The Evil Dead (2013)

When I moved out of my parents house (actually, I was asked to leave) at the ripe old age of 19, I moved into a house with 3 other guys.  We were all musicians and avid readers and part-time students and full-time pot-heads.

As a house warming gift my friend Tanya gave me a box filled with used books.  Tanya worked in a used book store.  I looked through the box and found many horror novels.  "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," Peter Straub's, "Ghost Story," one called "Harvest Home," Clive Barker's, "Weaveworld,"  an odd one called, "It's Alive," and many others.

One of the last books I pulled out of the box was a black covered paperback with a circled pentagram on it titled, "Necronomicon" the Book of the Dead.  A shiver went down my spine as I open the cover and read the warning... 

"The NECRONOMICON'S magick is nothing to fool with and it may expose you to psychological forces with which you cannot cope. Remember if you fool with the incantations, you were warned!"

That was enough for me. I'm no hero. In a sea of mediocrity, I'm floating somewhere in the middle.  I'm cool with that.  I closed the book, put it back in the box along with a few other books that I decided not to keep, and gave them back to Tanya. I mentioned Necronomicon to her and she smiled and said, "weird, huh?" Creepy.


I remember seeing the original Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 movies many years ago. I think I enjoyed Evil Dead 2 more than I enjoyed Evil Dead because of the humour gore mix. I trust Evil Dead is only being made so the real gem, Evil Dead 2 can be remade, too.

Remake... I think that word is in more than half of my reviews. 

Okay, I have to also say: it's better to remake a bad movie than it is to remake a good movie badly. There, I've said it again for what it's worth.

So in this case, the Evil Dead remake is actually remade by the same people who made the Evil Dead.  I don't think that there is a precedent for this, so all judgements are off.

The trailer for the Evil Dead remake was exactly what it was supposed to be.  A bunch of friends in the woods, one stumbles upon a "book," ignores the warning, is exposed to "forces with which he cannot cope" and, in a manner of speaking, all hell breaks loose.  I'm glad I didn't "fool with the incantations" way back when. But that's me... 

The trailer was pretty good.  It had a good balance of creepy and gore. There was also a lot of blood, almost Tarantino-esq blood - without the humour, I think. There was nothing really new or original but it was in the spirit of original Evil Dead and, like I said, I'm sure it will spawn a remake of Evil Dead 2.

That's not so bad because in the realm of horror, The Evil Dead franchise stands out.  It's just sad that I have to call it a franchise, now.  

I'm a sucker for this stuff and I do look forward to seeing this film.