Escape to the Movies: Evil Dead
- Thread starter MovieBob
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This is tl;dr, but I need to get this off my chest.
Let me preface this by saying Evil Dead 2 is hands down my favorite movies of all time. I had first seen Bruce Campbell in his television work on Burn Notice, and while perusing through a review of an episode, the reviewers kept waxing on of the awesomeness of Campbell as if he was in relation to some greater body of work. Intrigued by his blatant fanboyism, I looked into what other movie he had done and lo and behold the only film of significance was the Evil Dead franchise.
Walking into the film store, the only one of the franchise that was left on the shelf was Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, and hearing that it could be watched as a stand alone film, I picked it up. Mind you, I could not at the time stand horror. Even just watching a commercial would set my imagination afire and prevent me from sleeping. I popped in Evil Dead 2 and sat enraptured with absolute bliss. It was a film that completely subverted what I was expecting and I had gone into it expecting and knowing nothing. I loved Raimi's kinetic cinematography. I loved Campbell's energizing style. I loved the blood. I loved the comedy. I loved every god damn 84 minutes of it.
For a significant part of the film, Raimi ingeniously causes Ash to question his own sanity as he alone in the cabin is not so much tormented by the Deadite Presence as he is toyed with. Ash and by extension the viewer is wonderfully impotent and it reaches its high point with the laughing moose scene, whereby Ash's efforts to fight and understand is openly mocked by the universe itself. Our world isn't so different from that of the Evil Dead. Our loved ones pass on around us until we are the only ones left, and we try to fight back and make meaning out of it. In the end, the universe can only coldly laugh at our efforts until we too are possessed by Deadites spirits and thrown into 1300 AD...or maybe that's just evil dead.
BUT ASH LAUGHS BACK. The universe, cold, dark, and evilly dead, mocks at our hero's efforts, but Ash. laughs. back. It's the only way to deal with anything. We live in an insane, twisted world that is actively trying to kill us and sometimes the only way to make sense of it is to put on the straight jacket and party hat and just accept it as the glorious joke it all is.
Evil Dead 2 is why I love horror and its why I love movies. It's the film that showed me what excellent film making can do, and it makes me want to create something half as ingenious as it.
tl;dr The Evil Dead franchise is awesome, Raimi/Campbell are awesome, I hope this film is good.
Let me preface this by saying Evil Dead 2 is hands down my favorite movies of all time. I had first seen Bruce Campbell in his television work on Burn Notice, and while perusing through a review of an episode, the reviewers kept waxing on of the awesomeness of Campbell as if he was in relation to some greater body of work. Intrigued by his blatant fanboyism, I looked into what other movie he had done and lo and behold the only film of significance was the Evil Dead franchise.
Walking into the film store, the only one of the franchise that was left on the shelf was Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, and hearing that it could be watched as a stand alone film, I picked it up. Mind you, I could not at the time stand horror. Even just watching a commercial would set my imagination afire and prevent me from sleeping. I popped in Evil Dead 2 and sat enraptured with absolute bliss. It was a film that completely subverted what I was expecting and I had gone into it expecting and knowing nothing. I loved Raimi's kinetic cinematography. I loved Campbell's energizing style. I loved the blood. I loved the comedy. I loved every god damn 84 minutes of it.
For a significant part of the film, Raimi ingeniously causes Ash to question his own sanity as he alone in the cabin is not so much tormented by the Deadite Presence as he is toyed with. Ash and by extension the viewer is wonderfully impotent and it reaches its high point with the laughing moose scene, whereby Ash's efforts to fight and understand is openly mocked by the universe itself. Our world isn't so different from that of the Evil Dead. Our loved ones pass on around us until we are the only ones left, and we try to fight back and make meaning out of it. In the end, the universe can only coldly laugh at our efforts until we too are possessed by Deadites spirits and thrown into 1300 AD...or maybe that's just evil dead.
BUT ASH LAUGHS BACK. The universe, cold, dark, and evilly dead, mocks at our hero's efforts, but Ash. laughs. back. It's the only way to deal with anything. We live in an insane, twisted world that is actively trying to kill us and sometimes the only way to make sense of it is to put on the straight jacket and party hat and just accept it as the glorious joke it all is.
