SOUND OFF
Sound Off: Fede Alvarez's 'Evil Dead' Remake - What Did You Think?
by Alex Billington
April 5, 2013
Now that you've seen it, what did you think? "The most terrifying film you will ever experience." So, is it? In theaters everywhere is Fede Alvarez's remake of the Sam Raimi classic Evil Dead, starring a young new cast in an updated take on the cabin in the woods supernatural horror-thriller. Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore star as the five new victims. Does it live up to all the hype? Can it compare to Raimi's 1981 original or any of its sequels? Was it too gory or not bloody enough? Once you've seen it, post a comment with your own thoughts on the new Evil Dead.
To unleash the endless undead, I finally caught Evil Dead on opening weekend, and I really enjoyed it. It's a seriously gory, but still entertaining and most of all well-made remake of the horror classic. I still prefer Sam Raimi's original movies, the entire "trilogy", and they just can't be topped. But Fede Alvarez does a fantastic job reinventing this yet keeping it serious and not overly ridiculous. That said, Fede really loves using the airhorn. Never enough airhorn! I still suggest reading Jeremy's fantastic review of the film: "In many ways, the Evil Dead remake strays from the pack, delivering harder shots of violence than anything Raimi ever came up with. He had no problem bringing the gore. He just never made it hurt like this."
What did you think of Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead? An excellent remake, or disastrous disgrace? We will remove any comments that indicate you have not seen the movie, as this area is meant to discuss the film only once you have seen it and can talk about your thoughts. Please keep the comments civilized!
45 Comments
1
great, not outstanding. pretty gory but not as much as i expected. no boobs.
Steve Carley on Apr 5, 2013
2
Boobs and blood...eh.
Xerxexx on Apr 5, 2013
3
Did you see the movie? um..there were barely any nudity at all...blood of course..but what boobs were you looking at.? haha because they werent on screen.
Korby on Apr 5, 2013
4
I was stating that the lack of boobs was a good thing, especially the lack blood covered boobs.
Xerxexx on Apr 5, 2013
7
He's not a fan of movies that flaunt boobs and blood, especially when said boobs are actually covered in blood. I've been on this site for years now, and that's one thing I've learned: Xerxexx is not a fan of blood-covered boobs. And that's alright, we love him anyway.
grimjob on Apr 5, 2013
8
Aw shucks. Love you too!
Xerxexx on Apr 6, 2013
9
LOL, wut?
titaliau on Apr 5, 2013
10
Pretty good, not as scary as I expected. The cast behaved as they should in such a situation, with horror and shock, not stupid one-liners or indifference, so it has that going for it.
Baron the Curse on Apr 5, 2013
11
“This thing is attached to Mia’s soul . . .and we’re gonna have to kill her.” This sounds pretty stupid to me. I thought Diablo Cody was brought in to make it sound real. Failed.
Michael P. Shipley on Apr 8, 2013
12
Better than the original i thought, but not very scary at all..just gore. But come on..they did not react like normal people would in that situation! Totally disagree with that comment below...that was what made me angry..i mean i know its a movie and people are going to act stupid but id love to finally see a movie where people act like real people. Where if your sister is a demon, you dont go try to hug her and ignore it lol..
Korby on Apr 5, 2013
13
I don't completely agree with you on this...the brother is in denial of the situation and will protect the sister. I think that is why it brings its own realistic feel. So you are telling everyone here, if your sibling or close friend would turn into a demon all of a sudden in a drug withdrawal situation, you would totally guess that its demon related?...
Mathieu Godin on Apr 5, 2013
14
He was just like Ash in The Evil Dead. total pussy in the majority of the film. that's what made that part awesome. I was laughing more than shouting with frustration.
Jacob Denton on Apr 6, 2013
15
It was really good, I was shocked at the end(in a way) I didn't expect what happened to happen, and the cameo by Bruce Campbell after the credits was pretty "Groovy".
Fidel Reyes on Apr 5, 2013
18
No worries. Lol There are certain movies that I don't care if they get spoiled. These movies are usually remakes 😛
Chris Amaya on Apr 8, 2013
19
Haha cool, well I mean most people in the theater didn't get to enjoy that little scene they just quickly left, and most of them were adults not teenagers(since I went to see it on friday during lunch time) ,I was psyched for a little nostalgic touch so I made my friends stay behind to see the 6 seconds of Ash hahaha xD
Fidel Reyes on Apr 9, 2013
21
I for one am real happy of what I saw last night. I went in there with hopes and got more out of it. I didn't expect scary, I expected gory, unsettling, and well story based. These days we are faced with horror movies filled with cheap scares and weird storyline. The fact that its a "cabin in the woods" type is already sad since to me, its the original cabin film and we saw since the original came out, a lot of stories involving going to camp or cabins for the debacle to commence. But from last night's encounter, I am more than happy of the result of what I saw and going again for a second time soon. In this generation of remakes, its getting rare to be lucky to have a very true to the origin effect. We can talk about the Halloweens, The Elm Streets, and more. But this one had everything to work and made it work. The only thing we can stress for from now on, will it continue on a successful path?
