Evil Dead

In Franklin, Indiana, there is an alley that runs between Hougham Street and Edwards Street.  During the day, it is a pretty little walk.  Willow trees hang over the asphalt and, in autumn, leaves crunch beneath your feet.  Yep, it's nice.  Still, woe be to the poor soul who finds himself in this alley after the sun sets over the cornfields.  The willow trees become gnarled hands reaching for you and the sound of leaves could easily mask footsteps following close behind.

As a child, I would try to avoid this path but found it difficult as it was the fastest route to my best friend's house.  Sometimes, after a long evening of playing Tecmo Bowl or pelting my friend with Nerf balls, I would have to walk this dark lane alone.  As I rushed toward my home, I would pass an old garage.  The garage had two windows that faced the alley.  In my childhood imagination, these panes of glass held a myriad of demonic and grotesque faces.  I would put my hand up to the side of my face so that these monstrous images wouldn't even enter my peripheral vision.

I suppose my lifelong obsession with horror film represents an attempt to face these monstrous faces head on, to exorcise the demons of my imagination.  Or, maybe I just like gore.  Yeah, that could be it.

Well, if it’s all about gore, then Evil Dead is right up my alley.  A loving tribute to Sam Raimi's 1981 cult-classic, the film is, for the most part, lots of fun.  Bodies are dismembered in ways I have never seen before (believe me, I thought I'd seen it all).  Buckets of blood and viscera fly across the screen and, well, there's this thing with a tongue.  And that part with the needle...Eesh.  Let's just say, Luis Bunuel would be proud and my roommate David would be sick.  I showed him Event Horizon one time and he almost chucked.

With Evil Dead, director Fede Alvarez shows that he has quite the knack for horror filmmaking.  Many scenes play out like musical numbers of carnage.  Unlike in the recent Saw films and other torture porn fare, the gore in Evil Dead is used to great effect.  Many horror filmmakers think it is enough to show a disturbing image.  Alvarez understands that the true screams come from blocking and editing.  He pieces together many shocking images to create frightening and satisfying horror sequences.  Hats off, sir.

Besides the horror, the other filmmaking techniques are also noteworthy.  The cinematography and production design are absolutely gorgeous.  The green hues and smoky backgrounds make this look like Lars Von Trier's Evil Dead.  The wood is waterlogged, the metal tools are rusty, and the forests are dense and foreboding.  It's all very beautiful.

Still, even though blood covers every character and square inch of floor, it's all too clean.  When Sam Raimi directed the original film, it was like lightning in a bottle.  The filmmaking was messy and anarchic.  The shots were all canted and right in the actors’ faces.  The special effects seemed homemade and the makeup looked amateurish.  Somehow, though, it all worked like some form of strange alchemy.

Lightning doesn't strike twice.  While the new film works, it doesn't capture the gonzo nature of Raimi's original.  The makeup is disgusting and terrifying.  The visual effects are flawless.  However, the professionalism of the filmmaking somehow seems to highlight the film's flaws.  We see how thin the characters and their backstories are.  We notice the middle-school play acting.  The flaws in Raimi's film made it a classic.  Considering the budget and professional crew, the flaws in this film just don't seem as forgivable.

One performance really saves the film.  Jane Levy shines as heroine and villain.  Her performance as the possessed Mia is nuanced and, I believe, rivals Linda Blair's turn in The Exorcist.  While her costars stumble over lines and gawk in horror, Levy terrifies with even the subtlest of expressions.  I'll admit I spent much of the film missing Bruce Campbell.  Still, Levy's performance is memorable and I think she has a nice future in horror.

The film may lack the spirit of the original, but it is enjoyable.  There really is nothing better than seeing a horror film like this with an audience.  People squirm in their chairs and cover their eyes.  Popcorn flies in the air.  And, as for me, looking at the grotesque and demonic faces, I am not so afraid anymore.  For an hour and a half, my demons are on the screen and I am in control.  That feeling may not last, but it is refreshing.  I'm thankful for horror films like Evil Dead.  Those 90 minutes may be the least scary part of my day.