Evil Dead 2 is why I love horror and its why I love movies. It's the film that showed me what excellent film making can do, and it makes me want to create something half as ingenious as it.
tl;dr The Evil Dead franchise is awesome, Raimi/Campbell are awesome, I hope this film is good.
I know I'm being picky here, but it isn't a perpetual energy source. In fact, the movie goes out of its way to show us that the arc reactor in his chest is running out of energy and has to be replaced. There's an entire scene devoted to that.Resonantscythe said:
But really, it all comes down to suspension of disbelief. I believe Tony Stark can build it out of scraps, just like I can believe a talking raccoon, a giant green rage monster, or an inter-dimensional god, because this is a universe where the laws are different and these things can happen.
About this "Box of Scraps" and Arc Reactors
They're like AA batteries for Rich guys!
They run out quick, and you need to replace them often. But they're also the only thing that's strong enough to power the freaking thing.
The only difference is "That thing" that needs it uses up the power of a lightning bolt every second of run time.
Like They said... It could run your heart or 20 lifetimes, or something big for 20 minutes.
...The suit? That's big!
Also of note, the box of scraps version was a rough prototype that was only built to last long enough for stark to get to his lab and build a better, longer lasting one.
They're like AA batteries for Rich guys!
They run out quick, and you need to replace them often. But they're also the only thing that's strong enough to power the freaking thing.
The only difference is "That thing" that needs it uses up the power of a lightning bolt every second of run time.
Like They said... It could run your heart or 20 lifetimes, or something big for 20 minutes.
...The suit? That's big!
Also of note, the box of scraps version was a rough prototype that was only built to last long enough for stark to get to his lab and build a better, longer lasting one.
Maybe Evil Dead 2. The trilogy segues from horror to comedy as it progresses, and I think the second film stands out as the strongest for blending the styles perfectly. It's also batshit insane.... high octane... like, you know how movies usually take about about 20 minutes or so to get down to business... this one takes maybe 5.Resonantscythe said:
OP: The arc of my excitement for this movie astonished me. I rolled my eyes in disgust when I first heard they were doing it (might have even let out an audible "fuck"), then I heard Raimi and Campbell were overseeing the prject and I lightened up a little, then I heard there was going to be no CGI in the movie and it became something I was interested in seeing, then I saw the trailer and it became something I must see opening night. And so I will.
Even if it turned out to suck balls, I would probably still go see it. The studios need my money, and others', to learn that practical effects can draw an audience. I hope it does, anyway.
Also, R.I.P. Roger Ebert. I put the Citizen Kane commentary on last night in memorium and fell asleep to it.
Aye, Evil Dead 2 has a special place in my collection and my blackened, withered heart. It made me laugh when I least expected it. It made me worry upon learning that Ted Raimi had a really hard time inside that suit. Y'know... that suit.Hannibal942 said:
But I also love Evil Dead, as it is a rather original thing.
Army of Darkness - let's just say I just found another R3 MGM Hong Kong DVD of it on Amazon yesterday. Had to order it. It's the best, most original version of the movie, and the only one that makes me happy. It was released in 2003. Yet, to this day, it's the only version of Army of Darkness one can buy that one should actually buy. Yeah, I also got some twenty other versions lying around. They're no good.
There are times when I somehow forget about Evil Dead 2. But when I pop it in, there are just an amazing number of unique scenes that are so completely over the top it's hard not to go into full ROFLcopter mode.
All three of them have only little in common, but all three of them are special beasts. I love'em all.
That said, I really believe (and hope) that Fede Alvarez can pull off an Alexandre Aja with this. I've stayed away from most trailers and discussions so far, and I hope (and expect) to be blown away.
Now, let me put on some skimpy white dress for that Blood Monsoon I'm promised. Ah, Peter Jackson. You've certainly come a long way since Bad Taste and Braindead...
I rushed after work with my friend to go see this movie at a midnight release, and personally, I thought it was probably an example of a perfect horror movie. By that, I don't mean it was perfect, there were things you could have changed, or done differently, but it did everything you expected it to.