Mathieu Godin on Apr 5, 2013
22
Wasn't scary, more gore than scare. Though the gory parts were pretty gory. Had some nice throwback scenes to the original, but overall it had enough new scenes to make it it's own. This had a lot of blood but still not as much as Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. Dead Alive still takes the cake when it comes to Gore and blood. The cast was on par with your usual horror movie, though this one was missing the charm of Bruce Campbell that helped made the original so memorable. Over all it was a good remake, not great but good.
nate on Apr 5, 2013
23
It was paced nicely. Overall a good film but nothing spectacular. Just the right amount of nods to the original.
Jon Odishaw on Apr 5, 2013
24
Ok movie. I just made myself forget its title.Had tons of fun at my showing.
si1ver on Apr 5, 2013
25
Sooooo disappointing its not even funny
Owengoerzen12 on Apr 6, 2013
26
Alex, you really need to do something about the spam comments! They're really annoying...
Drived on Apr 6, 2013
27
28
I think over the top violence, corny acting, and the bad decisions throughout is what made this movie fuckin gold. that's what made the original classic. And rather than shooting for straight horror (which is what I expected at first), we got a remake that was more fun and extreme, and that, in my opinion, is even better. It got its scares from the intensity of every scene. And besides, its impossible to make super scary movies now. Its all cheap jump thrills. I'm glad they took this route with the movie. I was thinking too, "this really isn't that scary", but every time Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) opened his mouth, I was chuckling or bursting out laughing. And every time David went into the shed and a Macgyver scene happened with all the fast close-ups and duct-tape use, I knew this wasn't supposed to be piss-your-pants scary. It was just fun and awesome. Like others are saying, it had enough of its own to stand as a remake/re-imagining. I'm a huge Evil Dead fan and I think Alvarez was the only one who could pull it off. I personally loved it. Because of how fun it was, I think I might see it a third time and catch a matinee showing or something.
Jacob Denton on Apr 6, 2013
29
I love it! Relentless, gory, and all-around excellent horror movie! Everyone go see it. (Evil Dead II is still the best)
Daniel_Plainview_Milkshake on Apr 6, 2013
30
I loved it..the only thing missing for me was more heckling from the floor demon...I just expected a lot of that after the first couple of trailers...the scenes where she did heckle were great though
Corey Ross on Apr 6, 2013
31
Something that I learned with this movie is that when they go out of their way to tell you that there will be little-to-no digital effects, you sure notice the ones that they do use. The Jeep splashing in the water? Why? Some of the rain in the climax? Why? Blood? WHY WHY WHY I also didn't really care for the score. It was trying to be very earnest and emotional, and belongs in something like The Ring. The sounds of the demons were very familiar too. The place that I've heard almost that exact noise is right on the edge of my mind and I can't think of it, but it was one more thing that seemed a bit tropey. (Is that the point? Am I being punk'd?) But it was still outstanding and I will buy it on video.
OfficialJab on Apr 6, 2013
32
You mean this CG blood?
ironmanjakarta on Apr 20, 2013
33
Not the actual rain, some of the drops running down the flipped over truck, for some reason, were done digitally? Also, I said some. I wonder how much of the rain was a hose.
OfficialJab on Apr 20, 2013
34
And let me tell you why...as a 37 yo I grew up with the original evil dead...at the time it was exciting and forbidden since I was too young to view it. I haven't been to the movie theatre in years because it is filled with obnoxious kids talking to eachother and on their phones throughout the feature. When I saw the redband trailer for the remake of evil dead, I felt like a kid again, the promise of a movie experience unlike any other. LIES!!! It is still a rehash of PG 13 remakes...nothing original, nothing scary...the only thumbs up I give is the non-use of CGI. And I'm a fan of Jane Levy....her acting was superb...otherwise...we walked out of the theatre before the movie ended trying to salvage the rest of our day off. if you want to capture the magic of the evil dead remake, watch the redband trailer and don't ever see the movie. You will be severely disappointed, unless you are a 12 year old kid...and then of course you could also watch the grudge or the ring or any TV show on FX or comedy central and still be appropriately damaged forever.
joey2slow on Apr 6, 2013
35
And let me tell you why...as a 37 yo I grew up with the original evil dead...at the time it was exciting and forbidden since I was too young to view it. I haven't been to the movie theatre in years because it is filled with obnoxious kids talking to eachother and on their phones throughout the feature. When I saw the redband trailer for the remake of evil dead, I felt like a kid again, the promise of a movie experience unlike any other. LIES!!! It is still a rehash of PG 13 remakes...nothing original, nothing scary...the only thumbs up I give is the non-use of CGI. And I'm a fan of Jane Levy....her acting was superb...otherwise...we walked out of the theatre before the movie ended trying to salvage the rest of our day off. if you want to capture the magic of the evil dead remake, watch the redband trailer and don't ever see the movie. You will be severely disappointed, unless you are a 12 year old kid...and then of course you could also watch the grudge or the ring or any TV show on FX or comedy central and still be appropriately damaged forever.
