"What Sean? You actually liked that one movie where that one creepy chick took a razor blade to her tongue and starts making out with that other chick?"
SHUTUP! It's been a really weak year so far with only one movie that I felt has been great. So, it's refreshing that I actually get to see one that just decides to go all out with how crazy it can get even if it's not functional.
Here, let me tell you short story that will take up half of this review. Before I was in High School, I was a bit prissy when it came to these kinds of movies. I couldn't stand excessive gore. That was really about it for me though. But after a swift transition that happened during High School, I found myself laughing all the way through Piranha 3D with its gruesome, over the top death scenes where anyway you can think of someone getting brutally mutilated would actually happen.
But, what happened that turned me into this individual who craves this sort of Grindhouse violence? Well, I saw Peter Jackson's Dead Alive...or Brain Dead, which is a title that makes more sense. Being at a quaint Library party during Halloween, they had fun activities with even the original NES that had Super Mario Bros. 3! But, there was also a small theater that was free for this guy to show any movie he wanted. He showed my brother and me the DVD case of Dead Alive, telling us that it was one of Peter Jackson's first movies. "Oh, ok!" I thought "I like that guy, he directed The Lord of the Rings and King Kong, pretty much my favorite movies of all time." I didn't know what I was expecting though. It was obviously going to be part of the horror genre, but I'm not that into horror movies. Even today, I still don't really see horror movies unless it's a special exception. If I didn't hear Peter Jackson's name, I probably would have skipped out on Dead Alive entirely. The movie finally starts, and what followed was some of the cheeziest, awesomely violent things I have ever seen with scenes that was not shy on letting blood pour all over the screen. With scenes that involved knives, blenders, a lawn mower, an undead baby, and a priest that knows Kung Fu, it was unlike anything I've seen before. Me and my brothers stomachs were churned after the entire experience was finished. It was the first time I had ever felt this way after seeing a movie. It was AWESOME!
And, after seeing the remake of The Evil Dead, I'm kind of disappointed that's it's pretty much the only time too a movie made me feel that way. Not to say that Evil Dead isn't incredibly violent, because...well...if you've seen the Red Band Trailer, then you know.
But, that's also kind of the problem, because after watching that trailer a few times over and finally being able to watch the movie in its entirety, I realized that nearly every scene that was worth watching was shown in the Red Band Trailer. And when I saw that trailer for the first time, I actually had a hard time handling it. But I got a bit used to it, and by the time I saw the whole thing, I handled every scene that was bloated with gruesome and disturbing images that was mainly there to make the audience start vomiting without being fazed at all. Though, I do have to say, I was laughing throughout most of it. It probably would have been a lot more fun for me if I was watching this with a huge audience and getting to see their reactions to all of the extremely violent parts that happened, as the audience I saw this with was basically about 10 people at most.
But, even after knowing that the best parts have already been shown in the trailer, it's still a movie that is worth watching if you're into this kind of thing. Evil Dead never stops topping itself with each event that happens, and by the time it gets to the end...well, you're just going to have to see what happens. It's some extremely crazy stuff.
If it sounds like there isn't much to this movie besides just showing off how depraved it likes to get, it's because that's pretty much the case. The story is just there to bring all these characters into an evil cabin where terrible events happen. There's a plot that involves one of the characters trying to quit drugs, but they never go anywhere with that besides making the characters hesitant on believing her when there some seriously weird things happen. All of the characters are pretty flat with not a lot of a personality to speak of; they are just there to serve as vessels to see what power tool X does to human body part Y. That's really the only reason to see Evil Dead.
Being a remake, you're probably wondering where this stands with the original. Well, as the original was trying to play it a bit more seriously but was ultimately just goofy, even if being incredibly morbid, this new iteration accomplishes the same thing. Yeah, you could say it plays it straight better than the original does, but, when you get right down to it, the new Evil Dead is as goofy as hell. The character that gets possessed is laughable, the blood is so over the top that it's hard to take anything that happens seriously, and that ending...like I said, you'll see. Thankfully, they realize how silly it is, which is why the movie works in the first place. It's not silly in the sense that it's trying to be funny, just in how crazy it can get. It knows that when people get possessed, people want to see it happen in the most ludicrous way possible. It knows that when they go for violence, people want to see it in the grossest and phoniest way possible. And these parts are so well done, what more could you ask for?
Evil Dead isn't going to change anyone's life, but I had a lot of fun with it. The movie is lacking in things that could have gave it a little more substance, but it doesn't really care about that. As it stands, it's a film that understands what it has to do well in order to make it an enjoyable ride.Yeah, it's not for everyone, and, chances are, you've probably already decided if you're going to like this or not just from watching the trailers. But if you're a depraved individual who just wants see just about the most terrible things you can ever seen done to a human being...well, you should probably go seek mental aid!
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