After hitting it big with The Evil Dead, Sam Raimi and company were not having much luck finding work. In 1985, Raimi, his producing partner Rob Tapert, and co-producer/star Bruce Campbell teamed up to make Crimewave. Written by The Coen Brothers, famous for Raising Arizona, Fargo, and Miller’s Crossing, the film, unfortunately, was a disaster. Between issues with the producers to difficulty with cast members, the film as Bruce Campbell “wasn’t released, it escaped.” Needing a hit, Raimi and company decided to return to the cabin for the 1987 follow-up, Evil Dead II, also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn.
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Rating
Synopsis
Following the first film, Ash’s stuck in the cabin with no escape, and the demonic forces psychologically torture him. Meanwhile, a young woman named Annie (Sarah Berry) meets up with her partner Ed (Richard Domeier). Annie is the daughter of Professor Knowby, who initially found the Book of the Dead. The two decide to go to the cabin after not hearing from her father in some time. With the help of local rednecks Jake (Dan Hicks) and Bobbie Joe (Kassie Wesley), they get to the cabin only to find Ash, who just cut off his hand and accidentally shot Bobbie Joe. Trapped within and dealing with a witch in the cellar, our heroes must fight to survive the night.
Review
Frequently, horror-comedies can be a tricky balance, where sometimes they stray a bit too far into either direction. However, Evil Dead II is one of those great examples where they are blended perfectly. When there’s humor, it’s genuinely funny in a very dark and grotesque sort of way. When there’s horror, there’s a great sense of dread and a foreboding nature that gets under your skin. Like the first one, this one is insane with the gore, though dialed back to avoid an X rating. You’ll notice throughout that the blood changes colors, including a bright red, black, green, and more of a dark red. So long as it didn’t look like real blood, it’s all good.
I think this film is an excellent showcase of Bruce Campbell’s acting abilities. He starts as a shellshocked person who has survived this horrible series of events and slowly loses his sanity, especially having killed his girlfriend twice. A few highlights that show this include a small moment where he sees a rocking chair moving on his own till he goes over to it, and it stops as soon as Ash reaches his hand out, as well as a moment where his reflection leaps out at him to tell him how crazy he is. Once the new group arrives, he eventually steps up to be the badass hero we all think of him as. Although, I’d like to mention Sarah Berry as Annie, who’s easily the best actor after Campbell.
To sum it up, I enjoy this film. As I said, the first one will always hold a special place in my heart. Even still, this one is a solid recommendation from me. This one has achieved significant cult status like the first one and is even considered the best of the trilogy. Even curmudgeonly old Roger Ebert gave it three stars, saying it is “a comedy disguised as a blood-soaked shock-a-rama. It looks superficially like a routine horror movie, a vomitorium designed to separate callow teenagers from their lunch. But look a little closer, and you’ll realize that the movie is a fairly sophisticated satire.” If that does not sell you on the film, I don’t know what will.
Buy Evil Dead II from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tgCwbT.
