"Groovy!"
Evil Dead II (1987) (sometimes referred to as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn) is the comedy horror sequel to The Evil Dead (1981) also directed by Sam Raimi and like that film this film also stars Bruce Campbell.
This film is a loose remake of The Evil Dead like that film it involves a group of people spending a night in an abandonded cabin with an evil book of the dead.
There's two major differences story-wise between this film and it's predecessor. First it's very clear, right off that Ash is the protagonist in this one. I liked the way it was done before, but I admit I don't think it would have worked as well a second time so I'm okay with this change. Also letting Bruce Campbell take the lead from the very beginning allows him to really take on his amazing hero Ash persona from the beginning which really helps in the rushed first act and kind of ties the whole film together as an epic hero legend. The second difference is that the Necronomicon seems to possess the house in this one, not just people. Although this may technically make less sense, this helps in two ways: it allows better explanation for anytime something surprising happens in the film (like bursting windows that were pretty much unexplained in the first film) and it helps with this film because this film has less characters to possess and turn evil from the beginning. Not to mention it makes for a great third act!
Even though this film has somewhat of a comedy aspect, the horror of this film is really quite decent. They rely on soundtrack jump scares a bit too much for my taste, but other than that it's an excellent blend of comedy and genuine horror.
Another improvement is that this film, unlike the original, really seems to know what it's doing with it's grotesque horror. These same types of seemingly senseless gross-out scenes that seemed out of place in the original now are actually hilarious thanks to the added comedy element. For example after some effort, Ash slices off the head of one of the transformed gross witch deadites and then her head is on the floor screaming "I'll swallow your soul! I'll swallow your soul!!" to which Ash aims his shotgun and says " Swallow this." Then blows up the disembodied evil head in an explosion of fire and guts. If that's not entertainment, I don't know what is.
I kind of wonder why this was labeled a sequel? There's almost no direct ties to the original story-wise. This probably has to do with the fact I'm not actually sure this film really works on it's own? Mainly because the beginning is a rushed bunch of random crap and really feels like it's running through of the events of the previous one (which feels really repetative if you've seen the first one anytime recently... like me...) just to get to lots of time with Ash going insane. So if you're watching this film, they added the intro to the film to explain the Necronomicon right off for you, but then after that almost the entire film is our protagonist going crazy, killing his girlfriend and then struggling with becoming possessed himself and fighting the evil for almost the entire first act. I feel like if you haven't seen the first one, you'd be sitting there going, what the hell am I watching!?
The dialogue can be pretty bad at times, for example, "it's like someone just walked over my grave." Some of these are intentional. And a lot of them work as comedy. But the films wont fully land what they're trying to do with these types of lines until the next one.
If you thought the direction in The Evil Dead was good (which believe me, I do), you may be surprised to find the direction even more solid here. You can really see the transition in only about a decade from a talented amateur who was very inventive and creatively trying things to a well executed professional, with each camera move being planned out and used for a precise reason. Even though this one is a comedy the horror is again really good, and it's debatable which film has better horror moments. Also one of the things that makes this tolerable as a remake is it doesn't really even follow the original more than the basic premise. And it certainly doesn't follow a typical Hollywood screenwriting format, this film wanders all over the place but then ends on a very precise and well planned out footing, something I attribute entirely to Mr. Raimi.
Unlike previous film, Bruce Campbell is the main event here. Here's him really figuring out the role of his career (and setting up the awesomeness that is the sequel). It's hard to imagine this film even remotely working with any one else in the lead here. It definitely makes the film worthwhile.
Lastly I gotta mention how much I love the ending here. Even though it's a twist ending it ties into an earlier part of the film you may not catch on the first viewing an has such a classic creepy feel very akin to an older style of horror or science fiction like The Planet of the Apes (1963) or Soylent Green (1973).
Evil Dead II (1987) is an enjoyable comedy horror. In a lot of ways it's improved from the original, but the best part about it is how it really paves the way and sets the standard for it's sequel...
4/5 Stars.
Happy watching!
Tomorrow on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies we find out what happened to Ash with the end of this film with the end of the original Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness (1992).
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