The drug part is actually what made the beginning brilliant, and I thought it actually gave the characterization more credibility, and unlike the original, made the characters pop more as people, rather than just, who's going to die next? It also let the movie, in the first half at least, have a realistic tone over supernatural, with events being playable as "real nightmares" rather than "devilish" in nature or whatnot.
If we're lucky, in the next 10 years we'll get crappy knockoffs of this style of movie, because even those would be brilliant. I could tell at certain parts what was going to happen, I knew something was coming up, and I still cringed during a build up. That's what horror movies SHOULD do.
Personally, any horror fan should go see this movie, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Also, stay after all the credits, as a guy at the movie screamed last night "THAT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!"
The drug part is actually what made the beginning brilliant, and I thought it actually gave the characterization more credibility, and unlike the original, made the characters pop more as people, rather than just, who's going to die next? It also let the movie, in the first half at least, have a realistic tone over supernatural, with events being playable as "real nightmares" rather than "devilish" in nature or whatnot.
If we're lucky, in the next 10 years we'll get crappy knockoffs of this style of movie, because even those would be brilliant. I could tell at certain parts what was going to happen, I knew something was coming up, and I still cringed during a build up. That's what horror movies SHOULD do.
Personally, any horror fan should go see this movie, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Also, stay after all the credits, as a guy at the movie screamed last night "THAT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!"
You will not care for ED1. You will like ED2. The absurdity of many of the ED2 scenes is similar to Army of Darkness. ('blood flood", "flyball", "laughing deer head", "workshed!", "Rotten Applehead", "now scream like you are to scared to scream") There is a lot more gore and blood than AOD. But the way that Sam, Bruce, Rob, Ted put ED2 together, you are cringing one second and laughing or cheering the next.Resonantscythe said:
I watched ED1 last. And I was impressed by what it was (a movie that three college-aged guys made with investment capital of about $60,000). But it was not in the same campy vein as the other two. Drag Me to Hell also falls in the same vein as ED2 and AOD--a campy horror flick with an emergent and reluctant anti-hero.
I have started watching "Within the Woods" a couple times. This was the predecessor to ED1. But the quality of the suriving film footage is choppy and dark and very difficult to watch. So, I 've never made it all the way through.
I never take a horror movie seriously and not going to start now I'll most likely end up make fun of it.
It's sad about Roger Ebert
It's sad about Roger Ebert
Well, I'm sold.MovieBob said:
Maybe. The first was simply a serious gory horror film. Low budget, over the top, so bad it's good kind of horror, but it's certainly not intentional humour or parody so if you don't like that sort of film, you're not going to like it. The second one, as Bob says, is very much parody. However, it parodies that sort of film by going so much further over that the top can no longer be seen without borrowing a telescope from NASA. So if the reason you don't like horror films is because of the violence and gore, you're still not going to like it. But if you don't have a problem with gore in itself, you may well enjoy it since the whole point it it's making fun of that kind of film, including the first Evil Dead and itself.Resonantscythe said:
As far as Evil Dead Goes [Spoilers Below]:Resonantscythe said:
Chances are you might like the first two Evil Dead movies as I've noticed they appeal to sci-fi/fantasy nerds in general, even people who don't generally like horror. The first one manages to be pretty scary through it's first and second acts, despite being grounded firmly in unreality. The basic premise being that some young people visiting a cabin in the woods play a casette recording of some Lovecraftian occultist/scholor who was working on translating The Necronomicon, he managed to unleash evil in the area but seal it away (more or less) before departing, unfortunatly simply the recording of him reading the words for the ritual is sufficient to start all the fun again and unleash evil possessing entities with a thirst for blood. The major weakness of which seems to be their desire to torment and terrorize their victims rather than going for clean kills.
