Evil Dead (2013)

Apparently, this isn't a remake. Oh yeah, it's simply called 'Evil Dead', but it doesn't feature any of the characters from the original, and there's apparently an 'Evil Dead 4: Army of Darkness 2' or whatever they want to call it in the works. Heck, Bruce Campbell and Fede Alvarez at WonderCon 2013 said their ultimate aim was to blend the two story line's together. Will it happen? Well, we'll see I guess.

The newest addition of the 'Evil Dead' franchise finds David (Shiloh Fernandez) meeting up with sister Mia (Jane Levy), Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), Olivia (Jessica Lucas), and Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), at a cabin in the woods in order to get Mia off drugs. Yes, the first letters of their names spell D.E.M.O.N. However the group come upon the Necronomicon and accidentally summons the forces of darkness. I say accidentally, Eric reads a scribble saying "don't read it" and the guy does the opposite.

It's certainly a step away from the 'Evil Dead' films we're used to. Well, I suppose it's 'The Evil Dead' 1981 on a much bigger budget. Looking back at 'Evil Dead 2' and 'Army of Darkness', this one has lost a lot of the dark humor and focuses more on the gore and horror. This does actually work well for it though, in fact the gore is the closest reminder to the original 'Evil Dead's we'll get. Well, that and Cheryl's (Ellen Sandweiss) voice over. Though I do feel the Necronomicon having profanity scrawled all over it is pretty bad, it's like something holy has been desecrated. In an...unholy demon sort of way.

The good thing about this though, is the fact that 90% of the gore isn't CGI, it is pure make-up, and because of this it looks real. It actually looks like a threat, it is effective. There's some CGI, some effects better than others *cough opening scene cough*, but for the most part it looks really good. Although, "the most terrifying film you will ever experience"? Not really. Oh there are some moments which managed to make me jump, one scene because the film tricked me into looking in a completely wrong direction, but mostly it was the sound which kept shocking me (Almost making me deaf in the process) rather than what was on the screen. It was actually more the build up which creeped me out, rather than being scared by the payoff.

The only real problem is that it starts off slow. We first get a pretty pointless opening which will only really appeal to new viewers, and even then it sort of destroys the mystery behind what's happening. Besides from that we're introduced to our main cast and, we really don't feel for them at all. We don't hate them, far from it, but we're not really given much of a reason to like them either. It's been a while since I saw the original, but if I remember right that started off with a car journey, with the characters interacting (with the credits playing over them). That was done so much better as we were able to learn more about the characters and like them easier.

Believe me when I say that when the action starts, that's when the film starts. The film picks up its pace and we can start to feel attached to the characters. Well, one or two anyway. Some seemingly lose their brains and do the stupidest things you can do in a horror film. Eric you hate at first because he just comes off as an unlikable jackass, but when the action got going I found him the more likable one of the group. Mia, is a mixed bag, throughout a majority of her screen time when she isn't possessed, she comes off as annoying. Olivia...is a nurse. That's about all I can remember. Well, that and she has a somewhat strong personality. Or bitch, or comes on too strong, whichever. Natalie.....................David I did like, I will say that. I thought he was a good, caring brother to Mia who, let's be honest, would react in the same way as most of us when Mia starts telling him of things in the woods.

I suppose in a way it's because of the actors. Elizabeth Blackmore, who played Natalie................well I liked Pucci's performance. I thought he managed to bring the right characteristic and emotion for whatever scenario quite well. Fernandez was good, but not spectacular, as was Lucas, although, after seeing her in 'Cloverfield' and 'The Covenant', I don't really see her developing. Levy, as pre-possessed Mia, wasn't that great, but when she does kick it up a notch when she does get possessed. Actually, so does anyone else who gets possessed. I think that's why they were mainly cast. I also thought Phoenix Connolly was really good, especially for her second role, though she doesn't get much screen time.

All in all, it's a pretty good movie. The characters can be irritating, the scares lacking, but once the story gets going it really does pick up the pace. The action is great, the gore is, surprisingly, good, and the tension is psychological and creepy. Granted if someone held a gun to my head and asked me to choose between the 1981 and 2013 version, I'll always go for the 1981 version. But for what it's worth, I won't say that the 2013 version is a bad film, a little lacking, but not a bad film.