Evil
Dead II (1987)
(aka "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn," and "Evil Dead II:
The Sequel to the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Terror."
Bruce Campbell is a rock star. And so is Sam Raimi.
Together, they bring forth a buzzsaw of a film on overload.
"Evil Dead II" has a simple plot; A guy takes his girlfriend
out into a seemingly abandoned cabin in the sticks where
he finds a tape recorder. When he plays it, he hears
the former inhabitant, a historian of some sort, speak
some words from "The Book of the Dead." Suddenly, evil
is unleashed in the forest and heads right for the cabin.
The guy, along with some stragglers who eventually come
to the cabin, battle evil for the rest of the film.
It's a well-worn premise, but Raimi and Campbell take
it to a new height.
Their wham-bam, adrenaline-rush approach to the film
is awesome and for 85 minutes, the pace rarely slows.
Even when it does, Raimi will toss in a gimmick to make
it seem even more intense. Notice that during the first
lull, there is a clock ticking rather noticeably in
the background continuing to add to the pacing and the
tension. It's awesome.
The special effects and cinematography Raimi uses
here turns the genre on it's ear. This film uses a camera
like it has never been used before. You must see it
to experience this. Something tells me it will be a
long time before we see anything this clever and inventive
in the low-budget horror genre again. Raimi has set
a standard that few will be able to achieve.
Note:
Co-written by Raimi and Scott Spiegel. Spiegel also
played one of the "Fake Shemps" in the film, whatever
that is. Raimi appears as a "Knight" in the finale.
Campbell is a co-producer.
Nepotism factor: Ted Raimi plays "Possessed Henrietta."
The film was banned in Finland.
A Freddy Krueger glove can be seen hanging on the
wall in one of the cellar scenes. This was in response
to "The Evil Dead" being shown on a TV screen in "A
Nightmare of Elm Street."
Some say that this sequel is really just a reworking
of the original, "The Evil Dead" (1982). That Raimi
got studio backing after the success of his indie product
and simply remade the film. I have not scene the first,
so I cannot comment on that. Suffice it to say, this
film stands on it's own as an amazing testament to the
talents of Raimi and Campbell.
Hemmingway's "A Farewell to Arms" is used in a joke.
The film ends where Raimi's next film begins, "Army
of Darkness."
(Review written in 1998)
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