Evil Dead II
Year: 1987
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Sarah Berry, Bruce Campbell, Richard Domeier, Dan Hicks & Kassie Wesley
Runtime: 84 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 07/04/23
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Sarah Berry, Bruce Campbell, Richard Domeier, Dan Hicks & Kassie Wesley
Runtime: 84 mins
BBFC: 15
Published: 07/04/23
The Evil Dead became a sleeper hit both in America and across the globe, putting Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s names on the map. A number of years went by, and the pair frequently spoke of a sequel, something that would really shake up the status quo of horror movies. With Rosebud Releasing wanting an Evil Dead sequel, and not keen with Raimi’s wild new ideas of a medieval setting, Raimi agreed to make a sequel that felt more familiar to the first film, with a third film being what he wanted to make provided the second film was a success. The rest is history, Evil Dead II became a huge success and Raimi got to make the threequel he wanted, but Evil Dead II was far from the sequel Rosebud had wanted.
When Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bier) journey to a remote cabin in the woods for a romantic getaway, the pair quickly find themselves the targets of demons brought forth by the book of the dead.
When family of the cabin owners arrive to find Ash battling undead forces, it becomes a race against time to translate the remaining pages of the book and sever the demonic connection.
If that plot summary sounded oddly similar to the summary of The Evil Dead, that’s because they’re largely the same story. The difference is that Evil Dead II is a horror-comedy, rather than a straightforward horror.
Where the violence and gore was done for scares in the first film, here is played up for laughs. The characters are zany goofballs rather than terrified teens, and the script is packed with zingy one liners.
Evil Dead II is considered to be an improvement over its predecessors by many, but I simply didn’t get it. I hate saying that phrase, ‘I didn’t get it’, but honestly, it was just kind of confusing.
I found it painfully unfunny, there wasn’t a single moment I laughed, and the modifications made to the first films story to make it seem slightly fresher and unpredictable for returning fans were all inferior.
Crucially, horror needs to be scary, and comedy needs to be funny. If a horror-comedy is neither, then what’s the point?
When Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bier) journey to a remote cabin in the woods for a romantic getaway, the pair quickly find themselves the targets of demons brought forth by the book of the dead.
When family of the cabin owners arrive to find Ash battling undead forces, it becomes a race against time to translate the remaining pages of the book and sever the demonic connection.
If that plot summary sounded oddly similar to the summary of The Evil Dead, that’s because they’re largely the same story. The difference is that Evil Dead II is a horror-comedy, rather than a straightforward horror.
Where the violence and gore was done for scares in the first film, here is played up for laughs. The characters are zany goofballs rather than terrified teens, and the script is packed with zingy one liners.
Evil Dead II is considered to be an improvement over its predecessors by many, but I simply didn’t get it. I hate saying that phrase, ‘I didn’t get it’, but honestly, it was just kind of confusing.
I found it painfully unfunny, there wasn’t a single moment I laughed, and the modifications made to the first films story to make it seem slightly fresher and unpredictable for returning fans were all inferior.
Crucially, horror needs to be scary, and comedy needs to be funny. If a horror-comedy is neither, then what’s the point?
Campbell does have a strong physical performance, he’s extremely expressive and you can tell he’s giving it his all despite the gags falling short. But I couldn’t ever tell if this was supposed to be the same Ash from The Evil Dead, or a different character with the same name.
The supporting cast were completely forgettable, to the point that even whilst watching the film I couldn’t remember their names, nor did I really care why they were there. They were all considerably less interesting than the cast of The Evil Dead, which considering I criticised the one-dimensional nature of characters in that film says a lot about their Evil Dead II counterparts.
Where Evil Dead II does truly excel in comparison to its predecessor is in the special effects, prosthetics, and stop-motion animation. A bigger budget has done wonders for the look of the deadites, as well as allowing the gore to be even more over the top than the first film. The deadites themselves look great, with some really inventive designs to make them stand out against the usual demonic possession victim (as seen in The Evil Dead).
Whilst the violence is still excessive, because it’s done for the sake of comedy now it doesn’t land the same way The Evil Dead does. The Evil Dead was an uncomfortable watch because of how violent and gory it was and the effect that had on the characters, Evil Dead II is desensitising because of how much blood and violence there is and how little it matters to those same characters.
I can see why people would like Evil Dead II, it’s just not for me. Credit where it’s due, it was a bold decision to essentially remake the first film into a comedy, but to me it felt as though after directing Scream, what if Wes Craven went on to make Scary Movie. It feels like that kind of downgrade for me, but I’m clearly not the target audience for this kind of thing because campy horror comedies are rarely my kind of thing.
Raimi would direct just one more Evil Dead film, a direct sequel to Evil Dead II…so will it change my opinion on the campy horror comedy formula, or will it be another ‘masterpiece’ that goes completely over my head?
The supporting cast were completely forgettable, to the point that even whilst watching the film I couldn’t remember their names, nor did I really care why they were there. They were all considerably less interesting than the cast of The Evil Dead, which considering I criticised the one-dimensional nature of characters in that film says a lot about their Evil Dead II counterparts.
Where Evil Dead II does truly excel in comparison to its predecessor is in the special effects, prosthetics, and stop-motion animation. A bigger budget has done wonders for the look of the deadites, as well as allowing the gore to be even more over the top than the first film. The deadites themselves look great, with some really inventive designs to make them stand out against the usual demonic possession victim (as seen in The Evil Dead).
Whilst the violence is still excessive, because it’s done for the sake of comedy now it doesn’t land the same way The Evil Dead does. The Evil Dead was an uncomfortable watch because of how violent and gory it was and the effect that had on the characters, Evil Dead II is desensitising because of how much blood and violence there is and how little it matters to those same characters.
I can see why people would like Evil Dead II, it’s just not for me. Credit where it’s due, it was a bold decision to essentially remake the first film into a comedy, but to me it felt as though after directing Scream, what if Wes Craven went on to make Scary Movie. It feels like that kind of downgrade for me, but I’m clearly not the target audience for this kind of thing because campy horror comedies are rarely my kind of thing.
Raimi would direct just one more Evil Dead film, a direct sequel to Evil Dead II…so will it change my opinion on the campy horror comedy formula, or will it be another ‘masterpiece’ that goes completely over my head?