Evil Dead Review
RYAN: Evil Dead is the reboot of The Evil Dead trilogy that Sam Raimi did back in the ’80s. He and Bruce Campbell produce this one and I liked it.
KIM: Did you see the original?
RYAN: No but that was apparently very low-budge, B-movie and laughable at times. This one had a good budget and was shot well. Some of the camera angles were enough to build suspense and make you feel uneasy on their own. The fear factor didn’t rely too much on the sound effects and editing. They enhanced but it wasn’t all cheap thrills, which I appreciate. Plus the score was amazing for a scary movie.
KIM: They really went over the top with the gore factor. I just couldn’t handle it. I had to close my eyes for a lot of it.
RYAN: Well it is a slasher film. It’s that sub-genre of horror that is extremely bloody, gory and gross. It’s not my favorite type of horror but I didn’t look away.
KIM: There were some interesting original components to it, like how the possession took place. It was disturbing to say the least.
RYAN: I like that this movie wasn’t gratuitous in the sense that there were not boobs flying all over the place. It was just bloody all over and as far as slasher films go, this is one of the better I’ve seen. It’s in the same vein as a decent Hostel or Saw movie.
KIM: Some moments in Quentin Tarantino movies are very bloody but they don’t look as real as the bloody moments in this one.
RYAN: The plot is a bit cliché in the sense that it’s a bunch of attractive young people, secluded in the woods, getting mutilated and hacked up.
KIM: I liked Cabin in the Woods better. It was fresh and inventive.
RYAN: I won’t compare the two. They’re different types of horror movies. Cabin is more sci-fi, fantasy, horror and Evil Dead is more supernatural, possession, slasher film. Meanwhile, you missed a lot of this movie.
KIM: [laughs’ Instead of looking at the screen, I was watching your face and I was glad I wasn’t looking at the screen because your reactions were priceless sometimes.
RYAN: Really? I was rather grossed out at times. This movie makes the tough moment in 127 Hours look like a walk in the park. It’s so violent and grotesque. But it’s easily the best horror movie we’ve seen in the last two or three years.
KIM: Yeah they haven’t been actually scary lately.
RYAN: The makeup was really great. And there wasn’t really any CGI special effects. Everything was created the old fashioned way. I appreciate that and think it’s creepier.
KIM: It is nice to see things less computer generated.
RYAN: This isn’t going to give me nightmares and it didn’t really scare me but I think that’s just because I’m desensitized to a lot of horror at this point. But I did find this thrilling. And there was no inappropriate laughter in the audience which usually happens in horror movies. People were just silent and glued to the screen.
KIM: The acting was fine but no one really stood out.
RYAN: I’m curious now, to see some of the original films, to compare; but also to see early Sam Raimi. You either like a gory slasher movie or you don’t and if you do, this one’s pretty good.