joey2slow on Apr 6, 2013
37
Groovy
conradthegreat on Apr 7, 2013
38
I enjoyed the film, but it offered nothing new to horror IMO...some of the violence could have been more creative, like the scene with the nailgun, and there's one scene towards the end is a total ripoff from The Raid, and those who've seen both movies will know what I'm talking about. But I have to disagree with this being the bloodiest movie ever, whoever said this never watched French movies, Inside, Frontiers, or even the Chinese movie Dreamhome either...overall, a good remake, but it didn't quite live up to the hype for me.
jah p on Apr 7, 2013
39
i thought it was great, definitely not terrifying though (but i did jump a few times). enjoyed the new take on this story. really loved the gore too!
lshannel on Apr 7, 2013
40
Its not scary how depressing the original was scary guess the director messed up.
kav786 on Apr 8, 2013
41
Spoilers below I REALLY liked it, I absolutely loved the lack of CGI. When The main girl threw up, I thought that would have at least been fake but then watched an interview where she described the process and while she deserved every pat on the back someone needs to give the black girl props for getting puked on. I have a lot of appreciation for this movie, and I kinda hate to say it but finally a scene that makes girls cringe as they reach for their own lady parts(because there are so many of them for guys). Yeah that scene had me for at least 10 minutes randomly shaking my head trying to get the image out. Really loved the plot as well, it sort of took out the generic question as to "why don't they just leave?" or statement "If it were me I'd be outta there"...they thought she was just going through classic withdraw symptoms and then they simply couldn't do anything about it. It wasn't as scary as I thought but it worked magic still. I found that I scared myself with anticipation of something else to happen like when the dog went- I thought it was going to go feral when David touched it but nope- or a few times I thought the blonde chick was going to just die terribly like when Mia had her on the steps and was between her legs...really thought the directer had it in for women at that point. I thought worse things would happen and I'm glad it didn't because it would have been a pure shock value sort of movie. As for the humor, it was there but very subtle. Maybe it was because I had guys goofing off around me in the theater but there were plenty of laughs to make it feel like the old evil dead; the damn teacher kept coming back I for a moment thought he would make it, or when they just kept splitting up never realizing thats when the bad crap happened most, the duck tape scenes were very funny, and especially the end when mia was basically humping the demon in the face with the chainsaw. And it's more funny now than when I watched it but the utter stupidity and random macgyver-ness of the brother with the 'ultimate' plan of his to save mia in the end. Pure joy right there people. Great movie and fyi the theater was pretty packed Sunday night in virginia and someone brought their kids-they looked to be in the single digits and those kids didn't flinch or scream or anything-this is why no movie is 'scary' because people are over stimulated to numbness. I actually don't really like scary movies but evil dead has a special place in my heart and this movie didn't do anything to kill that.
Barbara Ruiz on Apr 8, 2013
42
People actually like crap movies like this? I knew from the previews that this would be bad; just another typical piece of junk thrown at us by the movie industry to reap profits. Still, my boyfriend and I curiously went to check it out. Not surprisingly, we were so disappointed and unmoved by the presentation that I had to convince him he wasn't just "not into horror movies anymore." This remake is indeed another example of the complete garbage that has become the norm for Hollywood these days. Firstly, there was the awful acting. When building the story, the lines were not delivered naturally or with any real feeling. Then, there was the soundtrack. It's completely overbearing in trying to force the audience to feel something, whether it be fear or sympathy. Less is more when it comes to horror. I want to hear breathing, cracking of a branch or crunching of leaves that implies someone is approaching; realistic sounds that make the scene feel real and invoke real feelings of suspense within me. I felt absolutely no suspense throughout this entire film. I also hate modern films of any genre that abuse the use of visual effects. What makes old horror classics so great is the use of effects makeup, wardrobe, and scene production to alter reality in a way that looks and feels real to the viewer. My mind is not tricked by silly computer effects. I'll also note that gore does not equal horror. Many of today's horror films are just gore tests. A horror movie needs more than just constant blood splatters, guts and grotesque violence. Truly the worst part of this experience is reading viewer comments. It's obvious that standards have been set low and the average film goer has a "this is just how it is" attitude. If a movie is trash, it's trash. Don't accept it. Horror movies don't have to have a crummy script or bad acting. When are those things ever acceptable? Even a simple script can be delivered realistically in the right setting. Yes, people use profanity and no we don't always speak poetically. Though, a simple script must be paired with a simplified delivery. Nix the overbearing soundtrack, lame and unconvincing visual effects. Movie goers, don't settle for the modern norm that's constantly pumped out by hollywood looking to empty your pockets. Save your dollars for movies made with care and deserving of your respect.
kopns on Apr 9, 2013
43
Ironic that you hated the CG effects because there was very little of it. Most effects were practical. The one obvious CG effect was the girl on fire.
ironmanjakarta on Apr 20, 2013
44
an AWESOME review http://pulsefeedz.com/the-gorefest-of-evil-dead-a-review-by-erica-winter/
JMan on Apr 16, 2013
45
It was awesome! and I knew it would be, now I'm looking forward to the sequels, and Army of Darkness 2, and the crossover they are planning.
Jimmy Love on May 1, 2013
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