The clever thing about Evil Dead is that other than a unique twist on the monsters and some decent FX for it's day (and kills that made it live up to it's billing as "the ultimate experience in grueling horror"), is sets up all the stereotypical tropes and then subverts them in the third act. For most of "Evil Dead" the very popular Ash character is simply put a cowardly moron who does nothing right and is totally ineffective/sniveling as other characters who represent well known horror movie stereotypes themselves try and survive and come to bad ends. The role Bruce Campbell is playing would normally have "Ash" killed sometime during the second act (usually to a cheering audience due to him being such a useless turd), existing largely for another kill scene. Except that isn't what happens. To put it bluntly they win up driving Ash beyond fear to the point where he just kind of snaps and goes more than a bit crazy himself, figuring "okay then, I'm going to die horribly anyway, it's a no-win scenario, but damn if I'm not going to make them work for it and take as many with me as I can... if I can" he then pretty much starts making some rather stupid one liners as he begins brutally decimating the bodies of his now-possessed friends (who can only be stopped by total dismemberment, as opposed to a zombie-like headshot or whatever). This was actually done really well, which is why the movie has remained such a cult classic, you pretty much have the least worthy dude in the world becoming kind of badass and pulling off an eleventh hour save of himself.
Now, the thing about Evil Dead sequels is that you have to understand that you can only really do this storyline once and have it work. Attempts to have a character regress and then have to get the hero thing back when thematically appropriate in sequels don't generally work. By definition Ash, who is the only surviving character to build a franchise off of, has sort of become an action-adventure hero, not a horror victim. "Evil Dead" could be seen as a sort of origin story. In general someone like this fighting possessing entities intentionally is going to get campy to put it mildly, and "Evil Dead 2" pretty much went all out with that understanding. Ash by definition was not going to be a victim, and being borderline insane, and making dumb/ironic comments as he fights monsters you kind of see the problem. "Evil Dead 2" was kind of a movie where Ash is effectively the punchline to a joke built up by the bad guys/scenario which are more or less playing it straight. Evil Dead 2 also deserves some points because it decided to think things through a bit more. The whole over the top "tree rape" scene from the first movie makes it clear that these entities can possess plants (or at least control them) in addition to people. To their credit the bad guys DO figure out that what they are doing isn't working, and start possessing trees to come and crush this guy (since he's in the middle of the woods) since really he's not going to quickly dismember trees with a shotgun and chainsaw. A bit which is kind of clever when you think about it since they established these bad guys could do this in the first movie.
Since your aware of "Army Of Darkness" let's just say that the beginning of that movie is set up at the end of Evil Dead 2 where Ash gets sent back in time as the result of a banishing spell taking out all the bad guys. When they decided to do a third movie, it was pretty obvious that there was going to be no way they could play "Chainsaw and Shotgun wielding former horror movie victim turned insane monster stomper fights demons after time travelling to the middle ages" straight, so they turned it into more of a comedy with some serious moments.
The thing about the trilogy is that you can actually sort of see the evolution of the Ash character and increasingly insane situation, and sort of follow it. I heard they wanted to do a 4th movie with Ash in the far future, but thankfully they kind of killed that idea because I think they took the series far enough, and ending it on the joke of "how does a K-mart (excuse me S-Mart) clerk turned time travelling monster stomper go back to being a normal person when everything is concluded?... He doesn't".
I'm a pretty big fan myself, I came back from seeing it to find Moviebob's review up. I thought it was pretty good as a horror movie, but being more of a straight up horror movie I don't think it will ever be remembered as well as the original "Evil Dead" trilogy because it wasn't cleverly subverting any tropes. Indeed it could be argued that the current movie, while an excellent horror movie, with some good gore FX, was exactly the kind of movie the original "Evil Dead" was subverting with it's third act.AC10 said:I haven't seen it, but I'm surprised they kept "that scene" bob is talking about, if it's the one I think he's talking about.
A girl get's raped by a bunch of "come to life" vines and tree branches, anime style.
Anyways, I'll probably see it as a massive Evil Dead fan.
Also, BOB! You went all the way Boston in this episode
That said, it seems like this was a giant attempt at a payday for Raimi and Campbell since they were both listed as producers. At least they turned out/financed a decent movie instead of just trying to cash in on the name recognition and then dial in the product.
Well considering that Disney also acquired Lucasfilm, who wants to bet that Rocket Racoon turns out to be another Howard the Duck?
