There have been two previous, new Evil Dead films. The trailers looked like they kept the gore of the original films and TV show but removed all the ....
Is whimsy the right word for a man being assaulted by his own possessed hand and fouled mouthed killer puppets?
Perhaps not.
But whatever the fun element of the originals was, the trailers showed no evidence.
The trailer for Evil Dead Rise looked like that as well. But also looked... interesting.
Anabelle agreed, and used it for one of her brain resetting solo trips to the theater.
She proclaimed it the best film she'd seen all year, and when I mentioned being interested in seeing it, she jumped at the chance to join me a week after her first viewing.
It was an excellent horror film on its own, and while not diving into the Three Stooges inspired "Splatstick" ideology the franchise origins are associated with, it truly does deserve the title of an "Evil Dead" Film.
Anabelle was also correct that my wife should never see this movie.
It does have all the gore of an Evil Dead film. While it doesn't venture into the obvious silliness that Army of Darkness or the tv series featured or the high level of laughable bizarreness of Evil Dead II, it does contain a great many features of the franchise.
Sam-O-Cam
"Dead by dawn!"
Heinous Horror Hags
Something locked in the cellar
Deadites using the darkest thoughts and secrets of the characters against them.
The big old house in the woods has a very "Cabin" vibe (and a workshed)
Creative use of power tools
Superfast swish pans and zooms
Deadites looking normal and sweet to lure people in
A photo of Bruce!!!!
Impressive falls down the stairs
That nasty joint cracking noise Deadites make
A nice chainsaw reference that gets subverted
A photo of The Classic! (which I missed. Gotta watch it again as soon as the disk comes out!)
There are some moments of the weird, funny from a certain point of view, Deadite scrambling/ floating/ charging motions but those are often occurring in the background while a character is crawling away from something else in terror.
There's also moments where if they did something once, or quickly, it would simply be ghastly, but the length or repetition coaxes out the laughter. It's not at the "blood guyser" level of Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness. Its more like the subtle moments in the original Evil Dead film that makes you think, "So, that's still going," inspiring laughter of the "Oh, that is so not right," variety.
The cast is a dysfunctional family in this one, as opposed to a group of friends or a combination of friends and strangers. That added weight to both the characters and the story over an above the usual for this genre. I've always been a fan of the little extra twists of weirdness that comes with French science fiction. I guess that goes for horror too.
There's left over pyrokinetics from (I would guess) when the film began life before Rob, Sam and Bruce invited it into their party. But those parts also fit this world.
Yes, this movie does have substance.
But it is also scary on multiple levels, entertainingly gross, and kinda messed up in amusing ways.
In short, it is an Evil Dead film.
But not one my wife should ever see...
Disclaimer: While I did enjoy this film, i do agree 100% with Bruce Campbell who said in a recent interview that Evil Dead films should use more bright colors and have far more humor.
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