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Evil Dead 2 (1987) - Sam Raimi


Evil Dead 2 is a classic in the horror genre. It is a treat to sit back and watch someone like Sam Raimi sit behind the camera and create such entertaining and fantastical storyline. Credit's due where credit is due I guess. Bruce Campbell carries this movie the entire way. He IS this movie. The entire first half of the film is just Campbell working by himself. He pulls it off with such gusto. Bruce Campbell IS Ashley Williams, no matter how good this new remake looks. Remember, I wrote this before that remake had come out yet. Anyway, Evil Dead 2 only serves as an improvement to the already stellar and familiar Evil Dead franchise. This movie doesn't compete in anyway and it doesn't need to try. It is a classic through and through. 

This movie starts things off in a really interesting manner. It just completely retcon's the entire first movie... well not entirely. The first movie has to do with a group of young adults, going up to a cabin to have a good time. They stumble upon the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and awake evil spirits, otherwise known as the Deadites. Demon Zombies. Kinda. This movie rewrites the first story to ONLY include Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his girlfriend. The other three characters are removed from the storyline. Now this either has to do with the Deadites re-writing history and driving Ash crazy or they just made the change. Either way Sam Raimi does it in an interesting way that doesn't put you off. Rather, it drags you in. His action of retconning the storyline from the previous movie actually helps this movie in someways. I makes it feel like you aren't watching the same exact movie, when in fact you are. In a broader sense. 

Sam Raimi had more money to make Evil Dead 2 with than he had previously worked with for Evil Dead. He found this to be a good opportunity to re-write the first story, while adding more depth and terror. He could breeze past the stupid teenager plot and jump right into the Deadites fighting Ash. It was genius. This of course allowed for Bruce Campbell to show off his acting skills and they both came up with some really amazing scenes. What a duo. In case you didn't know, Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi work together in just about everything. Even when Raimi was making Spider-Man he used Bruce Campbell in key scenes. 

This movie is hands down one of my favorites. The amount of gore is tremendous and it is cheesy enough to entertain anyone weather you are looking for a horror movie or just something fun to watch. It is campy to the level of hilarity, all the while showing you things that you won't soon forget. Ash cutting off his own hand for becoming possessed is a scene that comes to mind. It is hilarious. Then Ash takes a chainsaw to his arm while laughing maniacally and getting covered in buckets of blood. 

This movie is fantastic and gets high marks from me. It is bloody, frightening, funny, and smart all at the same time. If you haven't seen it than you need too. I am highly recommending this to anyone. Just go and see it. 

Groovy

 S!D

  • The recap of The Evil Dead includes a shot where the "evil force" runs through the cabin and rams into Ash. When this shot was filmed, Bruce Campbell suffered a broken jaw when Sam Raimi (who was operating the camera) crashed into him with a bicycle. Or so people were led to believe. This was a story concocted by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell as a gag to see how many people would believe it actually happened. 
  • Freddy's glove makes an appearance. 
  • Stephen King helped fund this movie. 

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