Evil Dead [2013]
Directed by: Fede Álvarez
Written by: Fede Álvarez, Rodo Sayagues
Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas, Elizabeth Blackmore
Growing up is scary. Impending war is scary. Sitting on the bus next to an ex-con/former addict/religious fanatic and listening to him tell you how he stabbed his brother to death is scary (this actually happened, eek!). Horror movies are not scary, or at least not for this guy.
So when I say Evil Dead wasn’t scary it’s not a dig at a single film but a whole genre that just can’t elicit the desired response from this viewer, be it via victims of Satanic possession, unexpected house visitors from the great beyond or things that go bump in the night. What I’m trying to say is you’ll be hard pressed to find me frightened of something in a horror flick the way you’d see me moved to tears by a great drama or laughing my ass off with a great comedy. It just doesn’t do it for me.
So, if I wasn’t the least bit scared by Evil Dead why don’t I consider it a disappointment? The answer is simple. The movie’s so damn fun! The writing leaves a lot to be desired but first-time feature director Fede Álvarez leads the camera around like a pro and cranks the gore level up to 11 to deliver a bloody, entertaining (and bloody entertaining!) spooky flick. Suburgatory‘s Jane Levy is pretty good as Dead‘s main character, Mia, giving a solid, layered performance (a rarity in horror) in a film that keeps making your jaw drop lower and lower with its propensity for insane bodily harm and a fondness for the red fluid. Non-horror fans: you could do a lot worse.
Nice write up Fernando, still cant wait to see this!!
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Thanks, Tyson. I think you’ll like it! 😀
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My reaction exactly. Fine review, Fernando.
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Thanks a lot, Michael. Glad we agree 🙂
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Great review here Fernando. I love how you cut to the chase. Love reading reviews that do that. Also loved your intro. Nicely done sir.
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Thank you, Mark. I really appreciate that.
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Nice review mate. I’m the opposite of you, I get freaked out at pretty much everything so I I’ll probably be cacking myself at this!
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Thanks, Chris! Hope you have a good time with this one, then!
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Bloody and gory for a good reason, but no scares or shocks worth to see. Nice review Fernando.
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Thanks, Dan 🙂 I agree.
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I could not have summed up this movie better…excellent post Fernando!
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Thanks a lot, Chris! Glad we’re on the same page about this one!
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I guess I’m not surprised you saw this one. Even though you don’t like horror movies (at all!), it is from a Mexican director, and you did seem to enjoy Drag Me to Hell and (to a certain extent) The Cabin in the Woods. Have you seen Sam Raimi’s original?
My dilemma is, should I see it? This seems to be a really polarizing film. People either love it or despise it. Hmm…
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Yeah, not a huge fan of horror in general. Like I said, I can’t get scared by movies, although I enjoy some, like DMTH or The Exorcist, The Omen, etc. Haven’t seen Raimi’s original, no.
Fede Álvarez is from Uruguay, though!
Let me know how you feel when you see it. I think you’d have fun, like I did, even if it’s not all that scary.
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Oops! Sorry for making that mistake…
And yeah, I’ll probably get around to it at some point. Probably not in theaters though.
http://www.themoviefreakblog.com
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You’re pretty much required to see the original. 🙂 I saw it this afternoon, and it’s so much fun. I’m actually surprised its genius low budget attire managed to make its way to modern Hollywood with success. 🙂
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I definitely plan on seeing it. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
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No problem! I can’t see you not enjoying it.
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HELL YEAH, Fernando. HELL YEAH.
Glad to see you giving this movie such a nice review man. And a high score. I had a blast with this one! 😀
It IS a divisive movie apparently, that’s why it’s so great to run across other people on the “It was awesome” team!
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LOL, thanks Fogs. Looks like we’re on the same team regarding this one. I had to give it a good review and a high score because I too had a blast, even if I wasn’t scared by it.
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Great review, I completely agree that it really isn’t that scary, but it is still a huge amount of fun. There have been plenty of other recent horror movies that have been much more effective at generating scares but are lower quality overall (i.e. Mama).
My hat goes off to Alvarez, I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here now that the project has become profitable
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Thanks, Andy (and thank you for linking to my review as well)! Definitely agree with you. Hopefully Álvarez nabs another interesting project soon.
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Well you obviously have stronger nerves than I do Fernando, I think I’ll be quite spooked and grossed out watching this so suffice to say, I’ll definitely skip it 😀
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It’s OK, Ruth! I don’t think you’d enjoy it, so yeah, watch something else instead 😉
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Plenty of gross but I was really expecting a lot more in the scare dept.
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Yeah, me too. Still, can’t say I was disappointed.
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Sorry don’t enjoy watching people getting sliced, diced and mutilated. It was just 90 minutes of sadism. 😦
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Neither do I, of course. But sometimes people being fake-sliced, fake-diced and fake-mutilated can be a lot of fun, haha.
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Terrific review, glad you enjoyed it. I really like your blog, I am now following. I recently started my own film blog and would love for you to check it out. Hopefully you’ll like what you see.
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Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. I’ll definitely swing by your blog in a few. Glad you liked what you saw here 😉
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