead II stands as the pinnacle of all things Evil Dead.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Evil Dead II
Directed by Sam Raimi
Written by Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel
Starring Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley and Richard Domeier
Evil Dead II Review
If Evil Dead II starts out feeling a little familiar…you aren’t imaging things. Director Sam Raimi and company didn’t have the rights to footage from the original movie when production started on the sequel. They did the next best thing and filmed a quick recap to set up top. This has led to confusion over the years as to whether Evil Dead II is in fact, a remake. It isn’t…but it’s also not…not a remake. If that sounds confusing…allow me to explain.
There is a moment in Evil Dead II that repeats the ending shot of The Evil Dead. In essence, it tells the viewer where the retold story ended and the new one began. This occurs about seven minutes into the movie. Before that we see Ash and his girlfriend Linda drive up to the famous cabin and play the famous reading of the Necronomicon. All hell breaks loose, and Ash ends up surviving the night. He is then struck by the same evil that had possessed Linda previously. That’s where the first story ends and the second one begins. Kind of.
In truth, not only are there more parts of the original reworked after this opening recap…but things occur that wouldn’t be possible if the first movie had happened as it originally did. The first clue that you can discount The Evil Dead’s version of events when watching Evil Dead II is that all the characters except Linda and Ash don’t even go to the cabin. That means, in the reality of the sequel…Ash never lost his sister to the demonic forces in the woods.
This opens giant continuity issues later in the series. The Ash vs. Evil Dead tv series restores Ash’s sister into the canon…but also utilizes aspects of Evil Dead II that don’t work if The Evil Dead happened in its entirety. Henrietta, a Deadite hanging out in the cellar, only appears in the sequel. She can’t be in the cellar of the original…we spend plenty of time down there without her. She too is canon by the time the series hits TV.
What does this all mean? Don’t bother to try and make sense of Evil Dead continuity. They just went with what worked at every turn. So, Evil Dead II isn’t a remake. It’s also kind of a remake. But mostly it doesn’t matter. There is an actual remake of The Evil Dead…but that might not be a remake either. Ash’s car is seen outside of the cabin in that movie…a story that is told as if the book of the dead is being discovered for the first time. The second most consistent thing about the Evil Dead franchise is its inconsistencies.
The most consistent thing is its quality. The Evil Dead series is (or better stated…should be) notorious for how damned good every installment is. Reviews for all the movies (including the new Evil Dead Rise) will be going up throughout the week…but I’ll spoil it right now. There isn’t a bad Evil Dead movie. Finding this level of quality sustained through many decades and multiple casts and crews is rare in any genre. In horror it’s pretty much unheard of. Even the Scream series has Scream 3 in its closet.
The king among the series of highs? Evil Dead II. Raimi and Campbell returned to the franchise with more ambition and confidence. Their creativity and talent are on display in every frame of this superior sequel. In the review of The Evil Dead we talked about the third act feeling like a trial run for this movie. Raimi putting his most creative impulses on screen and positioning Campbell front and center in the madness. Evil Dead II blows the whole thing up and makes a feature out of it. It’s also incredibly funny.
Raimi has so many tricks up his sleeve in Evil Dead II it can be dizzying. There are more interesting shots and camera moves in the opening act than most directors try in a lifetime. It provides an energy and expert pacing to the film that the original lacked.
Campbell had improved by leaps and bounds by the time this sequel hit production. He has a far more challenging role, and he dominates the picture with it. A far cry from the timid, occasionally lost, version of the character he played six years earlier. The promise of the ending of the original is even paid off here as Ash spends a good portion of the movie as a Deadite terrorizing the new characters who enter the cabin. It’s all incredibly fun.
Those new characters exist to expand the lore of the series. We learn a lot more about the Necronomicon and how it came to be that the evil was unleashed on the world. There is also some setup for the next film in the series Army of Darkness. In fitting Evil Dead fashion…they wouldn’t have the rights to Evil Dead II when they put that sequel into production five years later. Footage was reshot…and the meaning of the ending of Evil Dead II was thematically and narratively changed. But we’ll get to that tomorrow.
Evil Dead II delivers iconic moments that the series is synonymous with. Ash cuts off his hand and replaces it with a chainsaw. He has an epic battle with the possessed appendage both before and after it is severed from his arm. This version of Ash also has the one-liners that the younger model lacked. When he says “Groovy” he’s speaking for the audience.
It still has great gore effects and excellent make-up. Some of it doesn’t age as well as others…but it adds up to a great aesthetic. Evil Dead II isn’t as hard edged and mean as The Evil Dead…but its comedic tone bordering on a slapstick cartoon is the perfect compliment to the blood splatter and death. It’s the world that Campbell was born to play in. Thankfully, he’d return to play in it again with both Army of Darkness and Ash vs. Evil Dead before hanging up his chainsaw for good. They may not hit the highs of Evil Dead II…but they succeed in tackling their own unique spins on the continuing world of Evil Dead.
Keep an eye out for our Evil Dead Week podcast…out tomorrow wherever you get your podcasts.
Scare Value
Evil Dead II is a masterpiece. It’s also one of the most fun horror movies ever made. Or maybe that’s why it’s a masterpiece. Either way, Raimi and Campbell’s confidence in the world of Evil Dead is unmatched at this stage of the series. Raimi’s camera is as dangerous as any Deadite…and Campbell’s charm is ready to match it every step of the way. Evil Dead II expands the lore of the world while upping the thrill factor. One of the best sequels ever delivered regardless of genre.
5/5
Evil Dead II Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu
Rent/Buy on VOD from Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
Evil Dead II Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Evil Dead II, check out Horror in the High Desert
