O v. R: EVIL DEAD

Original v. Remake: EVIL DEAD

by Eli Henry

  By the time I'd seen the original Evil Dead, I was fairly well-versed in horror. In two weeks at my grandma's house I'd pushed my way through several decades'-worth of relaxed horror film-viewing. The Shining, It, Halloween, you name it. Name a popular horror film between 1970 and 1990, and I'd likely seen it in those two weeks. It was a lot of horror films, is what I'm trying to get across. However, none of these phased me, and upon returning home and watching more, I still just wasn't being scared by movies some people were flat-out scared to even watch. Then I found Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD, a film I remember seeing in my family's old VHS movie case among Little Mermaid, Spawn, and its sequel ("DEAD BY DAWN!!"). It was newly added to Netflix Instant-Watch, and I was home alone for 6+ hours. Out of new horror films easily available to me, I hit the play button on Evil Dead. And thank God I did. 

  Let me first say, the first time I saw Sam Raimi's Evil Dead (his first feature, to my knowledge), I couldn't take it. I got up to the pencil-in-ankle stabbing scene and shut it off. It looked so real to me. After a little while (an hour or two) I came back to it and finished the masterpiece I'd begun. This film, for me, totally changed my outlook on horror films. I'd encountered a "scary" movie that actually scared me. Evil Dead was an almost zero-budget student film, and it was better than most studio films. It had its cheesy parts, sure, but those pieces are lost in the sea of gory and suspenseful sequences this film lays end-to-end, with no real sense of slowed-action. But that doesn't mean it's all gore. This isn't a Saw or Hostel precursor, it has genuine scares and moments of suspense, which are interlaced with gruesome and awesome (in the true sense of the word) scenes of violence. Even in its last moments the tension remains ramped up. The original Evil Dead single-handedly inspired me to be a film-maker. It still remains my favorite of the original trilogy.

  

  Enter 2012. News was swirling around that commercial and short-film director Fede Alvarez was circling an Evil Dead remake. In a way, I hoped it would fail to come together, since I'd always held onto the tiny, foolish hope that I could create the remake some day. I became hopeful upon the release of the first red-band trailer, but remained wary. Then, the day came. Evil Dead was released. I went to go see it in the theatre (the fanciest I could find, in fact, since it was a special occasion). And upon first viewing, I was shocked. The movie was good. Maybe even great, but I wasn't sure yet. It played as a part-sequel to the original trilogy, with the new group of teens-to-be-slaughtered finding Ash (the hero of the original trilogy)'s car. As well as more subtle homages through familiar lines, visuals, and scenes. Upon a rewatch recently, I found the remake really was great, and while it did retread some of the same material (how couldn't it? It's a remake), it did it in a surprisingly original way, with a few interesting twists added surrounding the book, the opening sequence, the final sequence,  and two particular characters' deaths, among other things. 

  While Evil Dead 2013 didn't have the memorable, even iconic, hero protagonist element behind it, it really didn't need it, and had enough kill originality to keep the gore-lovers happy, and the suspense, references, and eeriness to keep fans of the series happy and content. I walked out of Evil Dead 2013 thinking: "If Evil Dead was made by Sam Raimi in the present instead of 1981, it would look just like this", and I really believe it would. Evil Dead 2013 and 1981 really were INCREDIBLY close in quality and care. 

  The remake... TIES with the original.