Evil Dead 2

This is one of the few horror movies I truly enjoyed, because the film offers a great combination of horror and comedy. It adds up to a very entertaining 85 minutes.

There's a lot to like in this kinda-goofy movie: nice visuals; good humor to counteract the scariness and gore of a horror story; a small amount of ridiculous theology compare to what usually is offered in this genre, and some totally outrageous scenes. They include a woman's head loose and then biting a man's hand with the rest of her body running around with a chainsaw; a hand with a mind of it's own, monster-type grandma and grandpa in the cellar, chase scenes through a forest with trees coming to life and attacking people, on and on....wild, wild stuff.

My main complaint is not enough lulls. There is too much action, and it's so intense it's almost too much to watch in one continuous sitting even with its fairly short length. One needs a break once in a while!

There is no credibility in here, but that's okay since I think most of this is played for laughs more than horror. Bruce Campell suffers physical damage that would have killed a person many times but within seconds, he's back to normal. Campell, by the way, must have set the all-time record for making rubber-faced wild faces in a movie, more than Jim Carrey. However, this movie certainly isn't one to be scrutinized for realism. You have to look at it, with all the gory scenes and shocking violence as not much more than just tongue-in-cheek satire on horror movies. It's great fun.

This film, is without a shadow of a doubt, one of finest, most imaginative comedy horror films ever made. Raimi, has put all the aspects of the film together in masterful fashion. The camera work and sound effects are pulsating, and the timing is perfection. And in Bruce Campbell, the film as a lead actor who gives an exceptional performance. Campbell plays "Ash", an everyday, supermarket attendant who suddenly finds himself thrown into the unusual situation of having to defend himself against, zombies, evil spirits and even his own possessed hand, just in order to survive the night. I laughed, I gasped, and I gripped the arm of my chair throughout! If you like your comedies, black and hilarious, and your horror, gory and sensational, then look no further. Raimi has created the definitive comedy horror! Fantastic!

...but has thoroughly enjoyed the second one since it came out in 1987. From reading other comments apparently history has been rewritten in relation to the first, but I can't speak to that. Let me just say that if you haven't seen the first one the second one fills in enough details that you know what is going on.

The film starts with Ash and girlfriend Linda taking a romantic weekend trip to a cabin. It's a cabin that Ash knows about, but says he does not know the owners, thus he really doesn't know their whereabouts. He says they'll just claim to have gotten lost in the woods if they show up. The cabin is actually where Professor Knowby brought the recently discovered Book of the Dead. We know this because Ash finds the tape recorder and plays Knowby's entries. On the tape Knowby speaks aloud the words that are supposed to resurrect the evil dead - those evil spirits that inhabit the forest and world around us. Once brought to life they can apparently manipulate objects and possess people at will, in search of a way back into this world via possession and a way to harvest souls for hell. Those spoken words do their work, and the evil dead are brought back to this world. Well it is nighttime, and since that is when the evil dead are active they immediately begin to make Ash's life a living hell.

Meanwhile, Knowby's daughter Annie is on her way to the cabin with more pages from the Book of the Dead where she thinks her parents are doing research. She has with her a research assistant, and two locals who show her a way around the destroyed bridge that leads over the canyon to the cabin - a bridge destroyed by the evil dead to trap Ash where he is.

There is confusion at first as Ash fires a shotgun through a closed door when he hears the four trying to enter the cabin - considering what he's been through up to that point that's no wonder. Likewise, at first Annie looks at the blood and destruction of the cabin and thinks Ash killed her parents. However, it is soon obvious what the real enemy is here, one you cannot see or hear, one that can possess anything, anyone, or even just part of a person. It can make the dead appear as they did in life, it can make the living appear as demons. One particularly creative thing done here is that you see things occasionally from the evil spirits' viewpoint as they rush through the woods, making an awful roaring noise, headed towards the cabin.

The action and the chaos just never lets up from the time the forces of evil first attack the cabin. It's hard to describe, and I know it sounds strange, but there is enough tongue in cheek humor merged with some really riveting horror, that you don't feel completely drained from the intensity of it all. For example, when you have both a possessed lamp and a possessed stuffed deer head laughing at you, things get both so horrible and funny that you feel you are watching a satire of a horror film. Only the very end confused me a bit, and maybe that is because I haven't seen the first film. I'd recommend it as horror well done in a different and creative style.

My Rating : 8/10

Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead II' is the definition of horror-comedy done well. Part II in the Evil Dead trilogy and carries the story forward brilliantly. Masterful camera work and stop-motion. Hilarious, entertaining stuff.

If you like this movie, also check out the lesser-known and highly underrated Peter Jackson's 'Dead Alive'.

"The Exorcist" made you feel respect and fear to the Devil. Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead II" makes fun of the Devil and demon possession. Although there are some really scary scenes, there are some really twisted funny situations that would leave you wondering "what the f*** just happened?!". The movie is funny for the wrong reasons. I eventually don't laugh about when a man is breaking himself dishes on the head. I don't think it's funny when a man is repeatedly beaten up by grotesque characters. I would never imagine a man getting eaten by a demon locked under a cellar and throwing gallons of blood! "Evil Dead II" makes it look hilarious in a wicked kind of way. For example, when Linda's head tells Ash that "she is being tormented, and suffering in hell; you can feel a little scared but the next scene has a corpse without a head holding a chainsaw. There's no time for logic here, just sit and enjoy!

It also has the ability to make you feel tense and I must say, scared. The combination of demon possessed people, EVIL sounds (I love the weird noise in the movie), wicked laughs and chanting ("dead by dawn!"), and intrepid camera angles are the perfect ingredients to make a sui generis Horror-Comedy movie. Watch out for the "A Farewell to Arms" joke, the whole situation with the evil hand, and the eye that gets in a woman's mouth!.

Sam Raimi went too far for the good reasons. He created an unbelievable and unforgettable work that has served as inspiration for many movies in recent years. The movie is easily one of the most visually stunning Horror movies of all time, for sure. Die hard fans of gore get an eye candy for an hour and a half. Raimi created a cult movie in all the sense of the world. "Groovy!". "Dead by Dawn" will never bore you because in every scene there's a feeling of uncertainty and that makes it even more interesting. There are no rules here.

The plot is as scary as you can imagine but it's held in such a way that it isn't taken very seriously. I mean, demon possession caused by the Necronomicon is something that happens in the real world. Not exactly with that book but it can happen via satanic books and rituals. Raimi takes it to a different level of humor mixed with gore.

Bruce Campbell deserves a special mention. He delivers a wicked, solid, and totally believable performance. Something you haven't seen before mainly because of the strange situations he goes through. His performance could be described as a "solo". Easily, one of the best performances of any actor in a Horror movie. Also, one of the characters that suffers the most in any movie! Ash is beaten up by demons, humans, objects, etc. Even possessed creatures make fun of him.

The gore here is great, glorious. You get decaps, mutilated bodies, a hand cut off, bleeding demons, etc. Blood spread all over the cabin is the common denominator. One of the goriest movies of all time.

Watch "Evil Dead II" to witness one of the most creative, brave, and goriest movies of all time. It delivers something for everyone. It has action, gore, spectacular camera angles, and some action! Check out Ash V.S. possessed Henrietta. * After it, phrases like "join us!", "swallow this!", and specially "groovy!" will be part of your daily vocabulary.

Recommended for every Horror fan in the world. This movie is an obligation to watch.