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Movie Review: Evil Dead 2 Dead by Dawn (1987) (series, #2)
Summary:
Ash either inexplicably completely forgot about the first evil dead incident or is having some sort of alternate version of his life presented. Either way, he returns to the same cabin from Evil Dead with his girlfriend, oblivious of any evil occurrences. Within about 5 minutes, he plays the tape that raises the demons. It immediately possesses his girlfriend. The professor’s daughter and some hillbillies stop by, adding to the possible body count. Can they survive until dawn?
Review:
I kind of love the fact that this is a sequel that isn’t so much a sequel as a reimagining of the first Evil Dead. What if Ash arrived with just one other person? What if the main problem wasn’t being infected by wood but instead a possessed dismembered hand running around?
Evil Dead 2 doesn’t mess around. It gets right to the gore, and it does so completely tongue-in-cheek. As opposed to the early tree porn in Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 has chainsaw dismemberment within the first 10 minutes.
However, don’t get me wrong. This movie is a delicious combination of horror and humor, mainly due to Ash’s dismembered hand. It becomes possessed and the man chops it off with a chainsaw, and then it becomes a nemesis throughout the movie. A nemesis he partly fights with the chainsaw he tied to his arm to replace said hand. Yeah, that’s right. You get a chainsaw for a limb in this movie. Really truly badass! The humor also is derived from the hillbilly couple who show up with the professor’s daughter and her boyfriend, as well as great sight gags. The movie knows it’s B horror, and it thrives on it.
For once I can say, this is a sequel that is just as worth watching as the original.
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Previous Movies in Series:
The Evil Dead (1981), review
Movie Review: The Evil Dead (1981)
Summary:
A group of five 20-somethings head for a long weekend in a cabin in the woods. In the basement, they find an old tape recorded by the previous resident–a professor. This professor reads passages from The Book of the Dead that he’s been studying. Playing the tape accidentally raises demons, and the group are left fighting against possession and for survival throughout the night.
Review:
This low-budget B movie is the quintessential cabin in the woods horror movie. Written and directed by Sam Raimi who went on to direct the Spider-man movies and more recently Drag Me To Hell, it pits these 20-somethings against an evil force that infects them as opposed to a serial killer.
You guys, I absolutely loved this movie. I already have a weakness for low-budget horror movies, as I love a good chuckle with my jumps, but there is so much more awesome to this movie than the summaries out there tell you. They tell you this is a zombie movie. Zombie movie is so not the right definition. This is an evil trees movie.
In the first half an hour, there is motherfucking tree porn. What’s tree porn, you ask? It’s tentacle porn, only with tree branches. The girl who gets raped by the tree is now infected, and the infection gets spread via wood. The infection makes them mindless attacking machines, but they do not eat flesh. They just chant “JOIN US!” Even more awesome is the fact that when their limbs etc… get cut off not only blood but tree semen comes out of them.
Adding to the awesomeness that is the tree venereal disease is the stop-motion special effects. They give such a different vibe than cgi and are truly well-done.
There are also your typical B-movie, chuckle-worthy lines. Plus if there’s nothing too horrifying going on on the screen, you can always watch Bruce Campbell’s chin. I dubbed him “Cro-Magnon Man.” His face is just that awesome. Plus he has a faint unibrow.
If you want a creative twist on a typical horror set-up, definitely check out The Evil Dead. I mean, you’ve at last gotta watch the first half hour for the tree porn.
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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