Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead (USA, 2013) - Color, Director(s): Fede Alvarez
MPAA Rating: R
[UK: 18]
Approx. 91 min.

Z-rating: 4 out of 5 stars for a genuinely entertaining remake

Cheese Factor: 1 out of 5 stars because the film was serious in tone

The most anticipated remake in the horror community opened to the delight of its blood-thirsty fans. The original is one of the most famous cult films of all time and fans of the original will no doubt be tempted to pick this movie apart. This is supposed to be a re-imagining of the story rather than a shot-for-shot remake.
We follow a group of five friends who have gathered to help their friend Mia kick her drug habit. There's Olivia, who's a registered nurse, and Eric, who teaches high school. Mia's estranged brother, David, is also here to support her and he brought along a girl named Natalie. The nurse is running the show because of her medical knowledge but when they find the book, it's the high school teacher who's curious enough to decipher and read the text out loud. That unleashes the Evil but when Mia starts seeing things, everyone assumes it's just crazy withdrawal talk. They don't realize until it's too late that there's something very real stalking them in the woods and it's going to kill them one by one.

Yes, this is the D-bag that reads the book

This movie is great for a newcomer who is looking for a brutally violent scary movie or for long time Evil Dead fans. I think many will agree that this is a worthy update to a classic while still adding enough to the story to progress the franchise. Let's talk about a couple things that people are going to complain about right off the bat:

The Book - Goes by the name Naturon Demonto just like it did in the original movie but they didn't get the rights for the image so there's no face on this book. Still bound in flesh and looks pretty bad ass, just no face. Might be a big deal to some people but just looked like Leatherface's diary to me.

No Ash - Sorry, he's just not in this movie.

That's really all there is to complain about this movie. Also, if you stay until after the credits, some of that is satisfied for you anyway! I liked how good a lot of the practical effects looked but you could tell there was still some computer effects used to "touch up" certain scenes. Overall, if you're going to nitpick, I'm sure you could find things to complain about. The movie was definitely fun in its own way and I hope to see more like it. Disgusting practical effects, creepy atmosphere, dark tone with a sense of humor. What's not to like?


Nudity: Not much in the T&A department.


Gore: TONS! They don't get too creative with the kills like Laid to Rest and Laid to Rest 2 does, but they definitely went for quantity in bloodshed. With a few gruesome close ups thrown in to make you cringe in your seats.

Awesome: Very. Always nice to see a remake handled well. Despite the amount of blood that was splashed around towards the end, this movie never lost its serious tone. I really enjoyed it and I hope there are many more like it. After hearing about how the entire movie will be done with practical effects and zero CGI hype, I was mildly disappointed to see some on screen but I'm not going to complain. All of it looked fantastic, so that's just a minor complaint from me. I also won't build this movie up too much or it might not live up to the hype. I don't think it was THE best horror movie I've ever seen but I definitely think this was worth my ticket price. For the die hard fans, don't forget to stay until after the credits!!!