Evil Dead (2013)
Yes yes, before you come for my horror fan card, I know I’m skipping over Army of Darkness, but that’s because I haven’t had a chance to grab it and watch it yet. Rather than put this series on hold, and since Evil Dead Rise is out now, I figured I’d at least cover the first in this new, more serious run for the franchise. After that, I’ll let you guys know how Rise was!
With that out of the way…
Did you ever wonder what the fastest way to paint a house might be? Well, you need five souls and one seriously worn-out book.
While I rewatched it recently for my review on it, I watched the original Evil Dead for the FIRST time some time ago. I had already fallen in love with Bruce Campbell through Burn Notice, and that love led me to his first-ever production, a little horror production filmed in a single rundown shack in the backwoods of Tennessee. Of course, I had already heard plenty of references to the original 3 Evil Dead movies. But when I finally sat down and watched the first one, I understood why Bruce was such a beloved character actor. The first movie is clearly an amateur outing by some fresh new faces in the industry, but they made up for that in a clear love for the art.
As for this version, it’s clear that Raimi and Campbell, both producers on the project, felt that they could try that first concept again. This time, however, it’s pretty clear that they decided to try what that first one was going for, and set out to make a true horror out of one of the most endearingly-goofy horror franchises to ever show up on the silver screen.
The plot surrounds 5 friends who get together at a cabin in the woods to help one of their midst, Mia, kick a heroin addiction the hard way - cold turkey. While the group expects her to suffer serious withdrawals, what they don't expect is to find what looks like a cult ritual site under their cabin. What starts as a fairly artsy film quickly devolves into one of the most savage and grotesque movies I've ever seen.
This is meant as a compliment.
Anyone who knows about The Evil Dead knows that the book found by the unwitting victims is one Naturom Demonto, better known as the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. One of the group, a teacher, apparently just can't help himself, reading a passage from the book.
The next hour and change is a damn-near constant shower of red, as whatever takes hold of Mia starts to rampage. It starts with mutilating Mia herself, but certainly doesn't stop there. Before the credits roll, we get to see a conga line of dismemberment, bile, and pure, unadulterated violence.
As you know by now, I think everyone should get a chance to go in fresh. As such, I will always at least attempt to avoid spoilers. With that said, however, from here on out I'm gonna be talking about the finale of this movie, so be warned.
The last 15 minutes of the movie is honestly someone of the best splatterpunk cinema ever created. After five souls have been given up (everyone but Mia, plus their dog Grandpa), the sky starts to rain actual, literal blood. The remainder of the movie is drenched in absolute crimson.
Mia has it out with the Abomination, which has taken her likeness, in an absolutely brutal, exhausting, and tortuous battle (in a good way). Mia constantly tries to shift the stakes, with the Abomination closing the gap each time. Mia crawls under the shed, and the Abomination follows. Mia climbs INTO the shed, repeat step 1. Mia grabs the chainsaw, but gets pushed back deeper into the shed. It's only when Mia finally breaks out and hides that she starts the thing, successfully lopping off one of the thing's legs.
Then it flips a fucking JEEP onto her arm.
Mia literally has to rip her own hands off to get out from under the car. The payoff of all of this is an unbelievable, minute-long scene of Mia chainsawing this thing straight through the face, down into its torso, and up through the head. The sky is bleeding. The protagonist is working with a stump. And on top of it all, blood is absolutely fountaining out of this creature's body.
I know gore isn't for everyone, and it doesn't make a movie good. While the plot carries itself fairly well, it's no masterpiece. But I would like to submit that even gore can be an art form. For Reservoir Dogs, it was Tim Roth in a pool of his own blood for most of the movie. In Halloween (2018), it was muted, but still present, and all the more powerful for it. For movies like Scream, it's a way to ground the movie in realistic consequences.
In this movie, gore IS the art. Blood and pus and spit are not used as shock value, but as the value itself. I can't even imagine how much fake blood this production must have gone through, and every gallon of it is applied in an over the top, cartoonish, stylistic way that, while not "proper cinema", is its own, worthy art.
This movie is not Citizen Kane or To Kill A Mockingbird. It clearly wasn't going to be making the awards circuit. It isn't going in the Criterion Collection.
But what it IS is a damn good splatter film with some awesome acting, fantastic gore, and a very, VERY red palette.
