Review: Evil Dead II (1987)

Directed by: Sam Raimi
Written by: Sam Raimi and Scott Spiegel
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley DePaiva and Ted Raimi

I've always loved reading about what those out there consider the best movies to be, and perhaps what's the best within a certain group of movies. Evil Dead II AKA Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is a movie that often gets placed among films like The Godfather Part II, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as one of the all-time greatest sequels. But is it truly a sequel? And if so, how does it match up against its predecessor? For whatever reason The Evil Dead was the one film in the series I watched repeatedly when I was younger, yet Evil Dead II was the first entry that I actually owned. I'm a little weird with these movies, but that's okay because these movies are weird and that's one element of a great cult film.

Ash Williams and his girlfriend Linda travel deep into the woods and uncover an ancient book of the dead and a tape recording of its translation. Upon playing it they unleash a demonic entity into the wilderness that preys upon the souls of the living. During the onslaught Ash initially finds himself alone and fighting for his life, but eventually holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers and learns of ways to battle the Evil Dead.

To this day there's a huge debate surrounding Evil Dead II. Is it a sequel to The Evil Dead or a remake? Ask any fan and you're bound to get either answer, and truthfully I'm undecided on this. Your perspective may have an influence on how you look at it, but the more positive outlook I find is viewing it as a sequel. Some consider the first ten minutes to be a 're-cap' of the original's events, but if it's a remake these early parts of the film can feel dangerously rushed and losing your feet as a viewer. I just revisited this movie in a marathon with the other two entries, and it generally flows well as one single trilogy. That said, its re-enactment of the original's most memorable scenes definitely stand out.

Regardless of this debate there's no denying that Evil Dead II takes a far more unique approach to this tale. While the original has a low-budget, slasher-like quality, this film is more expensive horror-comedy that has maximized director Sam Raimi's creative potential. In a lot of ways the comedy of this film surpasses the horror. Bruce Campbell returns as Ash Williams, but he's written with far more personality and as more of an antihero. He's both hilarious with his one-liners, sarcasm and irritability, yet totally badass at the same time. It's a great feat to pull this off, and have it be accepted by an audience. One of my favorite scenes is when Ash battles his own possessed hand before cutting it off with a chainsaw. It's a great example of the series' balance between the absurdly funny and the bloody. This and scenes like it were made possible by a budget that was lacking in the original, and astonishingly this film stands out for its marvellous gore and creature effects.

Is Evil Dead II a sequel, remake or a mixture of both? That's up to the audience to decide, but what's most clear to me is that this is The Evil Dead realized to its full potential. With better writing, a bigger budget that freed up Raimi and his team and an ambition to master two opposing genres at once it's only appropriate to call Evil Dead II one of the best sequels and remakes of all time.

My Rating: 8.5/10