Do you prefer your geysers of blood in green, black, or traditional red? Either way, Sam Raimi has you covered.
I’ve stumbled upon an unexpected theme in my reviews this year, and I think it has helped me crystallize what I truly value in horror movies. I can forgive a lack of resources, a lack of scares, even flat-out ineptitude, but I cannot forgive laziness. It’s fitting then, that I close out the year reviewing the hardest working horror flick of all time. The Evil Dead exposed the raw talents of first-time filmmaker, Sam Raimi, and earned a cult following for its creative brutality. It’s the sequel, however, where Raimi exploded onto the scene as a unique visionary. No one has ever done more with a few million bucks and 124 minutes.
The film wastes zero time getting to the goods. Would-be Casanova, Ash, and his nubile girlfriend, Linda, make their way to a cabin in the woods. After some weird flirting, Ash accidentally summons a demon presence to the cabin by playing a tape recording of an ancient incantation, and the evil force abducts and possesses Linda. She attacks Ash, leading him to lop off her head with a shovel and bury her, before becoming a victim of possession himself. The sun rises, and he is saved from the demonic presence, at least for the moment. In almost any other movie, this action would encompass the first two acts, setting up the final conflict to play out at the film’s climax. In Evil Dead 2, everything I described happens in the first five minutes. Now, there are non-stylistic reasons for this choice – they wanted to show scenes from the prior film to set up the story, but they didn’t have the rights, so they recreated a Cliff’s Notes version. Still, the way it comes off is intense and disorienting, which is a pretty good indicator of what’s to come.
If the opening portion represents an abbreviated first act, then the second act is the attempt of the Deadites (ED for demons) to systematically break Ash down both physically and psychologically. It leans a little more towards the comedy side of horror/comedy, but there are only a couple of jokey moments. Instead, the whole section reads like Buster Keaton mixed with a Looney Tunes cartoon and enough blood to fill a swimming pool. Bruce Campbell, starring as Ash, gives Linda Blair a run for her money with an all-time great physical performance. He sells the descent into madness so well, through every pratfall and exaggerated facial expression. It’s not nuanced. Hell, it’s barely acting, but it’s so manic and so committed that it basically transcends acting anyway. This fever dream atmosphere is occasionally broken up by scenes that depict the impending arrival of some new characters to the cabin, signalling the third, more traditionally horror-oriented act of the movie.
There’s a term that professional wrestlers like to use called “getting your shit in.” It means that no matter how long you have or who’s scripted to win the match, make sure you get a couple of spots to show off and let people know that you’re the type of wrestler that the audience should pay to see again. It’s fair to say that Raimi gets his shit in during Evil Dead 2. There is not a wasted frame or lost opportunity for the director to try something completely novel. I don’t know what ended up on the cutting room floor, or never made the transition from concept to film, but it can’t have been much. I’m not suggesting that everything works, but its an awe-inspiring eruption of creativity, nonetheless. Raimi dismantles the static killer-POV shot, already a slasher genre staple in 1986, and turns it into something out of The Fast and the Furious. He animates spooky trees, severed hands, and a taxidermied deer head. In a single scene involving a chainsaw, a shotgun, and the word “groovy”, he cements one of our most beloved horror icons for eternity. He oversees a production team that creates great monster designs, not-great monster designs, and terrible claymation. There are more ideas in this movie than seemingly all the other ones I’ve watched this year put together. That’s why none of us should settle for the litany of derivative, aimless horror films made by people who take for granted the fact that they get to bring their ideas to life and share them with the world. There are no other movies quite like Evil Dead 2, but there are enough that share at least a fraction of its wild imagination to keep us occupied as long as we know which smart-ass Halloween marathon blogs to follow that can lead us to the right ones.
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