Swallow Your Souls: Evil Dead 2 (1987)

 

    When Evil Dead (1981) first released, it wasn't something that established Sam Raimi in Hollywood. Least, not in the way that he would have liked. However it was a box office success. Honestly, I would say that was probably better for him and for the films he wanted to make. It allowed people to see that Sam Raimi and his friends were capable of making successful films. That was huge considering that Evil Dead took many years to finish. It also brought Raimi and co. to the attention of Dino De Laurentiis. And with Dino's help, they were able to make a second film - Evil Dead 2. 

    Back in the early 2000s, I was introduced to Evil Dead from my grandmother on my mother's side of the family. After that, my Dad and I caught Army of Darkness on SCI-FI one day when they were having a marathon. Immediately, I was interested as soon as Bruce Campbell appeared on screen. I knew it was Ash. But with that opening recap of Army of Darkness, I couldn't place what it was from. It was like there was a missing piece. 

    When my Dad and I went to our local K-Mart one October day, I found sitting on the shelf in the Entertainment section - Army of Darkness on VHS. Of course, it immediately caught my attention. But it was what was sitting next to it that intrigued me even more. It was Evil Dead II in a black clamshell case with an amazing cover - see the image above. I actually still have this tape to this day. But it was all new for the both of us and we brought those two VHS tapes home with us that day. 

    I ran to our living room before Dad could ask what I wanted for dinner. I hit the play button. And the rest was history. 

    Evil Dead 2 is such a special film for me. It came at a time where I honestly needed more in my life. My parents were going through a divorce. I remember I dove into watching movies, playing video games a lot, and reading a lot of comics during those times. It was a way of getting my mind off of everything, especially as it seemed like the world was crashing down around me. Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men were heroes that I was into at the time. But it was Ash Williams that served as my hero. He's a complete oaf of a buffoon at times. But when the times get tough, he doesn't hide or run away - least not after two or three attempts. No, he stands his ground and fights for himself and others. And honestly, Evil Dead 2 was my most watched movie during those times. 

    The film is an interesting experiment, if not completely ahead of its time. I mean think about it. Evil Dead 2. What does it remind you of? Well, the first quarter of the movie is a semi-retelling of the events of the first film. Ash and Linda go up to a cabin. Ash finds tape recorder and Necronomicon and presses Play. Linda is possessed. Ash has to defend himself resulting in a gruesome decapitation. That's pretty Evil Dead 1 standard fare - if not a bit more stream lined. But the remaining three quarters of the film is completely new adventure. It's filled with a lot of laughs and some scares as well as some more memorable characters. Well, except for you Ed cause no one likes you. But now thinking on the film again, it's a requel. I mean even Bruce Campbell himself has gone to call it a requel. And that's something that helps make it even more relevant today. 

    Funny thing is that it wasn't supposed to rehash the first film in that streamlined sequence. It only happened because there was legalities for why they couldn't use footage from the first flim. But hey, necessity sometimes makes great innovations. That's definitely something evident in these films as well. 

    While I have really grown to love the first Evil Dead over the years, Evil Dead 2 was an immediate love for me. It just hits a lot of the right notes. Horror? Check. Gore? Plenty of it in spades. Humor? Yes, please. I mean what other film has an entire sequence where the hero finds his hand possessed and is then thrown around a kitchen in such brilliant slapstick fashion? And then has to defend himself from that same possessed hand after he lops it off at the wrist? It's fantastic. I would say that my favorite image that I have from this film is seeing that goofy looking possessed Deadite Deer head. It's just so over the top in a lovable way. The way it cranes its head and then proceeds to laugh at Ash's suffering is so good. 

    With the cast in this film, everyone is fantastic. Bruce Campbell continues to be amazing as Ash. Denise Bixler is definitely an unsung hero as Linda. The whole idea of Linda as a Deadite this go around wouldn't work as well as it does without her. She just breathes so much life into the performance. Sarah Uriarte Berry delivers a solid performance as Annie Knowby. At first, I was a bit taken aback with the performance. There was just a lot there that scratched me the wrong way. But over time, I have grown to love it. It makes absolute sense for her to act like this. Especially since I feel like Annie was a bit of a spoiled child by her parents. Richard Domeier is great as Ed. This is a character that is seeking approval from Annie so much. It's great. Dan Hicks and Kassie DePaiva are fantastic as Jake and Bobby Joe. Both of them are just the right kind of suspicious at first. And then we have Ted Raimi. Ted Raimi is astounding as Deadite Henrietta. It's to the point where whenever the character is on screen - they steal the show. 

    The wonderful KnB Special Effects group worked on the film. Their work is always so good. It also helps bring to the screen all the fun that was going on behind the scenes. Do yourself a favor and check out the special features for the film. There are a lot of good bits from the KnB crew. 

    All of this culminates in such a fantastically memorable way. And hell, the ending is so good.  Evil Dead 2 is just such a delight. No matter how many times I watch it, I always find myself entertained. There's a reason it's a classic. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. 

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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"Something Out There In Those Woods": Evil Dead turns 40

Okay, I found myself thinking about where to begin with this. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I should share my story of how I was introduced to the wonderful world of Sam Raimi's horror opus. So let's begin shall we...

