Deep in the woods in a lonely cabin sits our hero Ash. Forced to fight
against the dark forces which surround the cabin – who will survive the
sequel to the ultimate experience in grueling terror!!? Yes its the Evil
Dead II: Dead By Dawn. And wow!, what can you say about a film like this?
Several words come to mind – fantastic, amazing, brilliant etc…etc…
As you can already probably tell I am a massive fan of Evil Dead II.
Director Sam Raimi exceeds all expectations and makes one of those
extremely rare sequels that actually betters the original. I enjoyed the
original Evil Dead, don’t get me wrong, but this is one of those genre
movies that just stands out above the rest.
We begin the film with what seems to be a remade flashback version of the
first movie (done due to denied rights apparently) and from
then on we are treated to amazing make-up effects, prosthetics, camera
trickery, stop-motion animation, giggling lamps and a multitude of various
coloured liquids.
What makes this film so good is the direction and the editing of the
overall picture. After watching the special behind the scenes features on
the DVD it was just fascinating seeing how many different and unique
filming techniques were used to get some of those brilliantly executed
visuals. The combination of make-up effects, prosthetics and stop-motion
animation was used impecibally.
The movie has a great look about it. It has a very cinematic quality. The
colours are vibrant, the scene lighting is excellent and it just gives
off that really special photographic feel to the picture.
Of course the performances from the great cast of characters just adds to
the enjoyment. Bruce Campbell is just great to watch in this picture and
especially as scene after scene he seems to be getting thrashed about all
over the place. A memorable scene where Ash’s hand becomes possessed and
starts smashing plates over his own head, punching himself round the room
and finishing on with a first class flip. It was great to see such a unique way
of handling this situation without using any of the usual cliches but instead
using slapstick to portray it. Of course many scenes like this influenced
by Sam Raimi’s love for The Three Stooges.
Some of the effects to look at today, especially some of the blue screen
shots and in particular the stop-motion animation, does look a tad dated
but still holds up on the believability scale. And along with the rest of
the movie most definitely can stand the test of time.
Now if only Sam could get back helming small budget shockers like this and
for the love of God bring back Ash!
OVERALL SUMMARY
An amazing genre movie from start to finish. Very unique in its delivery
and you’d be very hard pushed to find anything else quite like it. Great
ideas played out, nice and original effects all round and excellent
comedic moments throughout. A thoroughly enjoyable movie to watch any
time, any place. Highly recommended!
