The Old expression is if it isn’t broke don’t fix
it. That is very true for the film we are going to talk about today
which is the sequel to yesterday’s film Evil Dead. It could be said that
this is just a remake to the original with a
bigger budget and more of a humorous approach. This is not true when it
came to showing a recap from the first film scenes could not be
obtained. So the beginning was remade to explain how Ash got to the
cabin. Evil Dead II is a movie that stands on its own
and in my opinion does what most sequels only dream of doing which is
being better than the original.
Instead of five people going up to the cabin this
time it’s only Ash (Bruce Campbell) and his lovely lady Linda (Denise
Bixler) headed up for a romantic time in the woods. When reaching the
cabin the two decide to get comfortable until
Ash finds a tape recorder. He begins to play it and the voice Professor
Raymond Knowby (John Peakes) who tells of his amazing discovery of
Necronomicon Ex-Mortis AKA the book of the dead. Once a passage is read
from the book something evil is released in the
woods and takes Linda. Ash has no choice but to carve her up and fight
off the other Evil Spirits dark forces and his own hand. At the same
time a plane is landing and the daughter of professor Knowby (Sarah
Berry) is getting off a plane to come to the cabin
with some important papers. Along the way she picks up a few people and
the four run into Ash who has gone all but mad after cutting off his
possessed hand with a chainsaw. The four are soon realize they are not
alone and that something is down in the cellar
waiting to be released. The two eventually stop the evil and send it
and Ash back to where it came from.
This is a movie that had its fair share of problems
especially in the financial department. The film had a tough time
getting funding but when horror author Stephen King heard Raimi was
having trouble King asked famous producer Dino De
Laurentiss to help finance the film. It can also be said that problems
during shoot took place as well the demon in the cellar that is played
by Raimi’s brother Ted was forced to wear tons of makeup and prosthetics
including a giant rubber suit. It would get
so hot they would have to ring out the suit every day after shooting.
It is rumored that the effects team somehow used the collected sweat in a
horrible prank on Ted Raimi at the end of shooting.
This is a much more humorous take on the Evil Dead
film. Campbell is allowed to not only stretch is comedy chops in this
one but we also start to see the origins of what I like to call “King
Ash.” This is also where we get to here one of
Ash’s signature catch phrases for the first time “Groovy”. The
transition from the first film of a guy just trying to survive to the
second where he take up the hero mantel is quite impressive. This movie
is sheer joy because it does not take itself seriously
but at the same time manages to scare you a few times with some jump
scares worthy of Raimi’s horror prowess. It also improves upon the film
by not only giving you the same great stuff from last time but adding to
the mythology of the book of the dead. We
get backstory and set up for things to come. It is a remarkable second
part of a trilogy.
Until tomorrow
when we all gather around and examine when Ash took the leap from
horror movie protagonist to straight up legend. For High Weirdness I’m
Benjamin Kolton reminding you “It’s Only a Movie.” “It’s Only a Movie.”
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