Evil Dead serves as the reboot of the Evil Dead series back in 1980s and a loose continuation of it. The movie is about five teenagers who venture into the woods with one goal: to help their drug junkie friend to live a better life, and what better way to do it than a rehab in the middle of the forest.
Mia (Jane Levy), the druggie, is forced to spend a getaway in a cabin in the woods in order to clean herself after almost dying due to overdose. With her are her two friends and brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and his girlfriend. Mia has not seen his brother for a long time already so they have a rough start at first. Unbeknownst to them is the Book of the Dead waiting to be opened which would give life to their most terrifying nightmares ever.
Before going to the cinemas and watching this movie, I made sure to watch the original series at first to know what changes they brought to the table. Thankfully, I'm not disappointed.
The best thing I loved about this movie is how it pays great homage to the original series. (geek mode for a bit) If you've watched the trilogy beforehand, you would see this reboot in an entirely different light. In the entire length of the film, there would always be a reference to the old films which makes it a success as a reboot. There are many reboots and remakes right now that don't give good regard to the original film at all. There were lots of moments in the movie wherein I smile not because it's funny, but because I recognize in which film from the original they took it from. But say you didn't watch the original series and don't plan to do so, there is no need to fear of being lost while watching the film. Its goal is to entertain the original fans and to attract new ones.
Another thing that I love in the movie is how the two main actors of the movie was given a deeper character background and not just mere puppets forced to act inside a box. This helped very much in the development of the story in the movie. Sadly, the other characters fall short in establishing a persona of their own.
Evil Dead this time decided to fully go on horror mode unlike its predecessors that were a combination of horror and comedy. It didn't have much humor like the first film but I leave that for you guys to decide whether that's good or bad.
Director Alvarez did a good job in making this film and one of the things that I liked was the use of the classic horror scares. He made use of very cliche horror scares that one may have seen too many for his lifetime but it surprisingly works in Evil Dead. Why? He took all those horror cliches you know and puts a twist on them. I have to say it's very risky choosing to use such scares in a new audience who is harder to please. Weirdly enough, what made the original Evil Dead scary was the very unexpected screams it would give you. Moments where you think everything is safe then boom, you're dead :) I was looking for it in the reboot but sadly it didn't give any. Lots of moments where you would expect and actually want something to pop up but there's none.
Though this movie is based on something old, I think it would fare well with the audience today since this might actually be new to them. Yes, a group of teenagers in a cabin in the woods may be overused but what I mean by new is how it is presented. (The trailer itself had too much blood already) Overall, the Evil Dead is Good.
Rating: 4/5
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