It was a good night. Me and my buddy Joel decided that the group of us should have a zombie movie marathon, and so he went out to the local video rental store and hit up the cheap older movie rack, bringing back the original "Night of The Living Dead," the original "Dawn of The Dead" and finally came "Evil Dead 2," which isn't actually a zombie movie, but he hadn't known that at the time.
At that point I hadn't seen any of those films. Needless to say, it was a fun and eye-opening experience, what with the creepy, cold seriousness of "Night of The Living Dead" setting the mood and the intestine-pulling gore of "Dawn of The Dead" going balls-out and raising the bar for disgust. But the real show-stealer was "Evil Dead 2" - a film that is both horrific, hilarious and badass all at the same time, and was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
"Evil Dead 2" quickly became one of my favorite movies. The experience of it, and I would indeed call it an experience, is only enhanced if you're surrounded by friends all looking for a goofy, bloody, borderline disgusting good time. There were cheers, shouts, laughs, and too many high fives to recall on that couch during our first dealing with Ash and the Deadites. It was a fantastic time.
We rewound "Swallow this" at least 12 times. It's arguably the most awesome thing ever recorded.
For those of you uninitiated, "Evil Dead 2" is the 1987 remake/sequel to "The Evil Dead," a 1981 film by aspiring director Sam Raimi, starring future B-movie god Bruce Campbell. It's about a group of people out in a cabin in the woods who become the victims of an evil spirit released by an ancient flesh-bound book called The Necronomicon. The spirit possesses the characters and makes them turn on each other with sadistic and bloody results. Both films have essentially the same plot, but "Evil Dead 2" does enough different things to make it obvious that it's more than just a remake.
You could go online and find nerd-wars that rage for days about whether or not "Evil Dead 2" is a sequel or a remake, but the general accepted conscious is that the first 10 minutes or so is a heavily condensed remake, continuing past the point where the first film ended after the main character Ash (Bruce Campbell) gets attacked and presumably killed by the unseen evil spirit. "Evil Dead 2" then continues the story past that point, showing that Ash wasn't killed, but was possessed by the spirit, which is fighting for control of his body and mind.
What most people will initially notice about "Evil Dead 2" is that it's a pretty raw film. This is not polished. This is not crisp. This is not pretty looking. The effects aren't even good to be perfectly honest. It looks like it was made for about $500, which may seem like nothing until you recall that the first "Evil Dead" looked like it had been shot for roughly $13.75, so it's a notable step up.
Still looks better to me than "Avatar," though. Just saying.
But that also is a significant factor in it's charm. For as whacky, gross and occasionally disturbing as it is, I can't see anyone watching it without a smile on their face. It's like a puppy that pukes on the floor and eats it. While you're cleaning up the whole affair it may be gross, but then it'll walk up to you with a big toy in its mouth, tail slowly wagging as it looks up at you with those big eyes and you just have to melt and say "D'aaaw."
One of the things I like most is the pacing, particularly in the first half. A good chunk of that time is spent with Ash in the cabin as he battles not only the reanimated corpse of his girlfriend he was forced to behead with a shovel when she became possessed (hey it happens), but also his own severed hand which is still trying to kill him after he cut it off with a chainsaw (hey it happens). Throughout all this insanity we watch Ash spiral ever-downward into a realm of madness. By the time the other characters arrive to ground the movie in some minor form of sanity, it has devolved into something like a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon if it was written by Pinhead and directed by Moe Howard.
I'm waiting for Bugs Bunny to show up after making a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
This part is also arguably the most fun the movie gets. When it's Bruce Campbell by himself doing his own thing and acting alternatively badass and pathetic, there's just something so ingratiating about the whole affair. Foremost among the reasons why is because at that point in the movie, "Evil Dead 2" is a comedy. I can't recall a film so expertly and seamlessly switching between horror and comedy as well as this film does. It's the blueprint for how every film of that genre should be, because it's flawless in that regard. It starts off scary, slowly taking that slow left turn into comedy as Bruce goes more and more crazy and does his admittedly impressive slapstick routine until it's practically "Looney Toons," only to take a radical and jarring shift back into horror once the rest of the fresh meat, er, cast arrives.
I think that's the reason the comedy/horror pairing works so well in "Evil Dead 2" - the comedy is mostly relegated to the parts where Ash is going nuts by himself, and it's easy to argue that most everything we're seeing at that point is actually inside his head. That keeps the comedy separate from the horror, perhaps on a subconscious level, but it's separate none the less because it's easy to imagine it not actually happening. That's what makes it so natural when the tone shifts back to horror, because it's like we never left.
