“Evil Dead” (2013) is the fourth feature in the “Evil Dead” franchise, which currently consists of six movies, four graphic novels, a ton of comics, a television series and a partridge in a pear tree. It expanded a proof-of-concept short film “Within the Woods” (1978). It appears to be the first intentional remake of “The Evil Dead” (1981), and the first film without Sam Raimi at the helm or Bruce Campbell as one of the main characters. Five friends decide that the best way to help a member of their group detox is a reunion at a dilapidated family cabin in the woods, but they are unaware that while unused, the cabin was used to conduct a ritual and house the Naturom Demento. Naturally a member of the group disregards all written English warnings and reads from it thus unleashing demonic forces that attack the group. The versatile king of legacy sequels (“Alien: Romulus”), remakes (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”), adaptations (“The Girl in the Spider’s Web”) and horror originals (“Don’t Breathe”), director and cowriter Fede Alvarez, has a rare misfire as he makes changes and retains elements that are not faithful to the spirit of the original and prioritizes surprises over relatable character development and dynamics. To be fair, it was his first time at bat making a feature, so he is forgiven for making the weakest in the bunch.
With all due respect to the cast, they look and act more like actors who met on set than a believable group of people who have known each other since childhood. Some of the characters feel like they started to exist during “Evil Dead” regardless of what the dialogue says. Mia (Jane Levy) is the one with the substance use disorder. Her brother, David (Shiloh Fernandez), has been distant possibly not to deal with family issues, which leaves their mutual friend, Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci), a high school teacher, resentful and shunning most group interactions to avoid being too vocal about his displeasure. It would definitely be better if he just behaved like a spoilsport because he distracts himself by reading instructions, then ignoring them thus unleashing evil forces. At times, the story seems to tease that David has a psychic twinkle, but it could just be laziness and offering the audience a flashback seventeen minutes into the film because the filmmakers think their audience is dumber than dirt. Based on subsequent editing moments, the prior seems more likely, but do not get excited. It goes nowhere. Olivia (Jessica Lucas), a registered nurse, childhood friend and possibly Eric’s partner, is really invested in ensuring that Mia sticks out the withdrawal, so they do not have to do it again. David thinks that it is the perfect time to introduce his girlfriend, Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore), to the group, so she tags along mostly milling in the background. Poor Natalie is easy to forget until it is her time to get tortured.
“Evil Dead” brings better quality filmmaking. The foliage looks sharp. The effects are not dated and are impressively gnarly. The flooding river is quite impressive. If you watch this remake for those reasons, then you will be delighted, but there are plenty of movies that look great, but are not fun to watch and do not offer a riveting story, and there is nothing about this movie that makes it the obvious choice to waste your time. For example, the withdrawal offers sufficient motivation for the characters to stay in the cabin and retroactively rehabilitate the friend group’s reasons for ignoring one person’s wishes. If no one is a villain or has flaws and assets, then no one is interesting. Drugs as a metaphor for possession could have been elaborated on, but no. The tree rape in the original was integral to the story, but here, it is extraneous except to offer another element of horror. Instead of a branch, black bile from a demonic doppelganger’s mouth creates the branch. It is another way to torture Mia, and it is redundant.
It often felt as if Alvarez and cowriter Rodo Sayagues devoted more time to creating scenarios, surprises and reframing facets of prior incarnations, not characters. Diablo Cody was a ghost script doctor who helped with the language barrier. The opening scene is completely new as is the cabin and family’s history. It seems as if these moments are setting up something huge, but these exciting elements do not go anywhere to further the mythology. They are horror tropes thrown in for fun. The biggest twist is who is the actual protagonist, i.e. the last one standing. If you are familiar with Alvarez’s work or the actor’s experience, it will not be a surprise, but in a vacuum, while watching the film, everyone is so two dimensional that it is not as if any viewer will root for anyone other than the dog, Grandpa (German shepherd’s name unknown). The necklace is given to a different character than in the original film and is made of buckthorn, and the symbolism is not discussed in “Evil Dead,” but in European folk magic, it is used in protection rituals, cleanses negative spaces and represents resilience in Tibetan and Himalayan traditions because of the tree’s ability to grow in harsh environments.
Alvarez shows pages from the book intercut with possessed characters engaging in the same activity. Oooh spooky. So what? Is there a reason that a trait of possession is the possessed pouring boiling water on themselves or cutting their faces off? If there is, it is top secret and not for the hoi polloi to know. It was more fun when the possessed did card tricks and handed everyone’s asses to them before being confined. It is extreme horror, gruesome and original, but collectively it is one note. It is especially frustrating because Eric is coy about what he did though it would make complete sense to spill the beans when the proverbial crap started hitting the fan. It feels like having zombies without having zombies.
Alvarez does change a few fundamental things like who loses a hand, how and whether it makes a difference in chances of long term survival. The actual evil forces are named but they could be called Natalie and Tootie for all it matters. It just seems like another excuse to make a reference to the poster art from the first movie. It does appear that the franchise is going in a more conventional direction. Could it be Satan? There is new mythology about how to save a possessed person, and it feels a bit like a punk out. The lore is offered so quickly, you may not even notice it until it happens, and then you may scratch your head and wonder how it happened if you still care, which you may not.
There is a post credit scene, which is more germane if the protagonist appeared in the next movie, which was scrapped, so instead it acts as a bridge to the television series, “Ash vs Evil Dead,” which I have not seen. The idea actually sounded interesting but tonally would have been a shock to the system because this installment’s funny bone is completely missing. It is as serious and humorless as a heart attack.