I can't watch this movie...don't get me wrong, I love Evil Dead (mostly AOD and sorta Evil Dead 2) but...no...I can't watch this. But that's mostly because I am incredibly squeamish when it comes to horror movies and from what I'm hearing, this is NOT a movie you can watch if you are.
So I'll have to take a pass, despite being an evil dead fan.
In regards to Rocket Racoon, I'm pretty darn excited, but I just wish they would hurry and tell us who is going to be playing him. Since he'll most likely be a CGI mo-cap character, I'm kinda hoping they just let Andy Serkis do it, as I think he'd be insanely good for the part.
Still though, Guardians of the Galaxy has already managed to surprise me GREATLY by announcing Parks and Recs, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord (thrilled about this by the way) and WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax.
So I'm willing to bet whoever ends up playing RR, Gamora, or Groot is probably going to surprise me.
...I am curious how they're going to handle Groot in the movie since all he ever says is "I am Groot!"
EDIT: After just looking into it, supposedly Zoe Saldana is going to be playing Gamora...can't say she'd be my first choice, but she's always been pretty good in things so I'm guessing she'll do fine in Guardians.
So I'll have to take a pass, despite being an evil dead fan.
In regards to Rocket Racoon, I'm pretty darn excited, but I just wish they would hurry and tell us who is going to be playing him. Since he'll most likely be a CGI mo-cap character, I'm kinda hoping they just let Andy Serkis do it, as I think he'd be insanely good for the part.
Still though, Guardians of the Galaxy has already managed to surprise me GREATLY by announcing Parks and Recs, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord (thrilled about this by the way) and WWE wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax.
So I'm willing to bet whoever ends up playing RR, Gamora, or Groot is probably going to surprise me.
...I am curious how they're going to handle Groot in the movie since all he ever says is "I am Groot!"
EDIT: After just looking into it, supposedly Zoe Saldana is going to be playing Gamora...can't say she'd be my first choice, but she's always been pretty good in things so I'm guessing she'll do fine in Guardians.
I'm not a fan of horror or remakes, so I'm gonna skip this one. Not having Bruce Campbell is a major drawback, so there's no personality. Plus, my faith in Sam Raimi has been shaky lately.
And Bob, how could you NOT compare this to Cabin in the Woods? That movie made horror flicks like this one obsolete, right?
And Bob, how could you NOT compare this to Cabin in the Woods? That movie made horror flicks like this one obsolete, right?
now this is what i call a horror movie. its not one of those psycho killer clones where all u have to do is figure out who is in which trope roll they fall into. i miss films like this i consider the evil dead series to be one of my top horror movies on any top horror list. its definitely better than the past ones they have been putting out i hate going into a movie and before the movie is to the half way figure out which person will live just because they fall into the old trope of horror movie victim. why more horror movies can't go back to styles like this i do not know, kinda getting tired of the old some insane/psycho person killing random people who happen into the area he is in or abducted.its just resent junk like saw and couple others which try but do not get the horror feel like the old ones do i miss the jump scares, the gore that and the way the old moves who they where shot and what they did to get the scare. now its just gotten to be all about the gore or character development which usually is boring. that's why i start watching Japanese horror movies because they do not go here is a mass murderer killing a group of people that happen to break down in his location or even worse the old its a zombie outbreak thing. zombies kinda feel not scary anymore got too many things with them not scary.
in my opinion i think if they made less horror movies in the old psycho killer trope they would have better horror movies. i mean the classic stuff is good halloween, friday the 13th, nightmare on elm street. its just most resent horror stuffs have been kinda boring and easy to figure who will live or who is going to die next because they do the things you are not supposed to do in a horror movie like walk off alone and so on. but then i wish we had more sci-fi horror movies stuffs.
in my opinion i think if they made less horror movies in the old psycho killer trope they would have better horror movies. i mean the classic stuff is good halloween, friday the 13th, nightmare on elm street. its just most resent horror stuffs have been kinda boring and easy to figure who will live or who is going to die next because they do the things you are not supposed to do in a horror movie like walk off alone and so on. but then i wish we had more sci-fi horror movies stuffs.