I must admit to preferring that first act in a lot of ways. Although I love the last act of the movie where Ash straps a chainsaw to the stump of his hand and grabs a shotgun to become a total badass, you have to get past the second act of "Evil Dead 2," and I'm not as big of a fan of that bit. It's not so much that it's bad, but I really don't like the supporting cast of this film, and the second act is when we see the most of them as they get picked off one by one. And that's admittedly satisfying, but we still have to watch them before they die.
This is why you don't cast your friends in your movie. Unless you're friends with Bruce Campbell.
Dan Hicks as Jake, the overall-clad hillbilly is probably the most tolerable one, although he is slightly grating and unsurprisingly tends to be one of the more stupid characters. But I've got to give credit to him for having some pretty great lines, which Hicks delivers superbly well. I'm particularly fond of him replying "Hell no. You're the curious one." to the order that everybody go into a spooky dark room together to investigate something terrifying. His far-too-hot-for-his-ass girlfriend Bobbie Joe, played by Kassie Wesley isn't too bad, but she does come off as trying a bit too hard to be tough, until stuff gets crazy and she loses it worse than anyone else. That's actually a pretty good character arc, but she could have been played a bit better.
Richard Domeier as the Fred from "Scooby Doo" stand-in Ed didn't have enough screen time to be particularly irritating as he's the first to get taken out, but he's paired up with the absolute worst of the bunch, Sarah Berry as Annie. I can't stand this chick, either her or her character. Annie would be annoying no matter who played her but Sarah Berry is simply a horrible actress. Her mechanical, uninterested screaming and dead-pan delivery of lines are one step up from either porn-level acting or Jessica Alba. Take your pick. One is slightly better than the other but I'm leaving it to you to decide which.
It's fitting that the only other movie she was in was "C.H.U.D. II."
All of this is made more evident by the presence of our main character. Of course it goes without saying that Bruce Campbell is amazing in this movie. Ash is a fantastic character, being very flawed and very relatable despite fighting demons and having a chainsaw for a hand by the end of it, and Campbell plays him as nobody else possibly could have done. Regretfully Bruce isn't going to win any Oscars, but in terms of what he does, he's a master. The pure majesty with which he balances goofy, hammy, dead-pan and badass is stuff of B-movie legend. There's a reason why he's a cult movie idol, and there's a reason why the image of Ash Williams is known even to people who have never seen the "Evil Dead" movies.
I remember seeing this as a kid. Fast forward some 15 years later as I'm watching "Evil Dead 2" for the first time, synapses in my brain start firing and I say "Is THAT what they were spoofing in that episode of "Reboot?" That's awesome!"
I mentioned before how good the comedy aspect of "Evil Dead 2" is, but I most admit also that when it's trying to be scary, it's pretty damn scary. At least it was for me under certain circumstances. I laughed my ass off at it the first time while watching it with friends, but a few months later when I watched it again by myself in the middle of the night in a dark basement, it was pretty intense. The skill with which the atmosphere is crafted tends to be lost on us at times, what with all the fun we're having, but I defy anyone to watch the scene when Henrietta first appears and tell me that's not creepy as hell.
True story - I can do a spot on "Someone's in my fruit cellar!" impression. I had a girlfriend who would get super freaked out by it. She hated it. It was awesome.
I think the reason this movie, and indeed the "Evil Dead" series as a whole has stood the test of time and become a legendary series, not only among cult movie affectionados but also horror movie fans in general, is that this is a film that is first and foremost a good time. It's not trying to horrify you or disgust you or make you sick to your stomach. We're just here for the fun. When throwing it in it's not difficult to imagine Bruce Campbell sitting at a piano, casually plunking out a melody as he says to you:
"Hey kid. How the hell are ya? Pull up a seat. Take a load off. I mixed you up a gin and tonic. Splash of Sprite, right? I know how you like it. Anyways, listen up. We're gonna have a good time tonight, you got me? Not gonna take this too seriously. Not gonna freak you out. A little weird, maybe but hey! That's just part of the beauty of life, am I right? Just a groovy time, baby. You feel me? Now, for my first number, I'd like to play something from my debut album. It's called "We Just Cut Up Our Girlfriend With A Chainsaw."
::Dm7:: "Ooooooh Linda..."
::Ddim:: "You were so very lovely..."
::C7M:: "Till I haaaaaaaad to decapitate you..."
::Jazzy run:: "Using a shovel..."
And that's why the "Evil Dead" movies have always been fun. They've always stuck to that philosophy. Right?
Check out the trailer for "Evil Dead 2" It's cheesy!
THE BOTTOM LINE - I love "Evil Dead 2." Few movies can put a smile on my face like it. Perhaps "Army of Darkness" is funnier and "Evil Dead" is more scary, but "Evil Dead 2" walks the tightrope between the two genres the best, and so it's my favorite of the franchise. And it introduced me to the awesomeness that is Bruce Campbell, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. It's a weird time, to be sure, and perhaps it's an acquired taste, but if you've never seen it you're missing out.
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