It was Christmas of 1999 or 2000. I can't exactly recall specifically when. I just know it was around that time. But my family and I had gone to my Grandma's for the holiday. 

It was around 5:30 in the morning. I was up already cause it was Christmas. Back then, it was easy for me to get excited about the holidays. (I didn't know that would be the last Christmas my family would be all together.)

So, we wake up my sister and parents. My Grandma was already awake and had started making pumpkin and pecan pies for the dinner later. So, the living room was full of that wonderful smell. 

We passed out the presents. Every one was ready to start opening. Back then, we would take our time doing this and going one person at a time. That morning, I had already started opening the presents. 

At that point, there were some of us that were ready to go back to sleep (my sister). So that tradition went out the window. 

I made it through the typical Christmas presents - couple of Goosebumps books, shirts, socks. I had my last three presents. Judging by the shape of them, it was easy to see that it was VHS tapes. I opened the first one and it was Robocop. Great film and one I had seen multiple times. The second one was John Carpenter's Halloween. I would no longer need to keep track of when AMC or Sci-Fi were replaying it. The last tape was one that I would never forget.

I peeled the wrapping paper off to uncover a man standing in front of a woman, protecting her from skeleton arms. See the above poster for a good example of that vhs cover for EVIL DEAD.

My Grandma asked me what the movie was. I turned and showed her the cover and immediately she just went "I don't remember getting you that.". My Uncle Scott chimed in, "You didn't. But I helped pick it out for him.". She just gave Scott a bit of a look. I thanked them for the movie and was a bit disappointed that had to wait till got home to watch it. 

Immediately the next day after we got home, My mom and sister asked to watch it with me. We began watching it and about ten minutes in - my sister decided to bow out. Her reasoning was that it was boring. Around the thirty six minute mark, my mom walked out of the living room. I was left alone in the dark of the living room as Cheryl continued to attack Linda's ankle with the pencil. 

It was during that time I realized that this was a different kind of film for me. I had never seen anything like it. It's a film that holds nothing back. It throws everything at you. And then it ends in a bleak manner. 

I sat there with my mouth open. What had I just watched? What was the story behind this? I had so many questions and was sure to see if the internet could answer them. 

In my research then, I learned that Evil Dead was made by Sam Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell. It was an indie film cinderella story almost. I couldn't believe that Bruce Campbell was the same guy that was in Hercules The Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess. Those were my first introduction to him as an actor. Here, Bruce is just starting out and goes through such a journey. It's incredible and gets better with each viewing. I had seen some of Sam Raimi's films. The most well known at that time was Darkman, which I adored. And then there was the icing on the cake was that they were from Michigan. I tend to have a lot of respect and enjoy a lot of things that end up being Michigan made. 

The story was very simplistic. Friends go to cabin in the woods. They discover a book, a dagger, and recording. Evil is unleashed. Survive till dawn. That's roughly the cliff notes version in a sense. 

But what made Evil Dead so much different was it's characters. Ash (Bruce Campbell), the naive everyman that goes through the ringer to become a hero. Scotty (Richard DeManincor) was the jokester or the jock. He never took things too seriously. He was quick to make people laugh or in Cheryl's case make them hate him. Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) is Ash's sister. She felt like she didn't belong there. That she was only there cause her brother was there. It's because of this small bit of doubt that Cheryl possessed that led to her being the first to encounter the Evil. Then there is Linda (Betsy Baker). Linda is Ash's girlfriend. She's there to be the love interest and help motivate Ash into stepping up. These are all of the characters that when one thinks of The Evil Dead, they spring to mind. Honestly, these are immediately who jumps to my mind. Unfortunately we still have Shelly (Theresa Tilly). This is Scott's girlfriend. This is the character that I felt suffered in the film the most. Because she isn't given a lot to do outside of Scotty or being possessed. It's very much a one note character. 

The gore in this film is fantastic. Yes, it's over the top. However, it doesn't reach the levels of over the topness that the sequel reached. This one its very much more grounded. Or it is used in a more cerebral ways (Ash's second trip down to the basement). The biggest standout in terms of the effects in the first Evil Dead is the finale. Ash is there surrounded by the possessed remnants of his friends. He throws the book into the fire. It unleashes an amazing display of stop motion as we witness things decompose. The colors are vibrant in this sequence.

Then the film ends not with a whimper but a scream. The Evil slamming through the cabin as it tries to find Ash. Through this sequence, I found myself thinking of Halloween's ending in a sense. It quickly summed up the events of the film as we are shown the different pieces of the cabin. No matter what Ash did, the force would get him. It's very bleak for an ending. Thankfully we would get more a few years later in Evil Dead II.

With this film, Raimi was able to showcase his filmmaking skills. One of the most well known examples being that a camera was attached to a 2x4 and slammed through the back window and windshield of the Oldsmobile. This POV easily became a Raimi trademark as it was used in subsequent films. Another of Raimi's trademarks were the smash zooms. In this film, I don't remember it used all that much yet. But it'd go on to become a language of this franchise. 

It's easy to see why Evil Dead has stayed over the years. And to many more years as well...

Rating: 5 out of 5. 

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